What does this sign mean? What does this sign mean?

  • A. You can only stop to drop people off between 7 and 9am

  • B. You can park here, but only between 7 and 9am

  • C. You can't park here between 7 and 9am

    The correct answer is C
    You must not stop here between the times shown on the sign. If you do, your car may be towed away. You will have to pay a tow fee to get your car back.

What is a clearway?

Clearways are areas where vehicles are not allowed to park during certain times. NZTA defines them as "A length of roadway over which a no-stopping parking restriction applies for the purpose of increasing the number of through traffic lanes or providing increased space to allow for the free movement of traffic during the period for which the clearway restriction applies."

They are commonly used to keep an arterial road clear during rush hour which could, for example, mean that two lanes are available instead of one, or where there could be vehicle that need to turn right from the lane and by restricting the road's width, traffic would be held up unduly waiting for that vehicle to turn.

A clearway could be valid twice a day, as shown in this sign:

clearway sign - two time periods

A supplementary plate will show where the clearway begins or ends.

Signs on signposts are installed in priority order. A clearway takes precedence over a P60 sign, for example, therefore the clearway sign is installed above the P60 sign.

Clearway repeater signs are installed not more than every 100m along a road, unless there's another restriction or intersection present.

If you park in a clearway during its hours of operation you will be towed. Council wardens monitor clearways and will ticket you and call a tow truck if you are in the clearway zone when the time starts. To find out where you have been towed to, call the local council and they will give you the name of the towing company. You will need to pay any fines and towing fees to release your vehicle.