You get back to your car and there’s a penalty notice under the wiper. You only stopped for a minute to grab a coffee — or you’d pulled over to let your kid out — and now you’re holding a $330 fine. No Stopping is the parking offence that catches the most people out, because “I was only stopped for a second” is exactly the thing it punishes.
This guide covers what a No Stopping fine costs in NSW, the places it applies even when there’s no sign, the demerit-point trap most people get wrong, and how to avoid or fight one. It’s NSW/Sydney-specific and current as at 1 July 2025, the date of the most recent published NSW Government penalty schedule.
This is general information, not legal advice. If your fine is large, you’ve been pushed past the enforcement-order stage, or your situation is unusual, contact LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529 — it’s free.
What a No Stopping fine costs
On a normal NSW street, a No Stopping fine is $330 with no demerit points. That’s the figure for the standard “disobey no stopping sign” offence — Rule 167 of the Road Rules 2014 — in the official NSW Government parking offences schedule (as at 1 July 2025).
But the $330 figure isn’t the whole story, and this is where it gets expensive:
| Situation | Rule | Fine | Demerit points |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Stopping sign — normal street | 167 | $330 | 0 |
| No Stopping sign — school zone | 167 | $423 | 2 |
| Continuous yellow edge line | 169 | $330 | 0 |
| Stop within 20 m of a signalised intersection | 170(2) | $423 | 2 |
| Stop within 10 m of an unsignalised intersection | 170(3) | $423 | 2 |
| Stop on or near a children’s / pedestrian / foot crossing | 171–173 | $423 | 2 |
| Stop on a clearway | 176 | $330 | 0 |
| Stop in a bus zone | 183 | $330 | 0 |
Two things to take from that table. First, a No Stopping fine in a school zone jumps to $423 and 2 demerit points — the same plain sign, nearly $100 more, plus points. Second, the most common ways a “no stopping” situation arises near intersections and crossings are not the $330 sign offence — they’re $423 offences that do carry demerit points. More on that below.
Note: penalty amounts are reviewed annually, usually around 1 July, and the figure on your specific notice is the legally binding one. Always confirm against the official schedule or your notice.
Why it’s one of the most expensive common parking fines
At $330, No Stopping is more than double the $140 you’d pay for No Parking — even though the two signs look almost identical. That’s not an accident. No Parking allows a brief, supervised drop-off; No Stopping allows nothing. The fine reflects that No Stopping zones are placed where a stationary car is an actual hazard — blind corners, crossings, bus routes, clearways — not merely an inconvenience.
The trap is the wording. People read “No Stopping” and think “fine, I won’t park — I’ll just stop for a second.” That’s the literal opposite of what the sign means. We break down exactly what each sign allows in No Stopping vs No Parking; the short version is that under No Stopping the vehicle must never be stationary, with no time exception and no drop-off exception.
Where No Stopping applies even with no sign
This is the part that surprises people: a No Stopping zone doesn’t need a No Stopping sign. There are several situations where the rule applies regardless.
A continuous yellow edge line. Under Rule 169, a continuous (unbroken) yellow line painted along the edge of the road means No Stopping — full stop, no sign required. It carries the same $330 penalty. NSW councils use it where there’s no room for a pole, or to make a continuous restriction obvious — see Sutherland Shire Council’s explainer. A broken yellow line means something else, so check whether it’s solid.
Near intersections. You must not stop within 20 metres of an intersection with traffic lights, or 10 metres of one without lights, even where there’s no sign — that’s Rule 170. The absence of a sign is not permission. We cover how the distance is measured, and the common ways people misjudge it, in how close can you park to a corner in NSW.
Near crossings. Stopping on or near a children’s crossing, pedestrian crossing or marked foot crossing (Rules 171–173) is treated the same way as an intersection — $423 and 2 demerit points.
Clearways. A clearway is a No Stopping zone for the hours shown on the sign, and stopping on one is a $330 offence (and in peak hours your car can be towed). The full rules, hours and tow risk are in Sydney clearways explained.
Bus zones and bus stops. A bus zone is a No Stopping zone for everyone but buses — $330.
Demerit points — the nuance most people get wrong
The single most-searched question on this fine is “do No Stopping fines have demerit points?” — and the honest answer is it depends which No Stopping offence you got. Get this right and you’ll understand your notice better than most.
