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

Parking Passions

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Jeez.
Folks.
Even for my colleagues who actually WORK at Traffic and Parking, this level of rabbinical pilpul is pretty intense.

But since you're on the topic:

1. The 20 foot rule is a state law, not a local one. It applies even at "T" intersections where one road ends at another. There are supposedly no exceptions, but every city or town has spaces (sometimes even marked or metered)that are clearly in violation. People who look for perfect consistency here, or in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, Arlington, etc. -- will be disappointed.

2. T&P has indeed begun the process of systematically re-signing many intersections in the city, but it's going to take a while. Technically, however, the rule applies anywhere in the state, even if no markings or signs are present.

3. The city's traffic commission has approved the Mayor's proposal to designate a number of key intersections as fire lanes. which allows us to stripe the pavement (white only) and charge a higher fine for violations. these were locations were determined by a team from the Fire Dept. and T&P using actual turning radius data from actual fire engines, so the resulting lanes are, in some instances, even longer than 20 feet.. Here's the URL for the press release that describes the changes and lists the locations:
http://www.somervillema.gov/newsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1092

Please note that another state law prevents us from striping the pavement or the curb for ordinary 20-foot designations.

Finally, I want to mention that enforcement decisions will always, to some extent, vary from one Parking Control Officer to another. The PCO position is a gateway to other union jobs with the city, which is only one reason why turnover is fairly high. (Would you want the job?) That said, we have several more PCOs on the street now than we did last year (vacancies have been filled and new positions created), and the mayor and the Board of Aldermen have both requested in the wake of several recent fires that T&P enforce the 20 foot rule more consistently and aggressively. You or others may still get away with it, but you're taking a gamble.

Re: Parking Passions

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this here. We're probably all well aware that LJ isn't the best place to go for official rulings regarding traffic laws, but it's nice to have the presence, anyway.

Please note that another state law prevents us from striping the pavement or the curb for ordinary 20-foot designations.

Bummer.

Re: Parking Passions

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is... a really stupid law. Hooray for Massachusetts! :/

Re: Parking Passions

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Oh, Tom Champion, you are so awesome. First, because of your very concise explanation; second, because you used the word pilpul. Correctly, yet!

Re: Parking Passions

[ron_newman]

Yeah, I was about to say the same thing. Bravo, Tom.

Re: Parking Passions

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

I had to go look that one up. Guess it never came up in my Southern Catholic upbringing.

Re: Parking Passions

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I think it's great that Somerville is marking these fire lanes. But what's the point of painting curbs when they'll be under piles of snow some of the time? Signs work much better. There's also no Massachusetts state law I know of that defines the meanings for painted curbs.

And if you do paint the curbs, why not use red rather than white, since red is the standard color for a no parking zone in places where the colors have legal meaning?

The press release does say that there will be signs as well as painted curbs.

I also think that Somerville should post signs at *every* corner where they intend to enforce the 20-foot rule. If it's important enough to penalize one driver, it's more than important enough to let all future drivers know where they shouldn't park.

("The white zone is for loading and unloading only...")

Re: Parking Passions

[buckturgidsen.livejournal.com]

Thanks Tom this is all great info. I had to google 'pilpul' and now have a great new word in the vocabulary. :) The one thing I would still say (and I know this isn't a formal suggestion box for the T&P department): when there are selectively-enforced laws like this one the T&P dept should make a big effort to make sure that enforcement is consistent and (where possible) sensible. We're adaptive creatures and where there are grey areas in the law (like regulations that are broadly unenforced) we learn the ropes through a combination of common sense and imitating what everyone else is doing. My own observation is that there are cars all over town parked <10 feet from intersections (go to Google maps and enable "street view" and take a tour through town if you don't believe me) and it's pretty rare to see tickets on these cars. I'm not talking about cars obnoxiously parked in crosswalks or two feet from intersections, I am talking about cars who look perfectly reasonably parked even after factoring in the turning radius of fire trucks. Which is why it was weird to suddenly get a ticket for being 13 feet from a cul-de-sac. It would be like driving on the highway and getting a speeding ticket for doing 57mph while other cars are doing 65 -- it's a nuisance for the driver and seems to serve no particular purpose.