I noticed on the unaffiliated parents Facebook page this week that there has been discussion around the queuing lane as you enter the school driveway.  We have sought the advice from QPS and the GCCC regarding this area as it applies to our school.  While I am aware that at least one illegally parked car has received an infringement notices this year, this was not in the entry to the school but across the road from the school bus lanes.  I am not aware of any parents receiving an infringement in the queuing lane.  

The relevant legislation that applies to the queuing area at the entrance to the school is called the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act, often referred to by the acronym TORUM.

Section 168 relates to No Parking signs, stating:

(1) The driver of a vehicle must not stop on a length of road or in an area to which a no parking sign applies, unless the driver—
(a) is dropping off, or picking up, passengers or goods; and
(b) does not leave the vehicle unattended; and
(c) completes the dropping off, or picking up, of the passengers or goods, and drives on, as soon as possible and, in any case, within the required time after stopping.

Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.

(2) For this section, a driver leaves a vehicle unattended if the driver leaves the vehicle so the driver is over 3m from the closest point of the vehicle.

(3) Required time means—

          (a) if information on or with the sign indicates a time—the indicated time; or
          (b) if there is no indicated time—2 minutes; or
          (c) if there is no indicated time, or the indicated time is less than 5 minutes, and section 206 applies to the driver—5 minutes.

So in summary, the Act states that the driver needs to complete the pick-up of the passenger within 2 minutes of stopping in the No Parking Zone.  If the queue is moving (albeit slowly), this is not considered to be stopping.

The police and GC City Parking team (who enforce kerbside management) agree that a common sense approach to enforcing the No Parking Zone will continues to be used if they are in the subject area.  There are complaints being lodged by members of the public about parent driving habits.  

If families are stopping for long periods of time in the No Parking Zone (perhaps leading to safety issues), then the QPS and/or our City Parking officers may look at issuing infringement notices but we will try to avoid that. 

The police and GCCC will book drivers who push into the queuing line.  

Please remember that while we always want to assist our families, we do not police the roads and car park areas.