Christchurch party bus driver should have gone to Specsavers

It was either a case of poor eyesight, or being simply blind to the road rules, when this Christchurch party bus arrived at one of its stops.

The driver off-loaded his cargo of pub crawlers outside the main door of a hotel just south of Christchurch on Saturday afternoon instead of using the usual landing spot - the pub’s car park around the back.

But it meant using half the footpath and parking on yellow no-stopping lines outside The Famous Grouse in Lincoln.

The driver left the bus there and headed inside with the party-goers.

The bus was carrying members of a sports club from Christchurch on a country pub crawl. 

The yellow lines the driver parked on were put in a while back to increase the safety of pedestrians, who use a crossing that traverses busy Gerald St.

When there were car parks on Gerald St, motorists often failed to see people stepping out onto the crossing, with many near misses and the occasional time when people have been struck by vehicles.

The bus stayed illegally parked for some time before a complaint was made to police.

An officer from the station a few hundred metres away arrived, spoke to the driver inside the pub, gave him a warning, and the bus was moved from its illegal spot.

Parking on yellow lines can incur a $60 fine and on the footpath $40.

The incident comes as authorities start to get tough this week on illegal parking.

Vehicles with expired or no warrant of fitness and registration will also be on the hit list for parking officers.

But up until now parking tickets have been a rare thing in Selwyn, with the district council preferring to take an educational approach.

"Following feedback from the community and an increasing number of complaints, the council recognises there is now a need to start issuing infringements for offences where parking safety is compromised or is inconsiderate to other road users," a district council spokesperson said.