In at least a couple states I know of, California, and here in Oregon, if you park on the side of the street, and have your car facing the wrong way, you’ll get a ticket.
My question is, what harm or damage was caused by doing this, that caused law makers to pass a law against this?
Someone with a tenuous grip on reality could get confused by a vehicle parked facing the wrong way. Also, parking that way and merging back into traffic from such a position are extra-hazardous.
In Arkansas it’s the law. Once when my family got back from vacation, my dad parked the Suburban on the wrong side of the street. Think very quiet, slow, residential neighborhood. Dad was too tired to park the right way or didn’t think about it. Anyway the next day, sure enough, a cop came by and gave a ticket. Our neighbor was outside at the time and tried to talk the cop out of it, explaining that my dad was tired, etc. Gave the ticket anyway.
I blame the Small Town Cop Syndrome. They got nuthin’ better to do.
Plus there is the fact that to get into that parking space (facing the wrong way) you had to have crossed the center line into the other lane and/or been travelling the wrong way down the street.
You have provided the proof yourself, by leaving your car parked in that position.
I’ve heard that in Hollywood people have been cited for having their tires turned the wrong way when parked on a hill.
Or for not having them turned at all.
Semi-related tidbit: In Germany when I stayed at my Oma’s house I noticed cars were parked whichever way the owner felt like, so I assume it’s legal there. Almost half of them on some roads were parked the ‘other way’.
In Canada it’s also illegal. It doesn’t make much sense to me.
Well of course I’m talking about streets that don’t have center lines.
Semi-related tidbit: In Germany when I stayed at my Oma’s house I noticed cars were parked whichever way the owner felt like, so I assume it’s legal there. Almost half of them on some roads were parked the ‘other way’.
In Canada it’s also illegal. It doesn’t make much sense to me.
Semi-related tidbit: In Germany when I stayed at my Oma’s house I noticed cars were parked whichever way the owner felt like, so I assume it’s legal there. Almost half of them on some roads were parked the ‘other way’.
In Canada it’s also illegal. It doesn’t make much sense to me.
All streets have center lines.
It’s just that some have them marked with paint stripes down the road, and some don’t.
But I believe the state laws saying things like you can’t cross over the center line and drive in the oncoming traffic lane apply to all roads, regardless of whether the center line is marked with a paint stripe or not. Just try telling a cop that ‘there weren’t any lines painted down the road, so I thought I could wander all over on it’ and see how far you get! 
That doesn’t change the fact that in order to park on the wrong side of the street, you had to travel on the wrong side of the street. I had always assumed it was because you would have an increased danger of causing an accident when you pulled out of your space head on into oncoming traffic, because no one expects to encounter a car traveling directly toward him on the wrong side of the street.
As it was explained to me (in court, no less) that should the fire department order all vehicles away from a certain curb, a vehicle facing the wrong way would be impede the traffic leaving said curb.
In any case, you got me. . .
Tripler
I fought the law, and the law won.
What about narrow residential streets where you have to drive in the middle?
Bologna. If I back out of my driveway and park in front of my house facing the “wrong way,” I have at no time driven “the wrong way” down the street, yet I would still get a ticket. There’s no sense or fairness in it, and I’ve yet to see a convincing explanation of why it should be this way.
Back in the early 1980s, I got a ticket for parking the wrong direction in the freaking PX parking lot! You see, it had those angle parking spaces and I figured that I’d just go ahead and drive into the one that “married up” with the one in the correct direction to where I should’ve parked. I did that so I wouldn’t have to back out. Well, when I got back from shopping, there was the nifty parking ticket.
Further, someone could have pushed the car into that position by hand. Without actually witnessing the driver going the wrong way, no ticket for it.
In a driver’s ed class I took, the instructor said that parking on the “wrong side” of the street isn’t illegal because you are facing the wrong way, it is illegal because you are more than 18 inches from the curb (on the OTHER side of the street).
This has to be the easiest to answer.
It’s because the city (department) can make money off the ticket, without haveing to prove to a jury that the law was broken. Traffic tickets/citations are different from criminal citations.
Very popular in smaller towns where access to citizen’s wallets are limited
My wife has an old broken down car she’s selling on ebay. Some friends and I pushed it out of the garage onto the curb so that I could park the good car in there. Someone called the police which issued two tickets, the first, for storing the car on the side of the street, OK, some places have laws against that, fair enough, and one for it being “parked” the wrong way. Now, trying to steer a car with a broken engine, therefore, no power steering, is a pain in the ass, and turning it around to face the proper way is a lot of work. And I wasn’t about to have it pushed to the other side of the street against a neighbors sidewalk. And why did I push it in the street in the first place? So that it wouldn’t block up my driveway of course. Oh well, I had to get a couple of coworkers help me push it up there anyway because of the winey neighbor.
One last quick thought on this. I did actually get a ticket reversed for street cleaning. Try this if you have to.
Call the person in charge of city traffic parking, the head of the street dept, etc. repeat with the Chief of police and anyone else you can think of til you get the right person.
DO NOT be confrontational. Begin by explaining the situation and that you didn’t know it was illegal to park that way, if needed add that no harm was done to anyone’s property (if this applies) and humble yourself by promising not to do it again now that you know the law. Unless you live in a VERY small town, the person won’t know you from a stranger.
If the ticket will stand, go to traffic court. Most cites are in municipal court, see if you can get it transferred to district court, this gives you the option of a jury trial. (hey, if it’s possible in your area, it puts the DA in a position to prosecute a ticket).
If you can get this far request a public defender, few districts are going to spend tax dollars on a traffic ticket. Hey, you pay taxes to fund the courts, exhaust all options.
Finally, if it’s something this meaningless where NOBODY complained (parking laws are for convenience of citizens) you can argue that you were the victim of selective enforcement since there is always something better for an officer to do. Might seem weak, but OJ is still golfing.
Still no resolution? Pay the fine then get your money’s worth. An op-ed to the local paper is free, easy, a good vent to frustration, protected by the 1st amendment, and next time you get hit, you can claim the PD was out to get you for what you wrote.
I could be wrong, but it worked for me