Stopping and parking: where you can and can't

Stopping is deliberately bringing a vehicle to a standstill for up to 5 minutes, or for as long as passengers need to get in or out or the vehicle needs to be loaded or unloaded. Parking is a deliberate standstill of more than 5 minutes for any other purpose (Law "On Ensuring Road Traffic Safety", Article 2). Most exam questions on this topic rest on four numbers: 3 m to a solid line, a median strip, the opposite edge of the roadway or an obstacle; 5 m before a pedestrian crossing and from the edge of an intersecting roadway; 15 m from a public transport stop; and 50 m from a railway crossing, which is a parking ban.

Every ban comes from two simple ideas: a standing vehicle must not block anyone's view and must not obstruct traffic. The full list is in points 84 and 86 of the Rules of the Road (RA Government Decision No. 955-N of June 28, 2007, Annex 1); here it is, item by item.

First, the two terms

• Stopping — a deliberate standstill of up to 5 minutes, or longer when passengers are getting in or out or the vehicle is being loaded or unloaded.
• Parking — a deliberate standstill of more than 5 minutes for other purposes.
• Forced stop — a standstill caused by a fault, a hazard, a prohibiting signal or the need to give way. The rules on stopping do not apply to it (Law, Article 2).

The difference matters, because there are places where stopping is allowed and parking is not. A parking ban does not automatically mean a stopping ban, but a stopping ban always covers parking too (Rules, point 86, sub-point 1).

Where stopping is prohibited (and therefore parking too)

Rules, point 84:

• On sidewalks — except in the cases of point 61, which lets you maneuver onto the edge of the sidewalk to park under point 81 — and on or immediately beside tram tracks if that obstructs trams (sub-point 1).
• On railway crossings, in tunnels, and on and under overpasses, bridges and viaducts (sub-point 2). No condition is attached: the Armenian Rules have no "fewer than three lanes in that direction" qualifier. That one comes from the Russian rules and is a common trap.
• Where less than 3 m would be left between your vehicle and a solid line (other than the roadway edge line), a median strip, the opposite edge of the roadway or an obstacle (sub-point 3).
• On pedestrian crossings and less than 5 m before them in the direction of travel (sub-point 4). A standing car hides the pedestrian and the drivers from each other.
• On the roadway near dangerous bends and hill crests where visibility in at least one direction is under 100 m (sub-point 5).
• At intersections, on the crossing of roadways and less than 5 m from the edge of the intersecting roadway — except on the side of a three-way junction that is separated by a solid line or a median strip, the side facing the road that does not continue (sub-point 6).
• At a public transport stop marked with line 1.17, or, where that marking is absent, less than 15 m from the stop or taxi-stand signs (sub-point 7). There is no "if it obstructs public transport" condition here — that condition belongs to tram tracks only.
• Where your vehicle would hide traffic lights or road signs, or otherwise limit what other drivers and pedestrians can see (sub-point 8).

Where only parking is prohibited

• Outside built-up areas, on the roadway of roads marked with sign 2.1 "Main road" (point 86, sub-point 3). A short stop is allowed; leaving the car there is not.
• Less than 50 m from a railway crossing (point 86, sub-point 4). Compare: stopping is banned on the crossing itself, parking within 50 m of it as well.
• In residential zones and in yards enclosed by residential buildings on all sides — parking with the engine running, and, for trucks over 3.5 t and buses other than minibuses, parking outside designated places (Rules, points 121 and 122).

Exam questions circle these four numbers constantly, so learn them as a set: 3 m to a solid line or an obstacle, 5 m for crossings and intersections, 15 m for public transport stops, 50 m for parking near a railway crossing.

The signs that govern this

3.27 "No stopping" (a blue circle with a red cross) and 3.28 "No parking" (a blue circle with one red bar) are one of the most confused pairs. The trick: the cross closes everything — stopping and parking alike — while the single bar bans parking only.

Both signs apply only to the side of the road they stand on, and run from where the sign stands to the next intersection after it (in a built-up area with no intersection, to the end of the built-up area). That zone can be shortened by plate 8.2.2 "Zone of action" or by repeating the sign with plate 8.2.3 at the end of the zone, while plates 8.2.4–8.2.6 tell you that you are inside the zone and which way it runs — so in a question always check whether there is a plate under the sign. One more trap: signs 3.28–3.30 do not apply to taxis with the meter running, to special postal vehicles in a postal color scheme, or to vehicles driven by or carrying certain persons with disabilities — and 3.27 has no such exceptions (Rules, Form No. 1).

The shortest way to practice

The questions on this topic sit in Group 7 · Stopping, parking and road markings — try it without registering. It helps to read the theory chapter first, and to refresh the sign pairs on the Road Signs page and in the article on the groups of road signs.

See also: Stopping, parking and overtaking: hardest test questions.