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

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

> I've also been amused to notice that some streets have actual sanctioned parking that is clearly within 20' of the interaction. WTF?

There's a spot like this on my street -- a stretch of curb at the Kidder intersection, with a fire hydrant at the far end. There's probably about 30 feet between the hydrant and the intersection, meaning it's completely impossible to park there -- and yet there's a sign that says very clearly, with arrows pointing in both directions, "PERMIT PARKING ONLY." People park in this spot routinely. I'm glad to say they're also ticketed routinely (glad because it's always the same people, at least one of whom HAS A DRIVEWAY ANYWAY, and they obviously know better. But we were not pleased when one of those frequent-offender cars finally got booted for unpaid parking tickets -- and sat there, booted, taking up a perfectly good parking spot for about 2 weeks).

I got a ticket at the other end of the street for parking within 20 feet of the intersection. Short of finding a tape measure I really don't know where "20 feet" is, but I was probably guilty so I paid it, and now avoid the spot. Avoiding it is easy, though, since there's ALWAYS SOMEONE PARKED IN IT ANYWAY. Comforting to know that I'm penalized for breaking a law that could save my life if only they enforced it more than once every 4 or 5 weeks.

I'm not against them enforcing the law, actually. But they've got to mark the curbs/take down the confusing signs/or best yet put up "no parking here to corner" signs. Alternatively, they could just begin enforcing it consistently -- I'd prefer emphasis on the former solution to the latter. But if they're going to ticket for this regulation which theoretically is for people's safety, they need to ACTUALLY DO IT.