It is not enough that you drive well and follow the rules of the road. It is equally essential that once you have reached your destination, you park your vehicle well too. These days many people tend to take parking very casually. But it is an integral part of decent driving etiquette.
The first rule of parking is that your vehicle should not be blocking another vehicle or free access to any road or lane. You must not park in a lane if your vehicle will block the free flow of traffic through it.
Some people tend to park behind an already parked vehicle with hazard lights on and run in to a coldstore, bank or to the post office in the belief that they’ll be returning in a jiffy (which may not turn out to be the case) and they wouldn’t be inconveniencing anyone.
Would you calmly wait if another car carelessly blocked yours? You would certainly and rightfully be frustrated, if not outraged. It is basic civic sense to look for suitable parking, even if it is some distance away, instead of inconveniencing another person.
Then there are drivers, especially of the 4WD variety, who think that the footpath is actually a parking area. In Bahrain, mammoth vehicles (and even the ordinary types) parked brazenly on footpaths are common sight. This impedes free movement of pedestrians and is a safety issue.
Another kind of driver is the one who, just to avoid paying 100 fils at the parking meter, parks in a lay-by which is meant strictly for taxis or public buses. And finally there are drivers who are often in too much of a hurry to spend two minutes on proper parking and choose to leave their vehicles parked in any which way in an otherwise properly marked parking lot. Parking lots in all private and public areas are always marked with strips to denote one slot for one vehicle. But quite often one notices a truant driver blatantly occupying two slots, conveying his ‘I-don’tcare’ attitude for fellow drivers.
In many countries such indifferent drivers get fined, and rightly so! Let’s be considerate and spare a thought for those around us. Park correctly; in the space which is rightfully yours.