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Auto Club: Is Parking "What's Bugging You?"

(LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2010) –  Drivers often forget that there are laws covering parking, just as there are laws covering driving speed, highway emergencies, school buses and drinking and driving.  Ignoring parking laws and a lack of courtesy in parking lots bugs a lot of people and can get you a ticket and a big fine, too.
 
“I always tell the students in my Auto Club Driving School classes, that they must obey parking laws and rules as well as the state’s driving laws,” said Miguel Robles of the Auto Club’s Driving School that enrolls teen drivers.  
 
Robles appeared this week in a KABC-TV Channel 7 news segment called, “What’s Bugging You?” 
 
He described several instances where drivers should obey parking laws.  Drivers shouldn’t stop, park or leave their car in any intersection, in a marked fire lane, beside a red curb, where signs or markings prohibit parking, and in any parking space for the disabled unless they are disabled and have a special plate or placard.
 
They also should not park in the area next to a parking space for the disabled if it is painted with blue lines in a crosshatch pattern.  “If you park there, you can be cited just as if you’re parked in the handicapped parking space, and that’s a $250 ticket,” said Robles.
 
“I also teach my students that painted curbs – such as red, green, yellow and blue – represent limits for drop-offs, limits for loading, no parking at all and zones for disabled persons,” he added.
 
“And then there’s parking courtesy, which I also share with my students,” said Robles.  “In shopping centers and work places, taking two spaces or parking over the line and so close to the next vehicle that a driver can’t enter the space or exit their vehicle, bugs all of us, and isn’t courteous.”
 
In neighborhoods, there are parking laws for safety.  And it’s likely that you’d be blocking an emergency vehicle if one was called for as well.   “You’ll receive a citation and fine, so, don’t do it,” he said.  Also in residential areas, cities have ordinances that prohibit drivers from parking on sidewalks, and that’s an expensive ticket, too.
 
The state also has newer parking rules.  For example, it’s against the law to park in a space or stall that’s meant for a zero-emission vehicle. 
CST 1016202-80 Copyright © Automobile Club of Southern California. All Rights Reserved.
The Automobile Club of Southern California is a member club affiliated with the American Automobile Association (AAA) national federation and serves members in the following California counties: Inyo, Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura.