You cannot park your car anywhere in town, at the risk of receiving a hefty fine.
A congested city center seems like a pleonasm. It must be said that new buildings are emerging as quickly as weeds and that cities are welcoming an ever-increasing population. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for infrastructure. In this regard, finding a place to park your car in urban areas sometimes seems like a real obstacle course. To make matters worse, paid spaces are eating up more and more space in cities to the detriment of free spaces. Ultimately, it’s not very surprising to witness an explosion of inconvenient parking: on pedestrian crossings, in delivery spaces, in those reserved for cash transport, etc.
There is another place where parking is just as punishable by law but undoubtedly much less known to motorists. You have probably already noticed, or have already done so yourself, that certain streets are full of cars parked “straddled” on the sidewalks. Two wheels of the vehicle rest on the road, two others on the sidewalk, which gives the impression of not obstructing traffic too much on one side and of leaving a passage wide enough to allow pedestrians to circulate on the other. Although some streets have special ground markings allowing such parking, often when the sidewalks are wide enough, most often this practice is completely illegal.
Because without specific marking, and unless possible municipal decree, it is prohibited to park on a sidewalk, even while riding with two wheels on the road, mainly because this reduces the space reserved for pedestrians. This practice can create dangers for them, forcing them to walk on the road where they may be exposed to traffic. Considered as very inconvenient parking by the Highway Code, this practice is severely punished by a 4th class fine. Many road users are unaware of it, but receiving a fine of 135 euros could well force them to give up this bad habit!
To avoid such disappointment, it is better to remember that in built-up areas a vehicle can park along the sidewalk but not on the sidewalk, unless there are dedicated parking spaces for this purpose, most of the time paid or limited. over time (blue disc). In the absence of ground markings, parking on the sidewalk, or just encroaching with two wheels on it, is therefore a very bad idea.