THAT Gets a Ticket?!

[meredithp]

Oh dear lord. People, I got a parking ticket today. While parked IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Yes, it's only a $20 ticket, but it was IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. I apparently violated the law by parking with the driver's side up against the curb, rather than the passenger side. Apparently this is a law because it means I was driving on the wrong side of the road. Except, hello, there are no lines on my street. People drive all over the damn street. You drive wherever there isn't a car. And my house is right inside the turnoff from the main road, so I swing around the turn and into my spot IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. Yes, it's a public street, but I was IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE! This is insane. Furthermore, I'm not the only one who does it, but my rear bumper is visible from the main road, so...I'm the lucky one. Even though I was IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE for crying out loud!!!

Comments

[raisinbottom.livejournal.com]

You don't own the street in front of your house. The government owns the street.

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but...IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE!

[raisinbottom.livejournal.com]

Was the driveway full?

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

Not to the outside observer. I'm not allowed to park in it, because my in-laws have a HUGE car that is so difficult to back out of the garage, that they don't like having anybody sitting on the other half of the driveway when they try to. Sometimes I do it anyway.

[birdmojo.livejournal.com]

The law is the law, citizen.

We're trying to protect children here.

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

And what does my car being parked facing one way vs. another way have to do with children? They'll ride their bike into it either way!

[birdmojo.livejournal.com]

Your $20 will go toward helping the children, surely.

[ayala920.livejournal.com]

And that's why I've never chanced parking like that, even when I lived in Laramie and everyone did it.

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

You mean you KNEW? I didn't even know it was a law. I mean, I get the not driving on the wrong side of the road bit, that's the REASON for the law. But the law itself says you must park with the passenger side to the curb (it says "right side" actually). I never heard of that law before.

[ayala920.livejournal.com]

I guess I just always assumed that it was a law. Makes sense... If you have to drive on that side, you should have to park on it, too. *shrugs*

[ardentdelirium.livejournal.com]

yeah, I park that way, and our neighbor is a cop. Fortunately, he is also cool and doesn't give me tickets.

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

You live in the same county as me, right? Can you talk to him and have him make my ticket disappear?! :D

[ardentdelirium.livejournal.com]

he's a statie

[nosrednayduj]

I learned this law when I was a teenager. I was "parking" with my boyfriend with the car parked going the wrong direction (I don't remember why we had pulled to that side of the road), and a cop had apparently pulled up behind (in front?) and was going to wait for us to get out of the car to give us the ticket, but he got bored and eventually pounded on the (steamed up) window. It was embarrassing! Fortunately we were fully clad. :-)

[sajego.livejournal.com]

I didn't know it was a law. Seems stupid to me. Maybe if they caught you in the act, but not once you're already parked there.

[clayfoot.livejournal.com]

Indeed. What's the formal charge? Driving on the wrong side of the road? Sounds like easily refutable circumstantial evidence to me. You could have pushed or towed it there, for all the police know.

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, the official charge is that I parked with my driver's side against the curb. My father-in-law claims that the reason for this law is because it means I was driving on the wrong side of the road, but the law that I violated was parking with my driver's side to the curb.

If it was more than $20, I'd definitely fight it, since it's pretty ridiculous - especially on a road with no lines. :P

[clayfoot.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Clearly, you were parked on the correct side of the road, but simply left too much space between the passenger side of your car and the curb. Unless, of course, the fine for parking too far from the curb is higher than $20.

[perigee.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, $20 is a pretty cheap way to learn that law.

I wonder if folks can ticket me for how I park on the private street where I actually do own the parcel in front of my house?

[holyjesusboner.livejournal.com]

you were driving on the wrong side when you passed over the invisible line marking opposing traffic.

but yeah, i was told a long time ago that you must park the same direction of travel. The ticketing cops don't know it's your house, they just know you're parked wrong.
it's your responsibility to know the laws (all 500 million of them!), so if it were a $200 ticket, you'd be SOL if you went to court and used that argument.

*Rana

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

If it's a law unto itself (as opposed to being impossible to park that way without driving on the wrong side), they should have put in the Parking section of the Virginia driver's manual along with all the other parking laws. But it's not, so I don't know how you would be expected to know.

Unfortunately ignorance of the law is no excuse. :-(

[woofiegrrl.livejournal.com]

Here is what the ticket says - can't find my camera or I'd take a picture.



Near as I can tell, 82-1-6 refers to the Fairfax County Code (http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=10051&sid=46); in particular, 82-1-6 directs you to the Virginia Code (http://leg1.state.va.us/000/src.htm), and here (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+46.2-889) is 46.2-889:

§ 46.2-889. Location of parked vehicles.

No vehicle shall be stopped except close to and parallel to the right edge of the curb or roadway, except that a vehicle may be stopped close to and parallel to the left curb or edge of the roadway on one-way streets or may be parked at an angle where permitted by the Commonwealth Transportation Board or local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction.

(Code 1950, § 46-256; 1952, c. 671; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-248; 1962, c. 175; 1972, c. 63; 1974, c. 230; 1977, cc. 284, 326; 1985, c. 93; 1989, c. 727.)

So it IS a law unto itself; the presumed reason for the law is that doing so requires you to drive on the wrong side, but the ACTUAL law is basically "park with passenger side to curb at all times." And yeah, I had no idea, but that doesn't mean anything to them!

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