Yesterday's story about the Premier's official car being parked on a loading zone on Washington Street may have seemed trite to some, but it seemed to strike a chord, both on the airwaves and on the Internet, where it proved to be the best read of all the new stories posted on The Royal Gazette's website yesterday, outpacing seemingly more weighty stories on Bermuda's tax position, swine flu, victory by Bermuda in the Davis Cup and more.

But popularity isn't everything, and there was in fact a serious message to the story.

First, no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law, and that goes for parking laws as much as any others. And it does not matter if the Premier was in the car or not; GP1 is a symbol of the position.

Secondly, and in the case, more importantly, the issue of people parking on Washington Street opposite the Bus Terminal was one of the primary causes of the months-long work to rule by bus drivers, and it wasn't that long ago that parking bays on Washington Street were removed in an effort to reduce the congestion problem at the terminal.

At that time a bus driving source warned it would not solve the problem because "vehicles would still be running up and down to use the loading and unloading bays".

How right he was, but even he probably did not realise it would be the official car of the Premier and Minister of Transport and Tourism that would be using the loading bays.