A motorist fined for mounting a kerb to avoid clogging up a narrow street says she didn't realise "polite parking" was illegal.

Cassie Simmons told ABC Radio Brisbane she received an $126 fine in the mail one week after she parked on a street near Ferny Grove State School to pick up her children.

She said most parents coming to and from the school parked with two wheels up on the kerb to keep the narrow street clear.

"If you didn't park on the gutter on both sides, no cars would be able to get down," she said.

"The buses tear down the street so if you didn't park like that they wouldn't get down or you'd lose a mirror."

Ms Simmons said she knew parking inspectors regularly patrolled streets around the school but didn't realise having two wheels on the kerb was an offence.

"I just think you should be able to use reasonable judgment in narrow streets to make it safer for everyone," she said.

"Around 50 cars do the exact same thing around that area and I just got unlucky on that day."

Cars parked illegally along a narrow street in Springfield. ( Supplied: Jason Crouch )

Other listeners said they were frustrated council wasn't warning drivers before leaving a fine.

"In our street they are building high rise flats. People parked up on gutter to allow trucks through. Council booked them all. Ridiculous. How about a warning." - Phil, Chermside

"I did the same thing, two wheels on a roll-over kerb in a very narrow local street. Fine arrived in the mail to remind me not be courteous." Lou, Mansfield

"Parking with the left side of the car up on the gutter is often a sensible move in narrow streets, it shows awareness of the street width. The council is just raising revenue. They actually don't want you to stop as it's a nice little stream of income." - Noel, Bellmere

Mounting kerbs illegal in Queensland

Brisbane City Council (BCC) deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said it was illegal to park on a nature strip, verge or footpath, even if it was only with two wheels.

"That's been the case for a very long time and is also the case in other council areas as well," he said.

As for keeping narrow streets clear, Cr Schrinner said Queensland's road rules required drivers to leave a three-metre-wide space for other cars to pass.

"There's a view that you need to allow for two-way traffic to get through," he said.

"That is not actually the case...as long as one car can get through a narrow street one at a time, that's legal."

Council's opposition city planning spokesman, Jared Cassidy, said people needed to respect the road rules but he was concerned poor city planning was making the problem worse.

"We're seeing more new housing developments right across Brisbane and Council is only requiring the very minimum width in streets," he said.

"Council needs to be providing that infrastructure through development and requiring wider streets or we're going to see the problem ballooning in the next few years."

You can get a $126 fine for parking on a footpath or verge. ( ABC News: Shahni Wellington )

Mr Cassidy said council officers should have more discretion over whether they ticketed drivers in this situation.

"People don't have the room to park and they think they're doing the right thing but we're seeing more and more people being fined for it," he said.

"If people are around, [officers] can talk to them about this rather than the first act being to issue a fine."

Cr Schrinner said parking officers patrolled around 300 schools across the city on a regular basis and vehicles were highly visible so people knew parking regulations were being enforced.