Your car dies in a spot where stopping is normally prohibited, and it cannot be moved. Are you automatically in breach of the parking and stopping rules?

Correct answer: D. No — a vehicle so disabled that a breach cannot be avoided is temporarily exempt

No. HTA s.170(8) carves this out: "The provisions of this section do not apply to the driver or operator of a vehicle that is so disabled while on a highway that it is impossible to avoid temporarily a contravention of the provisions." Read the wording carefully, because it is narrow. It covers a vehicle *so disabled* that breaking the rule cannot be avoided, and only *temporarily*. A car that still drives is not disabled, and a breakdown does not turn into a parking spot — the exemption lasts while you are arranging to move it, not indefinitely. What it does mean is that a genuine breakdown is not a ticket by itself, so your first concern is warning other traffic and getting help, not the sign you happen to be under.

Source: MTO Driver's Handbook: HTA Section 170(8) — Disabled vehicle exception to the parking rules