According to MOTO.ITan Italian court has again ruled in favor of keeping powered two-wheeler parking spaces available only to powered two-wheelers. Back in 2014, an owner of a microcar had parked in the spaces designated as being for only powered two-wheelers. After seeing the vehicle in an unauthorized parking space, police issued the owner of the micro-car a €100 citation fine. That’s because the microcar took up more than one of the narrow spaces designated for powered two-wheelers.

A company that manufactures microcars took the case to court, saying microcars should be able to park in the spaces for powered two-wheelers. Their argument claimed that a microcar could legitimately fit between the striped spaces designed for powered two-wheelers (although they take up more than one powered two-wheeler space).

But the Italian court justices did not agree with the micro-car company. They said that the narrow white stripes drawn on the pavement made it clear that they are only for powered two-wheelers. Further, the Supreme court said, “Drivers are required to place their vehicle in the space intended for it without invading the adjacent spaces.(translated from Italian).”

But microcars take up less space…

The argument that the micro-car takes up less space than a traditional car does not hold. Since the micro-car takes up more than one powered two-wheeler space, it had “invaded” adjacent two-wheeler spaces. Thus it was illegally parked. To the court, this meant parking a car in a space as narrow as the ones designated for powered two-wheelers “invaded” adjacent spaces and constituted illegal parking.

Although the basis of the decision comes from the fact that a micro-car takes up more than one powered two-wheeler space, the court’s decision also seems to suggest that there is value in having dedicated parking spaces for powered two-wheelers. That’s something that doesn’t seem to be taking hold in many other countries.