48 hour resident parking rule

[robin bobo]

Hi,

I just got slapped with a parking ticket for leaving my car in one spot for 48 hours. (I am a resident.) I guess it was obvious from the snow piled on top of it.

But this just sounds like a bad law. Why would you want to incentivize people to move their cars every 2 days? I am not blocking thing, I am in a legal parking spot, no one is hurt by me leaving my car where I park it all of the time. If they have problem with me leaving snow on my car, then the law should be, "Residents must clear snow from car within 48hours of snow storm."

rb.

Comments

[totient]

When the city makes a temporary no-parking zone they put up signs 48 hours in advance. The 48 hour rule makes it so that if they tow you, you don't get to complain that you didn't see the no-parking signs, because you should have gone out and moved your car in the meantime and seen them then.

Separately, the city budget depends on automotive excise tax revenue. They really don't like it when Somerville residents register their cars at a friend or family member's house in Cambridge or Boston so that they can park for free near their work (and Cambridge and Boston don't like that either, for different reasons). If your car is covered in snow the PCOs can't tell if you're playing this game and they're really motivated to keep you from doing so.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

When the city makes a temporary no-parking zone they put up signs 48 hours in advance.

In theory.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

If they don't then the tickets/towing are illegal [in Somerville and Boston, I don't know about Medford yet].

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

As has been shown in this community before, good luck proving they didn't post them 48 hours prior, and good luck appealing a ticket, or getting your car back for free.

http://davis-square.livejournal.com/638326.html
http://davis-square.livejournal.com/689797.html
http://davis-square.livejournal.com/720824.html

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Looking through the linked threads, I see one person got their money back, and no one else bothered to try. Seems like a self fulfilling prophecy.