No parking sign at T-intersections - opinions?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
11,896
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Near one of the entrances to my kid's school, there are signs on one side of the street that says "NO PARKING SCHOOL DAYS 7 AM-4 PM". However, this one is a little bit odd. The first sign starts on the straight side of an angled T intersection where the cross street is at an angle. This side also has no curb, which is common in the area. There's about room for two cars from one driveway until the first sign, and I was under the impression that it was legal to park until the first sign. I've parked there before and never gotten a ticket, although I remember one guy yelling at me that I couldn't park there.

Well this morning I brought my kid to school and saw one of the local cops writing a ticket. I'd never seen that before, and I'd actually seen them driving by while cars were parked there.

The sign is pretty small. It's not one of those that have an arrow and that necessarily mark where the no parking zone starts. The T intersection makes it hard to figure out where it should start. If there was a corner, that would be obvious. I'm wondering if this is something that could be contested in a hearing or court on the basis of it being unclear where the no parking zone starts.
 
I'd check if there were "T" intersection parking rules as there are for corners.

Around here a STOP sign on a corner needs 25 feet of breathing room. Don't know about T's.

If it's vague, I'd say you have a good shot at getting the ticket dismissed.

Be polite and clear. Draw an accurate diagram.
 
It wasn't me though. I've generally avoided parking there as it did seem kind of vague, and I didn't feel like pushing my luck. There's only one stop sign at this intersection, and during certain hours effectively nobody is supposed to be driving from that direction due to directional traffic controls (right turn only signs). I'm wondering if maybe the guy getting the citation might have a case.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
No parking on school days might be so school buses can have enough clearance to get through the intersection.

I think it's more than that. This entrance has a circle at the end for school loading/unloading. Parking is allowed on the other side of the street, and there's traffic in both directions. So in a way this should help with bidirectional traffic, but it's still kind of vague where the no parking zone starts since there's no clear corner where the intersection ends. I suppose they don't consider the no parking zone to extend to the other side of that driveway.
 
Just as clarification, the intersection looks like A in the following:

fig2a_03.gif


The first driveway from the first no parking sign is above right where that arrow is for "6 ft to 12 ft". It seems kind of tricky to me because it's kind of nebulous where the no parking zone is since the "end" of the block isn't clear.
 
One of the local highschools here has a similar setup to the A on one side of it, buses have their own lot. I figured it was a no parking zone because there's houses across the street and they didn't want to deal with kids parking across from them. Just pure speculation on my part. I can't think of a legit reason.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top