BMW driver buys TWO parking tickets and leaves his motor across two bays ‘to protect it’
A CAUTIOUS BMW driver sparked a raging online debate when he bought two parking tickets so he could park across two spaces.
Pictures of the flash motor straddling two bays were uploaded to Facebook with the snaps clearly showing two separate tickets displayed on the car's dashboard.
The owner presumably gave his Beemer some breathing room because he was worried about other car park users scuffing the vehicle when opening doors or parking too close to his beloved car.
But the double-parked BMW driver was blasted by some for the 'selfish' occupation of two spaces.
Other drivers defended him, however, pointing out that as long as he's paid for both tickets then he should be entitled to both spaces.
The photos of the car were uploaded to Facebook with a caption asking if the ploy was "acceptable or unacceptable" as the driver had "paid for both parking spaces?"
Immediately, the defensive driver split opinion.
Vanessa Gleeson said: "Full on acceptable. Due to all the pr***s who ding me doors."
Joe Ro was more measured, writing: "Fair play I suppose but if I was looking for a space and he had two I'd still kick his car!"
Others pointed out that the vehicles either side of the BMW's two spaces - a small black car parked over the line and a large motor home left at an angle - made the double spaces a necessity.
Gordon Yeti wrote: "Well, given the c**t in the black 4x4 was parked like a k**b, he couldn't really fit in the one to the driver's side anyway."
Can you park in two traffic spaces if you buy two tickets?
Well, it depends on the kind of car park you're in, as some may be more lenient than others.
Lots of pay-and-display car parks have some kind of rule insisting that vehicles must be left within the limits of a marked bay.
So if you park across two, your car is not being left within the allocated space of any single bay, running the risk of being fined.
The same is true for residents' bays, where having just one wheel outside of the clearly defined limits of the space could lead to punishment from a traffic warden.
Some car parks run by private companies aim to maximise the number of people they can get in, like you might find at a supermarket, and these would be particularly unforgiving to individual drivers taking up more than one space.
And even council-run car parks are subject to specific rules called Traffic Management Orders (TMOs) which vary from council to council, so it's possible that one area may have different car parking rules than others.
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The debatable issue of parking over two spaces is one that causes a huge amount of road rage in UK car parks.
An online group called Parking Like A T**t was set up specifically to shame drivers who couldn't keep their cars within the lines when parking.
The two-ticket double space issue isn't the only that's left UK motorists baffled.
Lots of people are unsure if they're entitled to the parking space outside their house or if it's illegal for someone to block their driveway.
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