What is it with hazard lights?

Sadly many motorists are bone idle – they are too lazy to park their vehicles correctly and quite often to do this they would have to walk 10 yards. No sympathy for selfish motorists.
Sadly, speeding motorists, smoking and using mobile phones are constantly flouting the law and getting away with it.
Why – no enforcment of the law – why – never see a copper.
Only law enforcement about appears to rely on cameras or radar enforcement.

The report on the increase in the number of parking attendants needs to be regarded with a degree of caution. In many parts of the country the police have given up on parking enforcement and the functions have been taken up by local authorities. In fact that was always the government’s intention but implementation has been slow. Not all the police employees engaged in parking enforcement and notice processing have transferred to the local council so there has naturally been a rise in recruitment. Additionally, councils in urban areas are introducing more and more parking control zones – usually at the request of residents fed up with finding commuters’ cars parked outside their houses all day – and every one of these new zones needs a squad of enforcers to check the residents’ permits and so on. I am not sure that enforcing hazard warning lights on stationary vehicles is within the portfolio of parking attendants’ legally-authorised enforcement activities – possibly not because it is more of a driving contravention than a parking violation. The primary offence, of course, in the double yellow lines example is the parking contravention itself [unless there is a valid disabled badge displayed] and putting on the hazards might not be such a smart move as it does indeed alert any passing parking attendant or constable or PCSO to the contravention. It can also happen that one driver stops in an obstructive position and puts on the hazards only to find that more vehicles arrive and park either end and block the view of the nearside warning lights. It is debatable whether a vacant vehicle showing warning lights can be regarded as “temporarily obstructing traffic” as descrbed in the Highway Code [thereby justifying enforcement action] as there might be a good reason why the driver has left the vehicle. I would prefer to see such matters left in the wiser and more experienced hands of the police rather than somewhat monosyllabic capacity of parking attendants.

Another misunderstood application of hazard warning lights is on moving vehicles. With certain exceptions [motorways etc] the warning lihghts must not be used while driving or being towed. Every dustcart, works vehicle, and people towing trailers seem to keep the hazard lights on even when in motion.

What about drivers who park on the opposite side of the road facing the wrong direction of traffic flow! These are lazy selfish and inconsiderate drivers who cause other road users traveling in the right direction to swerve around them as they attempt to pull out of their parking space! This should be made illegal as it is in Canada for obvious safety reasons!