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Got a traffic ticket today. Can you explain the purpose of the law?

B

BigToque

Lifer
I was dropping an xbox360 off at a friends house (in a quiet residential area) and parked on the side of the road that everyone else was parked on, but I was only going to be a few minutes and just decided I wasn't going to do a 3 point turn to turn around, so I just parked facing the opposite direction that everyone else was.

5 minutes goes by and I come out to see a ticket on my vehicle. Talk about bad timing.

Anyway, looking at the city by-laws I see this:

except when a traffic authority otherwise permits, or on a one-way roadway when
not forbidden by the traffic authority, a driver shall not stop, stand or park a vehicle
other than on the right side of a highway and with the right-hand wheels parallel to
that side, and where there is a curb, within 450 millimetres of the curb.
Click to expand...

Can someone explain the reason for a law such as this? I suppose you could say it might be more difficult to see traffic when pulling out, but in that case anyone driving a vehicle with their steering wheel on the right hand would have that same problem parking the legal direction.

It just seems like a silly law. What a waste of $35...
 
Two reasons...

You implicitly drove on the wrong side of the road to park that way.

Someone driving towards you could freak out if they saw headlights facing them on their side of the road.

I tend to agree with you though. On a residential street, who cares?
 
Probably because you have to drive on the wrong side of the road to park and to pull out, and they don't want you to do that.
 
It doesn't make any sense in a residential area with low traffic and often times is not enforced in such situations. I always park on the "wrong side" of the road when I go to visit a certain friend of mine because it is just easier and has become habit. On several occasions I have been standing there talking with him as a police officer drove by and waved. I am pretty sure this is a law just about everywhere I know about but whether it is enforced varies.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Probably because you have to drive on the wrong side of the road to park and to pull out, and they don't want you to do that.
Click to expand...

This is exactly the reason. I have confirmed it with friends of mine that are police officers. It is just not always enforced in quiet residential areas.
 
WTF a ticket on a residential street? Never seen that before. Only instance I've heard of that is if you park on the street at night which is a pita for the snow removal crews.

Lot of these laws are just a way to make money though.
 
Because the drivers' side of your (backwards) car is now as close as possible to the curb. If there are any other cars parked along the same side of the street, it is nearly impossible to see past them when you go to pull out - your line-of-sight to oncoming traffic is dangerously short. So, you risk pulling out directly in front of oncoming traffic, and are aimed right at them and accelerating when you do so.

My roommate does this every. single. day. It drives me nuts. I secretly hope he gets ticketed for it so he starts parking the right way. 😱
 
You know why they call it the XBOX 360? Because when you see one you turn 360 and walk away from it.

...

😕
 
I call that parking "Oregon" style. You can't pull that off in California. Apparently not where you're from, either.
 
Originally posted by: Black88GTA
Because the drivers' side of your (backwards) car is now as close as possible to the curb. If there are any other cars parked along the same side of the street, it is nearly impossible to see past them when you go to pull out - your line-of-sight to oncoming traffic is dangerously short. So, you risk pulling out directly in front of oncoming traffic, and are aimed right at them and accelerating when you do so.
Click to expand...

This
 
Originally posted by: DayLaPaul
I call that parking "Oregon" style. You can't pull that off in California. Apparently not where you're from, either.
Click to expand...

I shall from this day forward refer it is as Oregon style. No explanation necessary, in fact that might ruin it. Thank you for this excellent label.
 
call it laziness or driving with superiority... I put it in the same category as people who don't bother signalling.
 
Originally posted by: BigToque
I was dropping an xbox360 off at a friends house (in a quiet residential area) and parked on the side of the road that everyone else was parked on, but I was only going to be a few minutes and just decided I wasn't going to do a 3 point turn to turn around, so I just parked facing the opposite direction that everyone else was.

5 minutes goes by and I come out to see a ticket on my vehicle. Talk about bad timing.

Anyway, looking at the city by-laws I see this:

except when a traffic authority otherwise permits, or on a one-way roadway when
not forbidden by the traffic authority, a driver shall not stop, stand or park a vehicle
other than on the right side of a highway and with the right-hand wheels parallel to
that side, and where there is a curb, within 450 millimetres of the curb.
Click to expand...

Can someone explain the reason for a law such as this? I suppose you could say it might be more difficult to see traffic when pulling out, but in that case anyone driving a vehicle with their steering wheel on the right hand would have that same problem parking the legal direction.

It just seems like a silly law. What a waste of $35...
Click to expand...



so you dont have to cross a lane when entering when entering and exiting a parking spot.
 
Originally posted by: sao123
Originally posted by: BigToque
I was dropping an xbox360 off at a friends house (in a quiet residential area) and parked on the side of the road that everyone else was parked on, but I was only going to be a few minutes and just decided I wasn't going to do a 3 point turn to turn around, so I just parked facing the opposite direction that everyone else was.

5 minutes goes by and I come out to see a ticket on my vehicle. Talk about bad timing.

Anyway, looking at the city by-laws I see this:

except when a traffic authority otherwise permits, or on a one-way roadway when
not forbidden by the traffic authority, a driver shall not stop, stand or park a vehicle
other than on the right side of a highway and with the right-hand wheels parallel to
that side, and where there is a curb, within 450 millimetres of the curb.
Click to expand...

Can someone explain the reason for a law such as this? I suppose you could say it might be more difficult to see traffic when pulling out, but in that case anyone driving a vehicle with their steering wheel on the right hand would have that same problem parking the legal direction.

It just seems like a silly law. What a waste of $35...
Click to expand...

If i copy saw you do that he could write you a ticket for driving left of center i believe...



so you dont have to cross a lane when entering when entering and exiting a parking spot.
Click to expand...

If a cop saw you do that he could write you a ticket for driving left of center i believe..
 
It may be because they don't want you driving on the other side of the street but I think we all really know this is one of those primarily for revenue purposes. At least when applied to residential areas.
 
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