# Towing cars parked in public street in front of private garage access: what is the legal basis?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 29, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964 "2011-09-29T02:05:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/1 "2011-09-29T02:05:05Z")
In residential areas of many cities, owners of rowhouses and brownstones who have a garage or driveway often put up no parking or tow signs where the street meets their property, in order to prevent people from parking there and blocking access. (I housesat at one of these places one summer and felt sorta bad, since I wasn’t using the driveway but that was one fewer parking spot on a very densely populated street in Brooklyn.)
What is the legal basis of the owner’s right to have a towing company remove a car that is otherwise legally parked on the street in front of their garage/driveway? Do they have some kind of easement? If so, what kind of easement? Is it recorded somewhere? Or do municipalities have ordinances explaining this situation?
Other questions: Does the owner have to call the tow company, or will the tow company just enforce it on their own? Will the police or traffic authorities get involved? Is the owner allowed to park there, effectively getting both a garage and a guaranteed parking spot in front of their home?
I’m filled with questions!
Another: Is it based on the curb cut?
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/2 "2011-09-29T02:39:35Z")
You are not legally allowed to park across a curb cut that indicates a driveway [and frequently the curb cut indicating a cross walk] in most communities in the US, no idea about elsewhere.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/3 "2011-09-29T02:45:44Z")
> [@aruvqan](#):
>
> You are not legally allowed to park across a curb cut that indicates a driveway [and frequently the curb cut indicating a cross walk] in most communities in the US, no idea about elsewhere.
Does this include the owner of the driveway?
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/4 "2011-09-29T02:52:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#):
>
> Does this include the owner of the driveway?
Yes.
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### Author:  [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/5 "2011-09-29T03:04:38Z")
IIRC, it’s usually a local ordinance. It could also be part of the State Vehicle Code. The street, the driveway ramp, and the sidewalk are part of the public right-of-way. The property owner doesn’t own it, but DOES pay tax on it!
Police/Sheriff and/or Code Enforcement call for a tow, plus the vehicle will probably be cited.
~VOW
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/6 "2011-09-29T03:13:34Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#):
>
> What is the legal basis of the owner’s right to have a towing company remove a car that is otherwise legally parked on the street in front of their garage/driveway?
What “otherwise?” As in, what’s the legal basis to arrest someone for putting a bullet through a person’s head with a gun that is otherwise legal to fire?
It is illegal to block a driveway, anytime, by anyone. Yes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Yes, by the owner of the driveway. ANYTIME, ANYONE.
In Kansas City, MO, it is illegal to park within three feet of the driveway’s lane; presumably the typical flare where the driveway meets the street represents this.
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### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/7 "2011-09-29T03:17:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#):
>
> Does the owner have to call the tow company, or will the tow company just enforce it on their own? Will the police or traffic authorities get involved? Is the owner allowed to park there, effectively getting both a garage and a guaranteed parking spot in front of their home?
I had a friend whose driveway was frequently blocked, trapping her car in (she lived a block or so from some popular bars)…she’d call the cops, they’d come and ticket the car and call the tow truck.
Now if she parked there herself, the cops generally probably wouldn’t have done anything, without a complainant they presumably had other things to do - but I wouldn’t count on it…
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### Author:  [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/8 "2011-09-29T03:20:17Z")
According to Title 34 4-08 of New York’s ordinances:
> [@](#):
>
> **(f) General No Standing zones (standing and parking prohibited in specified places).** No person shall stand or park a vehicle in any of the following places, unless otherwise indicated by posted signs, markings or other traffic control devices, or at the direction of a law enforcement officer […] in front of a public or private driveway, except that it shall be permissible for the owner, lessor or lessee of the lot accessed by a private driveway to park a passenger vehicle registered to him/her at that address in front of such driveway, provided that such lot does not contain more than two dwelling units and further provided that such parking does not violate any other provision of the Vehicle and Traffic Law or local law or rule concerning the parking, stopping or standing of motor vehicles. The prohibition herein shall not apply to driveways that have been rendered unusable due to the presence of a building or other fixed obstruction and, therefore, are not being used as defined in section 4-01(b) of these rules.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/9 "2011-09-29T03:50:53Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#):
>
> Does this include the owner of the driveway?
For some years I lived in a dense and over-vehicled area of town, and due to my crazy work schedule I came often after midnight a lot–on certain days of the week it was practically guaranteed. On those occasions I sometimes literally couldn’t find a place to park within three blocks of my house.
I didn’t have a garage. But…I had a driveway, in the back, off an alley, guarded by a six-foot gate. Except when I needed it most, someone was always parked there, blocking access to me, the homeowner.
So I got a sign. All it said was No Parking In Drive. I tacked it to my fence. And it worked.
At some point more than a month but less than a year later I arrived home to find that the gate was locked from inside. I left my car parked by my gate, intending to walk around the block, go inside, through my house, out the back door and unlock the gate and bring the car in. But it was 3 a.m. and I was tired so I figured the car wasn’t blocking anybody. It was ALMOST in my driveway. So I went to bed.
