According to MOTO.IT an 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.