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

[0bsessions.livejournal.com]

It can be pretty bad in sections of MA, too. I got ticketed on 495 heading by Chelmsford once for "impeding traffic" AND speeding on the same fucking ticket. I was in the left lane passing a car and a statie got up on me and did that tailgate you until you speed crap. When people do that to me, I wait for them to go around me and I hadn't noticed it was a cop.

I will say that MA courts are a lot more lenient and reasonable than NH. When I contested it, the magistrate threw it right the fuck out saying a ticket for 72 MPH in a 65 zone was a waste of the state's time to begin with. The same happened with every other ticket I've ever been written in MA (Including one where the cop actually agreed to drop it if I'd fixed my admittedly too loud muffler), but the one speeding ticket I ever got in NH (75 in a 65 on Route 93 near Hooksett), the judge actually upped my fine from $100 to $410 and suspended my license for a month when I tried to contest it before verbally dressing me down in front of my mother (Who had to drive me as my car wouldn't start that morning) and an entire courtroom full of other people waiting to contest their own tickets ("I hope your mother's proud of your apparent flagrant disregard for the law" were his exact words, note that I don't even have a criminal record).