Is it illegal to speed in a parking lot?

[Eeezee]

Yes, definitely illegal

By your logic it should be legal to drive 120mph on the freeway when there's nobody around. I agree with you, but it is still illegal. Those speed limits are in place partially for your safety (blowing a tire at 120mph is probably going to be fatal, 60mph less so but still very serious, not such a big deal at 30-40mph)

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: WisMan
A friend of mine got cited for wreckless driving for doing wheelies in a empty parking lot, so i assume if they can give it to you for that they can do it for excessive speeding too.

Reckless.

Originally posted by: Farang
Very likely you'll get wreckless driving--the fact that its empty is irrelevant. A cop wanted to give me wreckless driving for doing donuts on the beach with a dirtbike, nobody was around and beaches are treated as public roads here. Your only hope is that they have no control over private property which probably depends on where you live.

Reckless.

 

[thomsbrain]

Public parking lots (schools, businesses, malls, etc) generally have agreements with the local police to allow enforcement within the property lines. If it's your own land and you've got a gate for the entrance, you can do whatever you want.

That said, if you're just finding the limits of the car at lower speeds and not purposely doing loud obnoxious burn-outs that leave marks, I doubt you'd have an issue.

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: Spartan Niner

Originally posted by: WisMan
A friend of mine got cited for wreckless driving for doing wheelies in a empty parking lot, so i assume if they can give it to you for that they can do it for excessive speeding too.

Reckless.

Originally posted by: Farang
Very likely you'll get wreckless driving--the fact that its empty is irrelevant. A cop wanted to give me wreckless driving for doing donuts on the beach with a dirtbike, nobody was around and beaches are treated as public roads here. Your only hope is that they have no control over private property which probably depends on where you live.

Reckless.

Thank you. That had been bugging me heh.

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: WisMan
A friend of mine got cited for wreckless driving for doing wheelies in a empty parking lot, so i assume if they can give it to you for that they can do it for excessive speeding too.

Does that mean you can a reckless driving ticket for operating a unicycle? :Q

Obviously this in jest because a unicycle is designed to ride on one wheel, while a motorcycle or bicycle is designed to ride on two. *

* This section added to satisfy the famous AT one-up police

 

[BrownTown]

Well I am somewhat confused exactly how this works because I know you go do whatever you want on your own private property. I mean I drove the car around the private subdivision I lived in when I was a kid and didn't have a liscence. And if you own a large area then I don't see why you couldn't speed or do donuts or whatever. I guess maybe its the fact that it isn't YOUR private property, but I would still think that if you got the property owner to say its ok then youd be fine.

 

[KK]

My father in his truck got hit by another vehicle in a home depot parking lot. The cop came, but didn't write any reports because they said the parking lot is private property. He said each vehicle would have to go to their own insurance to get the damage taken care of. There wasn't a whole lot of damage done to my fathers truck, so he never worried about it.

 

[markgm]

I've heard that it can be done if the owner requests it, so I guess it varies by state.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Well I am somewhat confused exactly how this works because I know you go do whatever you want on your own private property. I mean I drove the car around the private subdivision I lived in when I was a kid and didn't have a liscence. And if you own a large area then I don't see why you couldn't speed or do donuts or whatever. I guess maybe its the fact that it isn't YOUR private property, but I would still think that if you got the property owner to say its ok then youd be fine.

My previous post:

Originally posted by: Xavier434
I realize you are suggesting that it should be legal if the lot was empty and private property, but consider how stupid people are. If you allow them to do that, then there will be plenty of assholes who will not be able to resist the temptation of doing it in a lot (private or public) while it is full. It's not worth even giving them a reason to consider it. If you want to do that stuff then just go to a track.

There many laws in place due to same logical justification. Rather than adding clauses explaining where and when you can and can't do everything they just take the easier and safer route by saying "No way!" in a lot of cases. In most of these cases where the scenario really doesn't apply much when it comes to why the original law was created, the cops will generally let it slide unless we are talking about a much more serious law (I doubt you can convince any cop that creating and blowing up powerful explosives on your private property is a-ok). In the case of a private parking lot in the middle of a public area in town, you are more likely to get busted. I believe if everyone were responsible and continuously used good judgment when it comes to things like this then the authorities wouldn't have to worry so much but the world just isn't like that so I don't blame them.

 

[imported_Imp]

Good question. I don't have a car or bike yet, but when I do, I plan on going wild in an empty lot early morning. But the "no-shit" part of my brain keeps telling me that cops will probably ticket/arrest me no matter how empty it is. I even get the feeling that they'd tell me to get out if I were there hours before/after store hours.

 

[Cuular]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
Then he got stupid and started blasting NWA's Police song and the cop gave him a C&R

Fixed.

 

[Baked]

Which car where you driving?

 

[imported_Baloo]

Make sure you have permission from whoever owns the parking lot.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Baked
Which car where you driving?

most aren't going to be fucking around in a parking lot during business hours like these tools.

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
It's not "private property", it's "private property with public access", which means in just about every state the police dept does have the right to enforce whatever speed limits and other rules are in effect on that property. If you own a plot of land and want to do donuts, there's likely nothing the cops can do about it.... but if that plot is private land with public access (for example, a parking lot for a nearby business), the cops can cite you for (example) "unsafe operation of a vehicle" or some other such law.

This man is absolutely correct. If it is used for a public purpose, it is treated as such under the vehicle codes.

 

[potato28]

Not here unless the property owner calls the cops and asks them to come ticket you.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
It's not "private property", it's "private property with public access", which means in just about every state the police dept does have the right to enforce whatever speed limits and other rules are in effect on that property. If you own a plot of land and want to do donuts, there's likely nothing the cops can do about it.... but if that plot is private land with public access (for example, a parking lot for a nearby business), the cops can cite you for (example) "unsafe operation of a vehicle" or some other such law.

This man is absolutely correct. If it is used for a public purpose, it is treated as such under the vehicle codes.

both are wrong, many parking lots have owners wanting a police presence but are told they cannot do anything traffic law related.

Almost all private property has to have public access at some point.

It really depends on where the property is at, how it's zoned and a few other variables.

 

[DrPizza]

"I'm teaching my son how to turn into the skid and get the car back under control, if he should lose control on a snowy/icy road."

"Good idea. Carry on."

 

[alkemyst]

works well if you are bringing 'dad' along.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Speed in a place where people park their cars so they can get out and walk somewhere? Brilliant!

They can get you for other things besides traffic violations, if they really want to. Is it that inconvenient to find a place outside of city limits? If so, maybe you could contact a local driver's education service and find out where they practice, assuming they teach their students such things.