What are parking lights? How sidelights work and when to use them

It’s not unusual to go years without using some functions of your car, and parking lights are a feature that we’d wager most drivers have never used.

Read through the Highway Code, and there are very specific circumstances in which parking lights should be illuminated. That’s all very well, but what are parking lights, and what are those circumstances?

Below, we explain what parking lights are, where you’ll find them, where you should be using them, and where you shouldn’t. Chances are, you probably still won’t need to activate that switch any time soon – but it doesn’t hurt to know in case you need it.

What are parking lights?

Parking lights are more commonly known in the UK as sidelights – the smaller, dimmer lights that you’ll turn on at the first step on a light switch, before turning on the dipped beams. They were originally designed to be used when parking in certain circumstances, to alert other drivers that a vehicle is stationary and parked.

When and how should I use parking lights?

According to the Highway Code, the only correct use of a car’s sidelights or parking lights is ‘when parked on a road or a lay-by on a road with a speed limit greater than 30mph (48km/h)’. This means parking lights aren’t required on quiet residential streets where the limit tends to be 30mph or lower. While the wording is ambiguous, you also shouldn’t need sidelights when parked in a designated parking bay off a faster road, as your car isn’t parked in the road itself.

The only other recorded instance in the Highway Code where parking lights are specifically recommended is if you are parking on a road in fog – though the document strongly recommends avoiding this altogether.

Otherwise, all other instances in which you might use parking lights - dull weather, darkness, inclement conditions, reduced visibility for any other reason – are better served by your dipped headlights. In other words, if you think the weather is dull enough to use any lighting at all, you should use your headlights.

How do they differ from my car’s headlights?

Essentially, parking lights are less bright than your car’s headlights, and therefore unsuitable for use at night or in poor weather when you may need a more powerful beam pattern to actually see down the road – and to be seen by other traffic.

Your parking lights or sidelights will typically illuminate on both sides, and also turn your rear lights on. Some cars actually have ‘handed’ parking lights, where you turn the light switch in one direction or another (in a dedicated spot, rather than the usual sidelight detent), or press a particular button, to illuminate the parking lights on one side or another. Some cars will also do this by setting the indicator stalk to one side or the other in conjunction with the sidelights.

Parking lights are also different from daytime running lights, or DRLs. DRLs remain illuminated while driving, but switch off when the car is parked (unless you leave the car switched on, or the ignition is in the accessory position). Parking lights are designed to be used even when the car is off.

Are there any other laws around parking on the road?

In addition to the need for sidelights when parking on 30mph-plus roads or in fog, the Highway Code does state a handful of other rules for on-street parking, in the kind of situation where you might use parking lights.

Interestingly, the Code specifically notes that vehicles with an unladen weight of under 1,525kg may be parked without parking lights on roads with a speed limit of 30mph, if they are in a recognised parking space or more than 10m from a junction. Given that many modern cars significantly exceed this unladen weight, parking lights are theoretically necessary – though clearly, this is far from being widely enforced.

Other parking laws include never parking facing the flow of traffic unless in a designated parking space, never parking in a space reserved for specific road users (such as Blue Badge holders, residents, or motorcycles) unless entitled to do so, nor leave a vehicle or trailer in a potentially dangerous or obstructive position. Given the squeeze put on narrow urban streets by large vehicles like SUVs or vans, some of you will be a little bemused by the Highway Code’s use of the word ‘obstructive’.

In London, pavements and red routes are also generally off-limits, and you should not park in school entrance zones, bus and taxi stops, near level crossings, road brows or humpback bridges, in cycle lanes, opposite traffic islands, on bends, in front of property entrances, or anywhere that would prevent emergency services from having access. Like most things in life then, considerate parking can be largely summed up as ‘use your brain’.

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