Home › Forums › Open Discussion › 12 inches is good!
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May 5, 2010 at 10:24 pm #693902
KBearParticipant“I presume that vehicles are not permitted on parking strips because this damages vegetation, sidewalks, etc.”
And it creates an urban hillbilly aesthetic which many neighbors resent. It may help you to understand better if you refer to them as “planting strips”, which is what the city calls them, rather than “parking strips”.
May 6, 2010 at 1:13 am #693903
alki_2008Participant@dhg/duckitude – what about when only one side of the street has parking, and there’s barely more than one lane of traffic in the “street”. In that case, is there really a “correct” side of the street to park on? It would mean going all the way to the end of the street and then pulling into someone’s driveway to turn around in order to park on the ‘right’ side of the street in such cases. And since there’s essentially one lane of traffic, then pulling out either way poses the same danger (traffic can be coming from in front or behind you no matter which way your car is parked).
@duckitude – the issue I can foresee with ticketing that type of parking would be situations like…you park 20 inches from the car in front of you, that car leaves and another car parks and reverses to only 6 inches from the front of your car…who would the parking officer ticket? Your front is only 6 inches from the back of the car in front of you. Do you get the ticket, or the car in front of you? Parking enforcement would have to witness the parking job to know who to ticket.
May 6, 2010 at 1:51 pm #693904
DuckitudeMemberHi Alki: Like I noted earlier, I think there are situations in which parking the “wrong” direction is safer than otherwise, or, at least equally safe. However, as noted by other comments here, those are somewhat rare situations. Hopefully, and, as far as I can tell from this last experience and other sitings of parking enforcement in our neighborhood is that they are loathe to ticket “wrong” way parked cars. They could have ticketed several cars for that in our neighborhood and have chosen NOT to. In this instance, they really wanted to ticket the driver who parked into my front bumper, but couldn’t for anything but parking the wrong way.
Would I have called in the car for parking the wrong way? No, no one does that in our neighborhood, even though we get tons of that going on here since we live right at Lowman Beach Park. However, locking you in, and essentially kidnapping your car is another issue entirely. Making you late to work is another thing. Screwing up important appointments is another thing.
On the issue of ticketing such in your face parking carelessness, in this day and age of video surveillance, we now often have the evidence of who parked when and how. In fact, there are now video cameras that are so small and mountable on your dashboard that you can pretty much record most of the day as you drive along, park, etc. In fact, I don’t know if it is standard equipment on any cars yet, but I bet continuous video recording will be an option you can get on a car pretty soon, if not already available.
In this particular case, as noted above, I had the video that showed the exact time, the exact parking style, etc. Slam dunk ticket or tow as far as I am concerned.
People who are so careless won’t likely learn from a minor parking ticket that that kind of parking can really screw things up for someone unless the get towed, car impounded, or a large fine.
In fact, this person was so oblivious, they got back in their car later, with a ticket on the driver’s side windshield, under the wiper, and drove off not even noticing it. Ummm… not sure what they are smoking or drinking, but it must be powerful stuff…
May 6, 2010 at 3:44 pm #693905
KBearParticipantIt doesn’t matter whether there’s parking only on one side of the street, or how wide the street is, or whether you think it’s safe. It’s still illegal to park facing the opposite of traffic. However, it is understandable that many people don’t know this, considering how little the law is enforced in Seattle.
May 6, 2010 at 8:39 pm #693906
moxilotMemberDuring a recent trip to Portland, I learned about ‘maneuvering zones’… because I got a ticket for being in one. In parallel parking areas, there is a two or three foot gap between every two spaces marked with yellow striping and your vehicle cannot extend into that area. This way, no matter where you park you will have a reasonable amount of room either in front of you or behind you to get in or out. I don’t think the city paints the residential areas, but they definitely stripe the downtown curbs.
After the initial frustration over the ticket, I thought it was brilliant.
May 6, 2010 at 9:31 pm #693907
KBearParticipantIt wouldn’t work here. Seattle parkers can’t see lines on pavement.
May 12, 2010 at 4:25 pm #693908
alki_2008Participant@KBear, when there’s only one lane…and traffic goes in both directions (ie, both north and south) in that one lane, then what’s the “opposite of traffic”? That’s my point. The traffic is in both directions.
For example, driving up Bonair from Alki Ave…you’ll see that parking’s on the left side only. If someone’s driving up this road (from Alki Ave), then do they need to go all the way up to a point where they can turn around (not easy there) and then drive down the hill to park? Or would parking while facing either direction be “okay”?
@Duckitude – I completely agree with you that oblivious and discourteous drivers that block people in SHOULD be ticketed, but it’s just the logistics of doing it that I question.
May 12, 2010 at 8:15 pm #693909
KBearParticipantAlki, you park on the right, with the passenger door toward the curb, unless it’s a 1-way street (not just narrow 2-way) AND parking is allowed on the left. So yes, in your example, you DO have to turn around to park correctly. That’s the law, anyway.
May 14, 2010 at 8:32 pm #693910
bsmommaParticipantWhen I was little I remember finding this little piece of paper with a picture of Mickey Mouse sticking up his middle finger and a saying below it along the lines of “Thanks A-Hole maybe next time you could leave me a can opener.” I think that would be appropriate for this situation! :)
May 15, 2010 at 6:31 pm #693911
MtotobirdMemberThis reminded me of the time I parked my tiny little 70’s Honda Civic on my way to the beach in La Jolla, CA. I probably parked too close to the car in front of me. When I returned from the beach the front of my car had been picked up and swung out into the street, with no damage and no skid marks, and I had a ticket for parking more than 12″ from the curb! Since that lesson, I am always aware of leaving room for other cars when I park!
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