What can I do about the lady who takes up two parking spaces?

Factual Questions
1

This was nearly going to be a pit rant, but I really do want to know:

How can I legally punish the *%&!ing &!tch who insists on constantly taking up two parking spaces in our small office lot with her precious BMW?

I can’t find mention of it in the California Vehicle Code. I have seen the subject mentioned on these forums in passing, but no real advice.

This is not a one-time occurrence. It happens EVERY DAY.

Can I have her towed (it’s on what I assume is private property and there is no signage expressly forbidding it)? Can I have her cited? What?

I hope it’s not one of those things in life about which nothing can be done. Please, for the love of all that is decent in the world, HELP!

2

First of all, I want to say, if she’s taking up two spaces in a lot that’s not pretty full, and she’s parking at the far ends of the lot, just let it go. Some people are paranoid about their cars, don’t want dents and dings, etc. As long as they don’t take up two spaces in a packed lot, and as long as they park far away from the building, let 'em be. They’re not hurting anyone. Now, if she’s taking the best spots in the lot, and there aren’t many spaces…

I don’t know if what she’s doing is illegal, but if she’s willing to annoy other people and inconvenience them, what’s to stop her from just paying a ticket and continuing to take two spaces? I dunno, maybe she’s honestly ignorant. You might start with a nice note asking her not to do it. If that fails…

It’s not nice, but I might recommend some things that would make her understand how she’s inconveniencing other people. For instance, park her in. Or (carefully) park in one of the two spots next to her so close that she can’t get in her driver’s side door. Maybe get a friend and their car and block both sides the car.

Or, slightly more evil, let the air out of her tires. If you want to be really evil, get a valve core tool and remove the valve core frim the air stem afterwards. This will make it impossible to re-inflate the tire until they find another valve core. Do this to one tire, and she can still get her pretty, rich-bastard hands all greasy putting the spare on. Do it to two and she’ll be forced to call for a tow…

You may be tempted to key her car. I would strongly urge you not to. If you do this, I believe you will have a special place in hell reserved. Never, ever key. No matter how much they deserve it. It’s vandalism and destruction of property and you can be fined thousands and maybe even throw in jail. Non-destructive measures only.

3

Well, if this is (as I assume) a cow-orker, and you don’t want to be identified as the person who objects to her piggishness, you may not want to follow this advice. However, my husband has been known to park very, very, very, very close to the driver’s side door of people who park across two spaces, particularly when they do so on the diagonal (so you know they meant to do it, and weren’t just parking between two other poorly-placed cars.) Finding this arrangement for a few days in a row may be just the hint she needs.

4

You have to prepare for this kind of thing ahead of time. You don’t want to sit there for five minutes during which just anybody could see you and possibly take note of your license plate number. So keep in your glove compartment pre-written notes with text to the following effect:

Append the phone number to a phone booth (preferably from another state) and a fake name. The poor jerk will fret for weeks waiting for the other shoe to drop. Serves 'em right, frankly, but it is, after all, just a prank and no harm will come to them or their vehicle.

5

Of course, finding this arrangement even once could cause her to key YOUR car!

I work at Starbucks and I see vehicular elitism on daily basis. People who park in two spots (irritating), people who drive quickly through a parking lot(irresponsible), and my favorite, people who don’t feel any need whatsoever to look behind them when they back up (dangerous and deserving of the same punishment as drunk driving).

I think this thread will probably be moved (or more likely closed), but I really don’t think there is much you can do short of confronting her (if she drives a BMW and parks it in two spaces, she’s probably not going to listen to you, anyway) or going to whoever has the legal power to stop her. And chances are there that nothing will get done.

So it really sucks, and it’s probably going to keep on sucking.

6

We did that to a girl in college who’s boyfriend used to park her BMW in our fraternity lot. Cept we used two shitboxes to park 1" on each side. We used to laugh and laugh when the guy would come up and we’be be all like “oh you just missed them”. In other words, we legally kept the car for a couple of weeks. Kind of like the “I’m not touching you” game.

