While I a Veddy Good Boy [sup]tm[/sup] on the streets, I’m an inveterate runner of stop signs and ignorer of one-way signs in parking lots (when conditions and traffic make it safe). Am I risking tickets and/or arrest?
I did a quick search of my state’s laws (Florida) and didn’t find anything covering it.
Sua
I would always get this when I worked in smaller hotels. The guest’s would park in a handicapped spot and then get a ticket. How can the cops ticket you on private property they would say. “It is out of my hands…” I would reply.
Well, the answer to that is…“It Depends.”
While it is pribate property, the owner may have a type of contract or aggrement with the local police to enforce the law there, just as if it was public land.
There are also many types of business deals, where the developer will build the whole building, while the city/county/whatever picks up the tab for the parking lot, and therefore can police and enforce laws in the parking lot.
I wouldn’t know how to go about finding that information, but I would assume it’s public information.
Moral: Even if you’re on a parking lot, don’t run that stop sign if there’s a cop nearby.
I know that you can be ticketed for parking in fire lanes in shopping center lots. Plus they have municipal signs that say no parking and cite the law. (In Memphis, TN)
Can’t speak for Florida, but here in Virginia, the law provides that traffic laws are enforceable on "… every way or place open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel … "
A store’s parking lot fits that definition.
im from Austin, Texas, and a friend of mine told me that the police cant et you on private property in texas but he was unsure about how big the rulin was and over which states, so we agreed that it would be best to just follow them
IIRC, in California, for the police to enfore moving violations there must be a sign posted at the parking lot entrance stating that the police have the right to enfore traffic laws on their property. Dunno how it works with parking tickets.
Regardless, if you run that stop sign and hit somebody, it’s gonna be your ass as it’s your fault.
–Patch
I actually got pulled over in Virginia for blowing a stop sign in a shopping center. I played dumb about the sign being legally binding, and emphasized my attention to safely navigating my surroundings in spite of it, and the cop let me off.
This topic has been raised before at least once, so it may be worth a search of the archives.