Parking

Use an off street parking area, or a bay marked out for the purpose, wherever one is available. If you have to stop at the roadside, pull up at the extreme left of the road, facing the direction of travel, and as close to the side as you can get. Do not stop suddenly except in an emergency, and give the stop signal in good time so that the traffic behind knows what you are doing.

Once you have stopped:

• Apply the handbrake and leave the vehicle in gear.
• Switch off the engine and the lights. A parked vehicle must not be left unattended with the engine running.
• Check the mirrors and the blind spot before you open the door. A door opened into a passing cyclist is the classic town collision, and it is always the door's fault.
• Get out on the left where you can, and let passengers, children especially, out on the pavement side.
• Put valuables out of sight, close the windows and lock up before you walk away.

On a hill, turn the front wheels so that a vehicle that rolls goes into the kerb rather than into the road. Facing downhill, turn the wheels towards the kerb and select reverse. Facing uphill, turn them away from the kerb and select first gear.

Never leave a vehicle standing on a bridge, on a blind rise, on a bend, at a pedestrian crossing, at a bus stop, on a yellow prohibition line, or where it would block a fire hydrant or a driveway.