I parked in North Beach between 2 driveways, the curb was just long enough for my Smart, my girlfriend just got the car and said we got a "driveway complaint" for $75, anyone got one of these before? One of the reasons why we bought the Smart was so we can park in the tiny curbs between 2 driveways in North Beach!
I'm going to contest this for sure, kindda ridiculous as our Smarter did not block any driveway.
I got my first license in L.A., and if I recall the reason for the "driveway complaint" citation has to do with allowing the owner of that driveway to exit in a large vehicle (Hummer H1, anyone?), turn safely without swinging wide, and not hit anything. So, if your smart takes up 8.8 feet of the space in a 10 foot margin, you're probably invading their personal space, so to speak.
If you go in front of a judge, you may want to very politely request an explanation. A very nice judge might let you off with a warning and give you an expert opinion on the reason for the law, any other judge can just rule in favor of the plaintiff. Still, no law can be changed without a challenge, so if you've got deep enough pockets and serious backing, you might just set a precedent.
...said we got a "driveway complaint" for $75, anyone got one of these before?
I've only seen driveway tickets given to a person for parking in their own driveway but blocking the sidewalk. This ticket is only given when a neighbor calls in a complaint. I have also seen tickets for car's parked too close to a sidewalk corner. But not for correctly parking at an unmarked curb which happens to be too short for any other car but a smart.
Because all tickets are given at the discretion of the enforcement personnel, you'll need to have a judge overturn it. I would photograph a similar curb which has red marked on the ends and ask why your spot is not painted, but still not legal.
A long way from Long Beach here, but our local ordinance for parking 'near' driveways reads "...a vehicle shall not be less than 4 feet from the endpoint of the driveway apron turnout." In other words, where the driveway spills into and meets the street (often with a gentle curved shape) one has to be at least 4' from that point. In that instance, one would need a 17-foot space between driveways to center a smart to make it 'legal.'
Is it possible that your community has something simliar? I hope you beat the ticket if nothing else to prove a point about smarts being excellent 'space users' and if more people choose smarts we would all have a lot more room.
In Philadelphia, it is similar; you can get a ticket for blocking "access" to a driveway, which means not just the driveway itself, but sufficient space to allow a car to turn into the driveway.
The Streets Department here grants permits allowing people to paint a box in the street to warn/strongly dissuade people from parking too close to their driveways ** the permit allows you to "box out" I believe an additional 18" on both sides of your driveway. If there's no box on the street, you can get a ticket for parking too close; if there's a box, the driveway owner can have you towed.
Here in Norwood, OH, you can't park less than 4 feet from the driveway. We had 3 different ocassions where people parked and actually blocked our driveway. Being such nice people we went over to the apt building across the street and started pushing buttons until we found the owners. After the third time I got a copy of the local law from the police and mailed it to the property owners. Next time we will just call a tow truck.
If we had to be 4 feet away from a driveway the parking in SF would be halved - just a glance around any block shows that people park right up to the space that allows driveway access everywhere (and, of course, people constantly encroach and actually block the path, but that is another thing altogether).
As someone else said, take photos of your Smart in the space, and other cars parking near that or other driveways in the area. No doubt the people who lived there were just grumpy that they could not use the little bit of curb to semi block their own driveway or park a motorcycle or something, its really pathetic that the DPT would issue the ticket at their request if you were not blocking the access though. That ticks me off.
The AutoGuide.com network consists of the largest network of enthusiast-owned enthusiast-operated automotive communities.
AutoGuide.com provides the latest car reviews, auto show coverage, new car prices, and automotive news. The AutoGuide network operates more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share opinions as a community.
Less Is More
Today
Linear Mode