I would avoid actually touching the car in any way. Actually, I would forget your Beemer envy and just go about your life. After all, if someone took up two spaces with a Pinto, how much would you care?

On the other hand, if your lot is often short on spaces, you could leave a note on the hood “Bitch use one space!”.

7

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

I agree that “parking her in” or leaving a prank note would probably be effective messages. She is not a coworker, just same office building.

But let’s be honest. Anything I could do along those lines will just make her more indignant and insensitive. It probably wouldn’t have any long-term effect at all.

I am still wondering what the law says. Is parking in this manner ever addressed on the state or local level?

Surely we have all been upset by this kind of behavior enough for there to be some kind of statute, complete with penalties, etc.

Anybody know?

8

In defense of the Beemer lady, let me tell you a (short)story.

Many years ago, 1969 to be exact, my father bought a brand new car. His first ever brand new car. A Dodge Charger R/T SE, 440ci, 4 bbl, and oh, so wonderful to drive. For those who don’t know the classic cars, tough. For those who do, this car was a beaut. Metallic green body, leather blacktop, pinstripe along the running board.
Got my first speeding ticket in it, too. Uh, never mind.

Ahem. Anyway! My father babied this car, took exceptional care with it, made every maintenance appointment early, maintained a log with oil, filter, belt, tire changes, all parts replaced. You get the picture by now, right? So, when my dad parked in a public parking lot, or even at work, he picked a spot way out in the great beyond where no other cars lurked. He preferred the walk, and all the grousing in the world from the rest of us fell on determinedly deaf ears. Did this save his precious from the dings and arrows of outrageous inconsiderate drivers? NO.
Invariably, we’d return to find my dad’s beloved MOPAR surrounded by cars. Literally. Picture it: a slew of cars all around the store entrance, then a wide open field of nothin’, then…my dad’s car now safely cocooned in the furthest reaches of civilation’s parking oasis. My father has a theory about this; he calls this the Herd Instinct[sup]TM[/sup]. I’ve seen this in action many a time. He was right.

So, to make a long story…I sympathize with the Beemer lady. To an extent. If you have a nice car, don’t you want to take care of it? Let me ask you this: how often do you see the drivers of those behemoth SUV’s(the really big ones) parking in so-called compact spaces? All the time, right? How often do you see cars haphazardly parked incorrectly in a spot? All the time, right? So, I suggest you cut the lady some slack, give her an opportunity to show a little sense and pick the great beyond for her special extra spot, and see what happens.
If that fails, give her hell.

9

If this is a parking lot for your building, then it’s a private lot and you should talk to the parking lot supervisor. I would also try leaving a polite note on her windshield to the effect of, “This parking lot is short of spaces already. Please do not use two of them for one vehicle”

leave it unsigned and neatly typed, and she may think that the note came from the building management or even one of her own managers, and stop doing it.

If she persists, you can leave a threatening note such as, “If you don’t start being responsible about sharing parking spaces, I will be notifying your company about your rude behaviour.”

That’s about all I’d do. I don’t like vandalism or pranks, because they just tend to escalate and in those situations the most unreasonable person usually comes out on top. In this case, that would be her.

10

Since its on private property, I think (at least here in Colorado) the only “tickets” people can get are for illegally parking in designated handicapped spots. They can’t give you a ticket for going through one of the stop signs in a parking lot.

You could make a complaint to the management company that runs the office building. Get her make, model, license plate number, and make a call. It would help if others call to complain too so if anyone in your office has the same complaint it might be addressed sooner.

Boy, parking lot hogs can really tick ya off.

11

Because you mention that you are in a multi-tenant office building I’ll make a guess that:

  1. Your company is a tenant, leasing space in the building.
  2. Her company is a tenant, leasing space in the building.
  3. The parking lot is private property, owned by the owner of the building.
  4. Both her company and your company (and their employees) are required by the terms of the lease to obey parking rules.

So, she’s not breaking any laws (she’s on private property), but she may be violating the terms of her company’s lease.

