To wonder if parking a car in a motorcycle space is bad...Martin Clunes..

[PossumInAPearTree]

Martin clunes has been videoed by an irate shopper loading his shopping into his car which is parked in a motorcycle bay.

Irate bloke tells Martin it's like parking in a disabled bay which Martin tells him isn't true. I do agree it's not as bad as parking in a disabled bay. And I do see Martins point that as there were no free car spaces he decided to park in an empty, available space. Should he have driven off and not gone shopping?

I can also see a motorcyclist been annoyed if no space in a motorcycle bay but are they necessary? I've never noticed them and I sometimes see motorcycles in ordinary car spaces.

Well if he was loading shopping then he was finished wasn't he? Motorcyclist could wait a minute or two.

As he would have to do if all the spaces were full with bikes.

I'm assuming they aren't a legal requirement just a convenience and tbh if there are no spaces available that's life.

Bikes surely park in car spaces where there are no bike spaces available?

Don't see a difference

It's not as bad as parking in a disabled bay, of course not. But it's on a par with p&t spaces. There aren't many of them, you can fit several bikes in the space of one car, and car drivers become terribly upset if you park your motorcycle in one of their bays. Sometimes they become so enraged they drive over your bike, or "accidentally" knock it over, "Sorry mate, I didn't see it."

Mr Clunes should have waited till an ordinary car bay became available.

The funniest thing about the video was that his shopping was loose in his trolley rather than bagged and he was placing the items individually into his boot so was taking ages. He seemed very unperturbed by angry motorcycle guy.

I parked in a motorcycle bay once because all the disabled spaces were taken (mostly by people with no blue badges). It was a huge bay with space for about 3-4 cars and loads of bikes. I came out of the shop I had been in for 10 mins max and was accosted by a motorcyclist who was parked next to me and was waiting for me to appear. Told him in no uncertain terms to piss off. Plenty of space for him next to me and it wasn't me that was being inconsiderate, it was the non disabled people in disabled spaces. If there hadn't been room for more bikes, I wouldn't have parked there.

So Mr Clunes nicked a bike space, was too mean to pay 5p for his bags, and too stupid busy to remember to bring his own? He goes down in my estimation, but I had heard (probably here) he's a bit of a miserable bugger on a good day...

Surely the point of motorcycle bays is to save space in the carpark because you can get more bikes in than if they were taking up full-sized car spaces? They're not particularly any benefit to the bikers that I can see. I got huffed and puffed at by some bikers for parking in one once. There was total gridlock at a motorway services, my baby was screaming to be fed and it was the only place I could pull out of the queue. They were already parked so I wasn't even inconveniencing them, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves with a lot of PA head shaking and sign pointing. I just let them get on with it.

They're safer for bikers to park in...if we park in a normal spot there's always some car driver who was thinks they can squeeze in on top of the bike. It's so easy for the bike to get knocked over and damaged then.

The bike spaces at the leisure centre are constantly parked in by cars. People then complain about bikes being parked on pavements/hard standing, or taking up car bays.

If your vehicle has four wheels and a roof, it doesn't belong in a bike bay.

I have been driving for 30 odd years and also have a bb child(adult)
Yet i have never ever had to park in a bike space....cos i have never ever riden one

Biker here.

Really, really, pisses me off.

In the town where I live there aren't enough bike bays and it's illegal to park a bike elsewhere. Bike bays are often covered by cars or used for skips/deliveries, so it may take several circuits to find legal parking. The bike bays that are available are often full and several are situated badly, with, weird cambers, that prevent you being able to park a heavy bike without it tipping over (excellent design from Dept of Transport).

If I park illegally, I risk a ticket or having the bike knocked over by an incompetent driver.
Bikes aren't cheap transport nowadays, a big bike can be worth well over £10,000. The last time a driver knocked my parked bike over it cost me over £1,000 in repairs. Just falling over. (And no, the person who did it failed to leave a note - the utter bastard - meaning I had to choose between losing several years of No Claims Bonus or fork out myself).

Oh, and parking fines for bikes are at the same level as those for cars.

So, all in all, parking a bike is already harder and riskier than parking a car. If I find a car on a bike bay, I report immediately it to the local council, hoping that it'll get ticketed.

Don't be Mr Pink Cock.

He came across as a right old arrogant twat and he deliberately went slow to wind the biker up.