# No parking, is it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442 "2009-06-21T02:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/1 "2009-06-21T02:30:26Z")
Fairly simple question. A public road has no parking signs along the side. You park your vehicle there and leave it. Come back later, you have a ticket. No surprise there. Now, is it “parking” if you are there in the car? Are near the car? Does the engine running make a difference? If you are “right” there with the vehicle so to speak, does the LEO have to give you the option to quit parking there and leave before he/she writes a ticket, or can they write one right then and there before doing so? Interested in Florida and Alabama if we have to get specific. Now, of course the logical person in me says hell yeah its “parking”. I am more interested in the legal analysis. Oh, this is not a fire lane or something like that, just simple no parking on a country road in the middle of nowhere. thanks in advance for any input. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/2 "2009-06-21T02:56:00Z")
Here are some of the rules on parking in FL: [http://law.onecle.com/florida/motor-vehicles/316.1945.html](http://law.onecle.com/florida/motor-vehicles/316.1945.html) [http://law.onecle.com/florida/motor-vehicles/316.194.html](http://law.onecle.com/florida/motor-vehicles/316.194.html) Here is a site for Alabam: > **[2006 Alabama Code - Section 32-5A-136 — Stopping, standing or parking outside...](https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2006/22786/32-5a-136.html)** I’m not sure there’s much of a distinction between a parked and a standing vehicle in the laws. But local ordinances might be different. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/3 "2009-06-21T08:50:14Z")
Well some roads are marked “no parking” while others are “no stopping” which would suggest there is a difference… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/4 "2009-06-21T14:13:09Z")
In the U.K., you are allowed to park temporarily on double yellow lines to load or unload unless there are double yellow marks on the kerb. > [@Highway Code](#): > > Waiting restrictions indicated by yellow lines apply to the carriageway, pavement and verge. You may stop to load or unload (unless there are also loading restrictions as described below) or while passengers board or alight. Double yellow lines mean no waiting at any time, unless there are signs that specifically indicate seasonal restrictions. [PDF link](http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/Signsandmarkings/index.htm?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=95931&Rendition=Web). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/5 "2009-06-21T14:34:09Z")
I can only provide anecdotal evidence. I definitely cannot provide facts regarding Florida or Alabama. I wrote parking tickets for the city of Williamsport PA in the early 80s. It made no difference if you were in the car or if the motor were running; if the car was in an illegal spot, you were parked and we wrote a ticket. If you \*were \*in the car, we always gave you the option to leave, but we did not \*have \*to. Often someone would go around the block, thinking that since we had the whole city to patrol, we would be elsewhere by the time they got back. If I caught a person in the same spot twice, I wrote a ticket. Even if they drove off, the ticket would be written. At least one person challenged his ticket based on the following: [ol] [li]He was in the car[/li][li]The car was running[/li][li]He drove off before I finished[/li][/ol] He lost his case. The district magistrate ruled that he was parked because the car wasn’t moving and he ruled that driving away before I finished writing a ticket did not exempt him from the law. I had heard that the same person (a lawyer) challenged the ruling the next level up, but by that time I was in college and did not attend the hearing, nor could I verify if it even went through the courts; therefore I cannot say what happened. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/6 "2009-06-21T17:44:03Z")
Thanks for the input guys! Particularly Telemark. I looked at those regs, and interestingly enough, they don’t tell me the other, and probably more important thing I need to know. Which is, how FAR away do you need to be from a no parking sign to not get a ticket. They have distances for all kinds of other parking stuff, even somewhat vague stuff, but nothing specifically for no parking signs. Of course there is the possibility I missed it, misread it, or misinterpreted it. thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/7 "2009-06-21T17:50:21Z")
So, if I am at a red light, can I be ticketed for parking in the middle of the road? ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/8 "2009-06-21T18:02:10Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So, if I am at a red light, can I be ticketed for parking in the middle of the road? No ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/9 "2009-06-21T18:11:14Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > No But if stopped, in vehicle, with it running = parking then why not? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/10 "2009-06-21T18:34:35Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > But if stopped, in vehicle, with it running = parking > > then why not? Well, the red light is “telling” you to stop, so I am sure that takes precidence. Now, if its green on the otherhand… ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/11 "2009-06-21T22:01:23Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So, if I am at a red light, can I be ticketed for parking in the middle of the road? [http://law.justia.com/alabama/codes/22786/32-5a-137.html](http://law.justia.com/alabama/codes/22786/32-5a-137.html) You’d have to look in the “definitions” for the state involved to see what “stopped” and “parked” means. In SC: > [@](#): > > ``` > SECTION 56-5-590. Stop. > > ``` > > “Stop,” when required, means complete cessation from movement. > > SECTION 56-5-600. “Stop;” “stopping;” “standing.” > “Stop,” “stopping” or “standing,” when prohibited, means any stopping or standing of a vehicle whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal. > SECTION 56-5-610. Park. > To “park,” when prohibited, means the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading. ---
**Author:** ![JonathanTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8491ac/32.png) [@JonathanTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonathanTheRed)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/12 "2009-06-21T23:15:11Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Often someone would go around the block, thinking that since we had the whole city to patrol, we would be elsewhere by the time they got back. If I caught a person in the same spot twice, I wrote a ticket. Even if they drove off, the ticket would be written. Hell, I woulda written the putzes _two_ tickets for illegal parking in those circumstances. And maybe roughed 'em up a little. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/13 "2009-06-22T06:30:13Z")
Depends on your location. In NY, they have the useful distinction of NO STOPPING - that means no stopping for any reason other than traffic flow / lights. NO STANDING - you can stop briefly to let someone off, but cannot sit there waiting with the engine on NO PARKING - you can stop or sit there with the engine on, but you cannot turn off the engine or leave the car if you’re a driver, and have to move the car if it is creating an obstacle Although this only refers to those sort of signs, the situation may be different with regards to things like firezones and intersections. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/14 "2009-06-22T13:51:49Z")
On a military base I was given a Parking ticket for idleing in a loading zone, I fought it and won as I was in the car with the engine running at the time and the MP would not listen that I was going to be loading something as soon as it was brought out. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-parking-is-it/500442/15 "2009-06-22T15:38:40Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > It made no difference if you were in the car or if the motor were running; if the car was in an illegal spot, you were parked and we wrote a ticket. If you \*were \*in the car, we always gave you the option to leave, but we did not \*have \*to. Many years ago I was visiting in New York and I pulled over to the right lane to consult the map behind some other cars which were stopped. A few seconds later, when I looked up from the map, the car in front of me had moved on and there was a woman writing me a ticket for “parking” illegally. And NYC had the gall to write me to my address in Spain (which is the one I supplied) demanding I pay the ticket plus some penalties. I had the immense pleasure of writing back telling them to go and take a long walk off a short pier. Or try come and get me in Madrid if they could. (That was then. I suppose these days my name would be on the no-fly list and on the most wanted terrorists list.)