Most owners of multi-tenant buildings have a management company either in the building, or off-site with a manager that visits the building. So, if parking is really tight (i.e., there are no other spaces in the lot) have your office manager call the building management and complain. They can leave an official notice on her car, or have her car towed.

Of course, you might find out that she is the owner of the building, in which case, well, she can park any where whe wants!

12

A little story:

I once parked someone in (probably a half inch fromt their driver door) for taking up two spaces. It was a really fascinating sight because all of the cars (inlcluding mine) were parked correctly, but it looked like this idiot drunkenly parked close to me. To add to it, my roommate put a note on their windshield saying “learn to park.” I later came out to see the car gone and the note moved on my windshield with a key scratch on my car. The moral? Day one, left an anonymous note about courtesy. If it happens again, yank the valve core (preferably two of 'em).

13

I would go with one of two options. Either go leave a neat and polite note as Sam Stone recommended, or lobby your legislator to make it legal to vandalize cars parked in this manner.

14

You are in an office building. That building is run by some company. Contact that company and complain that her poor parking is causing problems. You will probably only get action if in fact there is a shortage of space. Any maybe not even then. I would be wary of outright vandalism on ethical grounds and on the grounds that a lot of office complexes have camera security you don’t want to be caught on video committing a crime.

15

So it seems we are leaning towards some sort of official sanction from the property owner. It is indeed tight parking here. Today we were completely full.

And I think my question about what the law says is pretty well answered… Nothing! (at least on private property).

16

For what it’s worth, I once saw a mall security guard leaving a notice on a car that was parked in two spaces. I asked him about it, and he told me that mall security kept records of these notices, and if the person was caught again, the local police would come and give the guy a “real” ticket.

Maybe check your local ordinances.

17

I’ll raise you. A place I worked once had an ass who had been known to take up 4 spaces - the parking lot was arranged with slots directly facing each other, and he parked his Jag not only straddling the line between the spots next to each other, but the line between the spots facing each other, one wheel in each of 4 parking spots.

18

May I make a small suggestion – psychologywise – if you write to complain to the management company?

It is almost certain that you will need to communicate (letters/emails/phone calls/whatever) with them two or more times because they will probably blow you off the first time. And, IMHO, the tone of the first letter is critical. Politely, but firmly, complain about the lack of adequate parking spaces, not about the greedy BMW lady; sure you should mention her misdeeds in passing, but don’t dwell on them. You want to come off as a reasonable, sincere, disgruntled tenant parker, not a whiney BMW-envy vendettamonger. After they’ve shrugged their shoulders at your first letter, go in for the kill and rant about the BMW-bitch with your second letter.

You see, when they get your first letter they will probably think, “Yes you got a genuine complaint, but hey, what can we do – build another lot? Fat chance. Sorry bub.”

But then, after they get your next letter, they will think, “You know they guy’s got a point. Spaces are tight. No one should be using two of them. Maybe we can’t make more spaces but at least we can maximize the ones we have. Tow the bitch.”

Essentially you want them to feel that they are solving a real buildingwide problem (which, even they will realize, is their job), not acting as your personal surrogate hitman.

19

A simple recipe:

Take a package of “Saltines” with you to work. Crumble and sprinkle liberally upon the perpetually misparked car. Wait several hours while local birds enjoy a snack and relieve themselves repeatedly on said car. Enjoy!

20

Write a letter saying that, as a prosepective customer of their company, you were turned off by their employee’s parking lot rudeness, and that your driver had to park down the street instead. Businesses never want to scare off customers. The porblem will be fixed very quickly!

If you don’t want to do that, carry some toothpicks in your glove compartment and when she does it, stick one in every lock and break it off so it is flush with the lock. Her keys won’t get in, and she’ll hafta call a locksmith.

If you really want to weird her out, put voodoo stuff around the spots where she is parking. Fresh bundled plants, pig’s blood, thorns, chicken bones, etc. Women can be a lot more superstitious than they make themselves out to be, and this sounds like a paranoid woman already. For the coup de grace, write something backwards in charcoal like “The spirits curse those who dwell here with their posessions”. She’ll walk to work!