Parking enforcement warning

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

I just noticed that one of my neighbors picked up a $30 fine for parking within 30' of an intersection. This is one of those bullshit tickets that tend to enrage, because people have been parking in that same spot since I moved here to Somerville about 4 years ago. There yellow "no parking" curb markings are only 5' from the intersection and this car is parked beyond it.

So keep in mind the city is probably running short on tax revenues and are sending the men and women in blue around to help fill the city coffers by ticketing for the ridiculously nit-picky and arcane things.

Comments

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

They've changed the rule sin the last 4 years; also, there was a post in here earlier in the week about a fire that was exacerbated by people parking too near an intersection that caused some people to get trapped. That's probably making them paranoid and likely to be jumpy about issuing tickets.

I agree that consistency is key and that big law changes need to be heavily publicized, but I thought you might want to know that there are some other things going on pursuant to your complaint. It may not be running short on revenues after all.

[ron_newman]

Could also have to do with the fire a few days ago near Magoun Square. See earlier entries in this community this week.

[dirty-devlin.livejournal.com]

You're quick Newman. ;)

[ron_newman]

Looks like four of us said the same thing at the same time, more or less.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

It took me longer because I was looking up references. :)

[dirty-devlin.livejournal.com]

I think it has more to do with the recent fire where the FD couldn't get down the street due to illegally parked cars.

[thelastcity.livejournal.com]

I think they're starting to re-enforce this law because of the fire in Ball Square (I think it was Ball) last week where the firetrucks couldn't get in to put out the fire because of some illegally parked vehicles (which were, apparently, in front of some fire hydrants/not 30' from the curb).

[desireearmfeldt]

I have to say that as a driver and pedestrian and cyclist, I find that when people park too close to the curb, it seriously impedes my ability to make a left turn at an intersection (like the one at the end of my street, which is nearly always overparked by a really tall vehicle like an SUV, so that one is forced to turn blind onto Broadway, where people tend to drive faster than they ought to).

While I have no particular wish for people to get ticketed, I do wish they'd obey this particular traffic law. :)

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/909985.html

There was just a fire nearby where rescue of trapped people was hampered by illegally parked cars. Of course they're cracking down…

20' has been the law since at least 1/06 (according to http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/CoS_Content/documents/ParkingPoliciesWeb.pdf )

If the policy's actually 30', I can't find that online, but they've certainly been enforcing this on Willow Ave. for a while now.

I just wish they'd repaint the markings that show where the enforcement area is. They're visible still, but just BARELY.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

I "got" a ticket for this a couple of months ago. (I never got the actual ticket, just the notice of having not paid it.) It said I was parked 4 feet from the intersection on my corner, when the closest I've ever parked from it was 26 feet and state law dictates you may not park within 20 feet of an intersection.

So, not only did I not actually get the ticket, the ticket had to be someone completely fabricating an offense out of midair.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

That's weird, this happened to me once too, soon after I moved to the area. I found one of those orange ticket envelopes on my car and later got a notice of not having paid. I figured it had blown away or something so I just paid it. Since then I've seen a lot of cars ticketed for parking in that particular place (on Willow Ave., at the corner of Mallet St.). I wish they would put up signs because it's not obvious that you're not supposed to park there and unsuspecting newbies seem to do it all the time.

[triphicus.livejournal.com]

Yea, one of my roommates got one of those!

[x-bluerose-x.livejournal.com]

I got the same one recently--at 10:15 on a Saturday night at a place where other people park all of the time and no signs to be found anywhere.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Yeah last night a cop knocked on my door to tell me to back my car up two feet. Moralize all you want, but it's a pain in my ass.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Consider yourself lucky you got one of the good cops and he cut you a break. He could have just as easily ticketed your car or even had it towed.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've also received one mystery ticket for parking near a curb, and I was no where near the curb.

My 2 favorite somerville parking stories are that I was ticketed 50$ for a Snow Bird Ticket.

Apparently, if you don't clean the snow off your car after a certain amount of time, like 48 hours, you can get a ticket. It was explained to me that this was because the snow could be blocking your permit. However, I lived on a one way street with not permit parking. It was that giant storm a few years ago when we literally got like 4 feet of snow. I lived on clarendon, so basically my options were to clean the snow off my car onto the sidewalk, or into the street. Being that is a narrow one way street with cars on both sides and I don't drive to work, I just left it buried. I WAS HELPING!!!

[maclou.livejournal.com]

About the snow thing, cars aren't supposed to be parked in a space for more than 48 hours so if a car is still buried two days after the snow then that means the car hasn't been moved in two days so a ticket...

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I have friends who had an out of town guest who got hit with a "you parked just slightly more than 12 inches from the curb" ticket.

Say what you will about how people OUGHT to follow rules (and I agree they should and that repeat offenders ought to be penalized) but this city is THE most nitpicky and ticket-happy of any major metro area I've ever seen. Worse than Boston, NYC, etc.

[tut21.livejournal.com]

Agreed. It's a bullshit fine. Yes, drivers should park a certain distance away from every curbs but 30' is excessive. On streets where every house has a driveway it's tough enough to find a spot as it is.