Parking in the City of LA can be challenging. There's never enough parking, and when there is, confusion ensues as to how or where one can park. Street cleaning, peak hours, permit parking, fire hydrants, and colored curbs can be confusing. Even the most basic restriction, a red curb, can be confusing and worrisome. A reader emails:I was picking up a friend from LAX last month. We talked on the phone and coordinated. He was standing in the island in front of the United terminal. As I approached, I flashed my lights to get his attention, pulled to the side and he hopped in. I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that I may have not even come to a complete stop. It was a perfectly coordinated grab-and-go pickup.
As I pulled away from the airport and drove up the hill, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw an officer standing in the middle of the street, apparently writing down my license plate. I was perplexed as I didn't imagine I had done anything wrong. A few weeks later, I received the attached ticket in the mail: a parking violation for a red curb. After driving back to LAX to survey, there is indeed a red curb, but no sign prohibiting stopping or picking up passengers there.
So my question is this: is the definition of "parking" the same as"stopping"? Because while one could conceivably make the case that I had stopped (for about 2 seconds...) there's no way anyone could describe that as "parking." I've written in and
requested a hearing to dispute this. Is it worth my time?
To this reader, the answer is simple: don't waste any more of your time. Red curbs, by definition in Municipal Code 80.56 (e)4 (effective as such since 1954), prohibit parking and more explicitly "stopping." It read:
"No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle at any time in any red 'No Stopping' zone."Now, at the Airport (LAX or Van Nuys), the same rule applies, but it is in section 89.36, which reads: "No person shall stop any vehicle at any time adjacent to a curb marked in red." So, that should answer the question. Even if stopped for just a moment in a red zone - at the airport or on the City street -that is a municipal code violation and subject to a ticket... a $70 ticket. (That $70 ticket increases to $140 with a late penalty and then to $150 with a second penalty.)
4 comments:
My story is very similar, only with NO redzone. I stopped on a residential street, popped my trunk from inside while a friend who was waiting there threw some bags in, then got in - less than 1 minute and I never left the drivers seat. A "parking person" flashed her lights and seemingly started writing "something". But what?? I was just picking up my friend waiting on the sidewalk outside his apt. Well, I got a ticket in the mail for "Double Parking"!! Any advice?
No advice from us will help - technically, you were double parking. The parking or "standing" laws still apply whether the car is occupied or not. Usually, though, parking enforcement will ask you to move along. Perhaps in the future putting your hazzard lights on MIGHT help, though there is no garauntee.
My friend and I had the exact same situation, only he did have the hazards on. Do you know what you are supposed to do in that situation instead? Are you just not allowed to pick people up on residential streets where all the curb spots are taken?
What are the rules regarding what percentage of your car can be in a red zone? I've heard that as long as your tires are out of the red zone that its ok for the front or rear of the car to be in the red. What is the official rule?
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