This afternoon I went to pick Little up from her new school. The parking/pickup situation at this particular school is horrendous so I knew to park down the street quite a ways and walk to get her. It was garbage day so unretrieved cans were all over driveways and curbside, making it even more difficult to navigate.Got back to the car and found a yellow piece of paper under my wiper blade. Hmmm, an advertisement? A note from a long-lost friend? A freakish wind that lifted up the wiper and deposited the paper? None of the above. It was a damn parking ticket! The car in front of me also had the same little greeting decorating it's windshield.
Whipped out the trusty camera and took a photo. See for yourselves.
Okay, yes, I wasn't hugging the curb. If you look at my wheels and all the scratches and gouges on them you can see that in the past I have been known to hug those curbs quite closely. But who knew that there was an actual statute in that fair city that stipulates in inches where a car must be parked?
I've asked no fewer than 15 people since I was gifted with this paper and not one of them (even the family legal expert, for hell sakes) knew the official definition of proper inches. The answers I got ranged from six to thirty six.
Yes, I will obediently appear next week at the city offices with a contrite expression and plead guilty to the letter of the law. My question is this, if no one knows the statute exists what good does it do? And also, wouldn't a WARNING have been just as effective as a $20 citation?
Perhaps it would have, but now you all know how close you are required to be. And make sure that you carry that twelve inch ruler. If you don't have one be sure to kneel down next to your wheel in the gutter. The distance between your elbow and the crook of your thumb is approximately one foot.
We now return to your regularly scheduled internet surfing.
$.83
5 comments:
That really stinks! I also, had know idea about it. Thanks for the warning!
Okay. Lame. Take that pic with you and tell them to shove it.
sorry (she types sheepishly).
We now have cameras at traffic light intersections. Of course I was caught. Ticket price, $100 bucks. 999 times out of a thousand opportunities to break the traffic laws finds me in compliance, thus small chance of receiving a "real" ticket. But the camera doesn't keep score. I must admit that the intersections are safer with these cameras but I hate them anyway. Takes some of the fun out of finding a $20 doesn't it.
MoneyWalker
In my state is it 12" or less. I got a $40.00 ticket a few years ago for my bumper being 2" in a yellow zone. The ticket said 2"! In a small downtown begging citizens to shop there, don't go to the mall. I haven't shopped there since.
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