Can you park a scooter anywhere in Switzerland?
No. Where parking spaces are marked, every vehicle may only park inside them. Parking outside the marked fields is a fixed fine of CHF 40 for up to two hours, CHF 60 for two to four hours and CHF 100 for four to ten hours. Motorbikes have their own fields, and mopeds may use the bicycle fields.
Ep. 61 · Ding or Clonk? · 66 seconds. Watch
The real rule
Why the Swiss laugh, and what it means if you're new here.
In Swiss towns, where parking spaces are painted on the road, every vehicle must park inside them, and parking outside the marked fields is a fixed fine of CHF 40 for up to two hours (CHF 60 and CHF 100 if longer). Motorbikes have their own fields with a motorbike symbol, and mopeds may use the bicycle fields. A private driveway belongs to the owners, and the house rules can ban vehicles there. So before you leave a car, motorbike or scooter, look for the lines first.
Blüemli's verdict: Ding. CHF 40. Where spaces are marked, park inside them. Outside: CHF 40, for up to two hours.
PARKFELD: literally: “park field”; really: a marked parking space Ueli's Word
Be like Ueli. Find the white lines. Park inside them.
Learn more: Arrival course, day 10: transport
The rule, explained
The Swiss signalling ordinance, the Signalisationsverordnung (SSV, SR 741.21), says it in Art. 79 para. 6: where parking fields are marked, vehicles may only be parked inside these fields. Para. 4 sorts the fields: those with the motorcycle symbol are for motorcycles, those with the bicycle symbol for bicycles and mopeds. The price is set in the Ordnungsbussenverordnung (OBV, SR 314.11), Annex 1, item 252, parking outside parking fields: CHF 40 for up to two hours, CHF 60 for two to four hours, CHF 100 for four to ten hours. An empty dead end does not change the rule: where the lines are painted, the lines decide. A private driveway is another matter: it belongs to the owners, and the house rules can ban vehicles there. So Sam's scooter needs a field, twenty metres further on.
Sources: Signalisationsverordnung SSV (SR 741.21), Art. 79, on fedlex; Ordnungsbussenverordnung OBV (SR 314.11), Annex 1, item 252, on fedlex
Questions people ask
What is the fine for parking outside a marked space in Switzerland?
CHF 40 for up to two hours, CHF 60 for two to four hours, CHF 100 for four to ten hours (OBV, Annex 1, item 252).
Where can mopeds and motorbikes park in Switzerland?
Fields with the motorcycle symbol are for motorcycles; fields with the bicycle symbol are for bicycles and mopeds (SSV Art. 79 para. 4).
More episodes
Previous: Halloween in Switzerland: does anyone trick or treat? Next: When does the heating come on in a Swiss flat?