- A plain No Stopping sign on a normal street (Rule 167): no demerit points. Just the $330 fine. This is the everyday case and the source of the widespread belief that No Stopping has no points.
- The same sign offence in a school zone (Rule 167, school zone): 2 demerit points plus a $423 fine, per the School zone offences schedule.
- No stopping arising near an intersection or crossing (Rules 170, 171, 172, 173): 2 demerit points plus a $423 fine, everywhere — because these are treated as road-safety offences, not pure parking offences. In a school zone these climb again to $562 with 2 points.
So “No Stopping fines don’t have demerit points” is true only for the plain-sign offence outside a school zone. If your fine cites Rule 170 (an intersection), Rule 171–173 (a crossing), or any Rule 167 offence in a school zone, you’re looking at demerit points. Check the rule number printed on your notice — that’s what determines it, not the words “No Stopping.”
For the complete schedule across every parking offence, see NSW parking fine amounts in 2026.
How No Stopping fines are enforced
Most No Stopping fines are issued by council parking officers (rangers) on foot, but increasingly by mobile licence-plate-recognition (LPR) cars — council vehicles with roof-mounted cameras that read plates as they drive past. They’re especially common around schools, where a single LPR pass through a drop-off zone can capture dozens of cars stopped where they shouldn’t be. (Industry write-ups, like this one on mobile LPR, describe systems reading roughly a thousand plates an hour.)
Since 1 July 2025, the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Act 2024 requires officers to attach a physical notice to your vehicle at the time in most cases, with limited exceptions and a 7-day rule if they can’t. If a No Stopping fine turned up in the post with nothing left on your windscreen, whether that’s valid or challengeable is covered in can you get a NSW parking fine without a notice on your windscreen. For how rangers patrol and what they record, see how parking rangers work in Sydney.
How to avoid a No Stopping fine
- Read the sign for the cross, not the word. A red circle with a red cross and no letter = No Stopping = you cannot stop at all. A “P” with a slash is No Parking, which is far more forgiving.
- Treat a solid yellow edge line as a No Stopping sign, even when there’s no pole.
- Stay well back from corners. If there’s no sign at an intersection, assume 10 m (no lights) or 20 m (lights) and add margin — those distances are minimums.
- Around schools, don’t stop in the No Stopping band to wait. Use the marked No Parking / Kiss-and-Drop strip, stay in the car, and keep moving. The school-zone No Stopping fine is $423 plus points.
- On a clearway, don’t stop during the posted hours — the tow truck is a bigger problem than the fine.
How to fight a No Stopping fine
Because the fine is large, a No Stopping notice is often worth a review — if you have a real ground. The strongest are: there was no sign and no yellow line visible from where you stopped; the sign was obscured or contradictory; the notice has the wrong location, time or rule; or you stopped in a genuine emergency. Photos taken at the scene, showing the signage as it was when you stopped, are the single most useful thing you can submit.
A review through Revenue NSW is free, done online, and pauses the due date while it’s decided. The full process — grounds that actually work, sample wording, and what to do if it’s denied — is in how to appeal a NSW parking fine. What rarely works: “I was only there for a minute.” That’s the exact behaviour the rule targets.
What this guide doesn’t cover
- The full No Stopping vs No Parking comparison — that’s its own guide.
- Exact intersection measurement and corner edge cases — see how close can you park to a corner in NSW.
- Clearway hours, zones and towing — see Sydney clearways explained.
- Other states. These figures and rule numbers are NSW only. The Australian Road Rules are broadly similar interstate, but the dollar amounts and demerit allocations differ.
A No Stopping fine is the kind of $330 surprise that’s easy to avoid once you know the sign means zero stopping, and that the rule can apply with no sign at all. Chalked is built to keep that surprise from happening — it’s a crowdsourced parking-ranger warning app for Sydney that flags ranger activity near where you’ve parked, so you can move before a notice lands under your wiper. It’s free on the App Store and Google Play.
For the full fine schedule, see NSW parking fine amounts in 2026. For the sign that looks almost identical but costs far less, see No Stopping vs No Parking. And if you’ve already copped one, how to appeal a NSW parking fine walks through the review.
This is general information, not legal advice. For anything serious, contact LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529.