OK - how about the 20 foot law?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

Since parking laws are under discussion I would like to bring up the 20 ft law (= illegal to park within 20 feet of an intersection). I got a ticket last month on my street for this, in a spot where I and other residents have parked for years. The ticket said I was 8 feet from the intersection. I appealed it by mail and sent photos and got a notice yesterday that my appeal was denied. (fwiw - this is a one way street, off of a one way street and in my humble opinion, there was ample clearance for pedestrians and emergency vehicles).

Ok - so I will pay the $30. ticket- but the thing is, it seems like selective/arbitrary enforcement. Even more, there are numerous spots in this neighborhood where, if this 20 ft law were enforced routinely, would not be legal spots at all- yet folks park in those spots all the time.

Trivial I agree but it seems more about $$$ ("revenue enhancement") than anything else. Also, rather than leaving it to a judgment call by someone tryng to park or the parking enforcement person, there should be clear markings on the curb at the 20 ft mark.

Photo behind the cut. Am I guilty or not? ;-)


 

Comments

[ron_newman]

I didn't know there was any rule about driveways. When I still had a car, I would park as close to them as possible, to maximize the amount of street-parking space for my neighbors.

[warlord-mit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you're not allowed to block a driveway (I don't know what the exact rule is). You have to live in the house in order to call it in, and they will only come out if you call. But IF it's YOUR driveway and you call they will come out and give them a ticket if they are actually blocking your driveway. I was able to get someone ticketed who was actually about 1-2' INTO my driveway space.

snark

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I didn't know there was any rule about driveways.

You mean you didn't familiarise yourself with every last minutia of the parking regs? (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1093761.html?thread=10518401#t10518401)

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Re: snark

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know I'm holding up a ridiculously high standard here. I must have injured my brain with that sheet of local parking regs I read in the ten minutes between entering the T&P building and getting to the head of the line for my parking permit!

[snow-how.livejournal.com]

Same here. And now that I know about this possible rule, I'll try to hold less evil thoughts toward all the "bad parkers" who cluelessly abandon their cars smack in the middle of a two-car length of sidewalk between two driveways: now I'll give the benefit of a doubt that they're trying to adhere to this "rule."

Not really related, but --

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I also hate with a firey passion the people who take up more than one space, particularly on these streets with not nearly enough parking. The stretch in front of my house now routinely fits 3 cars and could conceivably fit 4 if they were all as short as my roommate's car -- and yet I've seen 2 people manage to park so badly that they take up the entire space. I don't endorse vandalism but parking on this street is so crowded that it was hard not to want to key them both.

That said, however, in parking here over time, there really are a number of deceptively long stretches of curb that I truly believed were two-car length until I saw two cars try to park there and saw that they simply weren't. Sometimes it's only a matter of 2 or 3 feet, but it's still just an optical illusion that another vehicle could actually fit there. The stretch in front of my old house was like this, and I had an argument with my friend (the same one with the wee car, though she was not yet my roommate) about whether or not I was being obnoxious by parking right in the center. We had to actually try parking both of them to prove that another car really couldn't have fit. I'm still not good at eyeballing these things though -- I have to see it to believe it.

Re: Not really related, but --

[snow-how.livejournal.com]

You're so right. That's why I reserve evil thoughts for lazy parkers who are taking up long stretches that at other times do house multiple cars comfortably!

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

I found out about that one when I got ticketed for it. I understood it when I got a driveway, and discovered just how difficult it can be to back out when there are cars parked right up against it.

A long time ago, when I lived in Somerville and parked on the street, ticketing only seemed to happen on street-sweeping days. I don't know about the statistics now, because I have a driveway.