# Driving violations in a parking lot...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 27, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884 "2003-05-27T22:34:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884/1 "2003-05-27T22:34:22Z")

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I’ve always wondered this.

Can a police officer give you a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while you’re driving in a parking lot?

What about for running a stop sign in a parking lot?

Are parking lot’s considered “roads”? Or are they technically “thunderdome” territory?

Another question, what if you were driving down your driveway without a seatbelt, can a police officer give you a ticket?

MtM

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**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884/2 "2003-05-27T22:41:20Z")

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I don’t know about the rest of your questions, but you can get a ticket for running a stop sign in a parking lot. It happened to my friend a coupla months ago. Needless to say, he was ever so pissed.

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884/3 "2003-05-27T22:42:27Z")

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Well- you are in Canada. I simply don’t know, tehn. Here in CA, the answer is USALLY not. Some parking lots are so posted, but I don’t know how legal that is. Note I am talking about minor infractions only. IANAL, etc

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**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884/4 "2003-05-27T22:50:15Z")

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Oh yeah, he’s in Canada. Then the parking lot/stop sign deal may not apply. Does here in good ol’ Cali though.

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-violations-in-a-parking-lot/177884/5 "2003-05-27T23:04:18Z")

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A few years ago the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled that traffic laws could be enforced on private property _if_ the property is open to the public, such as a shopping center parking lot. But they were refering to offenses like DWI. I don’t think a stop sign placed by a private individual is enforceable, especially the small, portable kind. I know I wouldn’t write on it.