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One surprising (after we got a ticket..) thing about parking laws in Sweden is that you're also only allowed to park on the right side of the road / with the ca

One surprising (after we got a ticket..) thing about parking laws in Sweden is that you're also only allowed to park on the right side of the road / with the car in the direction of the traffic. This has the benefit of that when you're leaving the street parking, you are sitting close to the lane and can look behind you for coming cars and only cross one lane. Compared to parking on the "wrong" side, where you're sitting on the opposite side of the lane in your car, having your view of the opposing lane blocked by the parked car in front of you. As a cyclist I wish we had the same rule where I live. Far too often a car parked on the street will not see me when they try to exit their spot, as it's only when half the front of the car is in the cycle lane they actually can see past the other car.

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n_plus_1_acc 2y ago
This is the case in most of Europe. Another reason is that cars are required to have red reflectors at the back, but no reflectors at the front.
gerikson 2y ago
As a Swede it amazes me that some countries allow parking "in the wrong direction". I've never even thought about it, and I don't know if it's a written rule (I'm sure it is, just it;s been a long time since I got my license).
- edb_123 2y ago
  You don't have to go further than Norway to be allowed to park on both sides of the street (unless indicated otherwise by signs) as well as park in both directions. I believe many Norwegians have received parking tickets when visiting Sweden because if this difference. I wasn't aware of this myself until recently.
- gfna 2y ago
  In finland this has been allowed since a few years ago. It is quite useful on narrow sidestreets in residential areas where it helps hunting for parking spaces. The biggest problem seems to be that now many misinterpret the law that one must leave 5 meters empty space before pedestrian crossings as being measured from the front of the car, ie not applying when parking on the ”wrong” side
  - Ekaros 2y ago
    Also it seems less understood or followed rule is that it is also technically 5 meters from any crossing lane. And then sometimes whole intersection is very nebulous. As pedestrian crossing can be faraway from intersection and still be part of intersection... Sometimes things just get weird.
- Tade0 2y ago
  Over here in Poland it's allowed in areas of "low traffic" - a term not defined anywhere in the law. I did it the other day and it felt illegal.
  - type0 2y ago
    It feels much more illegal in Italy
- gmac 2y ago
  As a Brit it amazes me that this is even a concept. I've certainly never heard of it. We park whichever way is convenient.
  - scarytom 2y ago
    If you read the British highway code, you will find that we have this rule too.
    - gmac 2y ago
      Interesting. Any Brits ever seen it enforced?
noduerme 2y ago
Where do you live?! You couldn't park facing the wrong way in any big city in America, either. Maybe on small residential streets it's not always enforced.
- matsemann 2y ago
  Norway. It might be more common than I anticipate, just weird that we've been parking in Sweden for decades not knowing this and never having received a ticket. I guess it has helped that it until a few years ago was quite hard to enforce tickets on foreign cars, so maybe they just skipped us and thus we never learned our lesson.
- imajoredinecon 2y ago
  I learned to drive in Seattle, where it's 100% allowed, and then moved east and almost got ticketed my first day in my new city.
  - pimlottc 2y ago
    Seattle is noteworthy for being going against the norm in this case. As a midwesterner, it definitely surprised me to see so many "contra-parked" cars the first time I visited Seattle. It was one of those things that was just so deeply ingrained that it never occurred to me to park against traffic like that.
    - noduerme 2y ago
      Ah yeah. I live in Portland and this is pretty uncommon here now, but I have seen it in Seattle more often on steep hills, which makes some sense. At least in the old days with a manual transmission, parking facing uphill was safer (wheels toward the street, too). The Seattle area is also weird in that it used to be the only place in America where 4-way intersections had no stop signs at all. No one knew if you should stop. No one party had the right of way. This went for most residential streets around there in the '90s... not sure how it is now.
gwbas1c 2y ago
Assuming you're in the US: It's usually the rule here (state laws vary) but rarely enforced.
scarytom 2y ago
This is in the UK highway code too

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n_plus_1_acc 2y ago

This is the case in most of Europe. Another reason is that cars are required to have red reflectors at the back, but no reflectors at the front.

gerikson 2y ago

As a Swede it amazes me that some countries allow parking "in the wrong direction". I've never even thought about it, and I don't know if it's a written rule (I'm sure it is, just it;s been a long time since I got my license).

edb_123 2y ago
You don't have to go further than Norway to be allowed to park on both sides of the street (unless indicated otherwise by signs) as well as park in both directions. I believe many Norwegians have received parking tickets when visiting Sweden because if this difference. I wasn't aware of this myself until recently.
gfna 2y ago
In finland this has been allowed since a few years ago. It is quite useful on narrow sidestreets in residential areas where it helps hunting for parking spaces. The biggest problem seems to be that now many misinterpret the law that one must leave 5 meters empty space before pedestrian crossings as being measured from the front of the car, ie not applying when parking on the ”wrong” side
- Ekaros 2y ago
  Also it seems less understood or followed rule is that it is also technically 5 meters from any crossing lane. And then sometimes whole intersection is very nebulous. As pedestrian crossing can be faraway from intersection and still be part of intersection... Sometimes things just get weird.
Tade0 2y ago
Over here in Poland it's allowed in areas of "low traffic" - a term not defined anywhere in the law. I did it the other day and it felt illegal.
- type0 2y ago
  It feels much more illegal in Italy
gmac 2y ago
As a Brit it amazes me that this is even a concept. I've certainly never heard of it. We park whichever way is convenient.
- scarytom 2y ago
  If you read the British highway code, you will find that we have this rule too.
  - gmac 2y ago
    Interesting. Any Brits ever seen it enforced?

noduerme 2y ago

Where do you live?! You couldn't park facing the wrong way in any big city in America, either. Maybe on small residential streets it's not always enforced.

matsemann 2y ago
Norway. It might be more common than I anticipate, just weird that we've been parking in Sweden for decades not knowing this and never having received a ticket. I guess it has helped that it until a few years ago was quite hard to enforce tickets on foreign cars, so maybe they just skipped us and thus we never learned our lesson.
imajoredinecon 2y ago
I learned to drive in Seattle, where it's 100% allowed, and then moved east and almost got ticketed my first day in my new city.
- pimlottc 2y ago
  Seattle is noteworthy for being going against the norm in this case. As a midwesterner, it definitely surprised me to see so many "contra-parked" cars the first time I visited Seattle. It was one of those things that was just so deeply ingrained that it never occurred to me to park against traffic like that.
  - noduerme 2y ago
    Ah yeah. I live in Portland and this is pretty uncommon here now, but I have seen it in Seattle more often on steep hills, which makes some sense. At least in the old days with a manual transmission, parking facing uphill was safer (wheels toward the street, too). The Seattle area is also weird in that it used to be the only place in America where 4-way intersections had no stop signs at all. No one knew if you should stop. No one party had the right of way. This went for most residential streets around there in the '90s... not sure how it is now.

gwbas1c 2y ago

Assuming you're in the US: It's usually the rule here (state laws vary) but rarely enforced.

scarytom 2y ago

This is in the UK highway code too