The next morning I had a ticket for “blocking driveway.”
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### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/10 "2011-09-29T10:55:24Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#):
>
> Does this include the owner of the driveway?
It depends. From the NYC Parking Violation Codes
98 Standing or parking in front of a public or private driveway. The owner or renter of a lot accessed by a private driveway may park a passenger vehicle registered to him / her at that address in front of such driveway provided the lot does not contain more than 2 dwelling units and that such parking does not violate any other rule or restriction.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/11 "2011-09-29T13:43:42Z")
This happened to me quite a bit at one house I rented. There were a few occassions I was late to work because I was blocked IN my driveway and had to wait for LAPD to come out to ticket/tow it. “No Parking” signs did nothing so I got some white reflective paint used for street painting, painted a huge ass rock and put it in the street next to the curb at the start of my driveway. That helped a little.
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### Author:  [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/12 "2011-09-29T14:05:59Z")
You mentioned Brooklyn, which leads me to suspect that you are from NYC, like me. Around here (and especially in Brooklyn and Queens) there is a growing problem of people converting spaces like their front lawns into what the authorities and media call “illegal driveways.”
Now I am no lawyer or police officer, but I suspect that the lawn conversion is not illegal per se (though it may be), but the unauthorized installation of a curb cut is. (A curb cut is the depression in the curb edge that reaches street level so you can easily drive across the sidewalk.)
I’m curious to know if a ticket for blocking an illegal curb cut would stand up in court.
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### Author:  [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/13 "2011-09-29T18:11:54Z")
[Here](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/12/la-might-allow-residents-to-park-in-front-of-their-driveways-.html) is a Los Angeles Times article dated December 8, 2010 which discusses the topic.
> [@Los Angeles Times](#):
>
> Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl will bring a motion before the Transportation Committee meeting Tuesday to investigate the viability of allowing residents to park in front of their own driveways.
>
> \
>
> The current California Vehicle Code does not allow parking on the street in front of driveways, but does provide an exemption that allows “a local authority” to offer this option through the implementation of a permit process.
>
> Bruce Gillman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, said that the specifics of such a parking program were unclear since it was so early, but it could resemble the process that exists now for acquiring an overnight or preferential parking permit, including the fee.
I’m not sure what the current status of things is (I live near, but not within, Los Angeles city limits.)
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### Author:  [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/14 "2011-09-29T18:25:44Z")
The curb cut and driveway apron are per permit process. When we got a concrete driveway put in (SCal), Code Enforcement shut the operation down until a permit was posted.
And a ticket for blocking a driveway most definitely will stand up in court. Upthread, I posted that the driveway apron, the sidewalk, and the curb are part of the street right-of-way. You may own the house, but you don’t own the right-of-way!
Parking in the yard will earn you a ticket in some communities as well, if the yard is grass and not paved.
~VOW
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [September 29, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/15 "2011-09-29T18:28:54Z")
A friend of mine lives in a part of DC with a lot of bars, it is not uncommon to have someone either park in her driveway or block it. She calls the cops, they ticket the car and have it towed.
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### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/16 "2011-09-30T23:30:45Z")
> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> A friend of mine lives in a part of DC with a lot of bars, it is not uncommon to have someone either park in her driveway or block it. She calls the cops, they ticket the car and have it towed.
I used to live in Hollywood. I eventually added parking enforcement to my speed dial.
I had towed at least 5 or 6 cars a year.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/17 "2011-09-30T23:35:17Z")
> [@doreen](#):
>
> It depends. From the NYC Parking Violation Codes
>
> 98 Standing or parking in front of a public or private driveway. The owner or renter of a lot accessed by a private driveway may park a passenger vehicle registered to him / her at that address in front of such driveway provided the lot does not contain more than 2 dwelling units and that such parking does not violate any other rule or restriction.
It’s almost identical in San Francisco:
> [@](#):
>
> **SEC. 1004. PARKING OF VEHICLES ACROSS PRIVATE DRIVEWAYS.**
>
> ```
> The owner or lessee of property shall be permitted to Park the owner's or lessee's vehicle across the private driveway of said property, provided that such vehicle displays a valid license plate registered to the address of that property with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and provided that such driveway serves no more than two family dwelling units. This Section does not permit the Parking of vehicles across sidewalks or in red zones.
>
> ```
>
> (SFMTA Bd. Res. No. 08-151, 8/19/2008)
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towing-cars-parked-in-public-street-in-front-of-private-garage-access-what-is-the-legal-basis/597964/18 "2011-10-01T00:50:42Z")
Very interesting. So this seems to be mostly handled by local ordinances, which may or may not permit the owner to block his or her own driveway.
I also wonder about curb cuts in front of driveways that are no longer in use. Do they go back in and remove the curb cut at some point?