Pandora's Box and Parking Violations

            My office window faces the street with a clear view of all the activity – mostly vehicle activity – on a frequently traveled road.  On this visible stretch there are a half a dozen metered spaces, a fire hydrant and handicap parking spots. Meter maids are on hand dutifully writing out tickets and placing citations made of neon orange paper on window shields.

            The parking meters were increased in number over the past two years and currently plague our city streets.  This has caused those of us who work or live in the area a great deal of trouble, as several of these spaces were once free to park in for a number of hours.  Every day I watch people attempt to park, driving up and down the street with horns blowing at them as they crawl along.  Often, I witness someone park illegally and nod my head knowing that they will be targeted by one of the many meter maids on duty.  More often than not, they get citations placed on their vehicle.

One of the most frequent parking violations I witness occurs in front of the fire hydrant.  I believe some people take a risk parking there because they don’t expect to be in the spot very long and go someplace near by.  Of course, this is just an assumption on my part, for perhaps they don’t care or aren’t aware that it’s illegal.  Just beyond the fire hydrant is a legitimate parking space with a meter.  Many times I witness a driver approach this spot and maneuver outside of the parking area and place their vehicle in front of the fire hydrant with the parking meter behind them.  They then feed the meter believing that it is in the proper place for their vehicle.  This continued pattern has made me question what is taught about U.S. parking rules.  Is it supposed to be common knowledge that a parking meter should be in front of your car?   Obviously, this isn’t the case as I see this error made on a daily basis.  I’ve witnessed people of all ages doing this so it isn’t limited to one group.  I assume that some of these people maybe from out of town or from a foreign country and are visiting.  They may not be aware of the rules.  However, I don’t recall reading anything in particular about city parking or meters when I took drivers education.  Yes, that was a long time ago and times have changed.  I can take a deep look into the Internet and see what answers I can find.

If you Google U.S. parking rules several links come up for various states – mostly California and Minnesota - as well as pages targeting international travelers such as justlanded.com, path2usa.com and a Wikipedia page.  Most of these sites covered parking meters in so much that they advise travelers to carry change with them.  However, they don’t include any information regarding where the car should be placed in relation to the parking meter.  They should include a line that reads, “a parking meter should be next to the front end of your car just above or close to the front left tire.” This would save travelers a great deal of money in tickets.  

Out of curiosity, I downloaded the current drivers instruction manual from the Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles.  I was surprised to see that there was no information in it regarding parking meters.  Apparently, this information isn’t being taught by the state.  I looked at the booklet for Massachusetts as well and found that they didn’t address the issue either.  Massachusetts did include a brief paragraph covering parking meters that reads, “Many public parking spaces are operated by coin-fed meters.  Rules and time limits usually apply during posted days and hours.  If you park longer than allowed or fail to pay the meter fee, you may be issued a parking citation.”  However, they don’t address proper location of the meter in relation to a vehicle either.

Apparently, I’ve discovered an oversight in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts drivers manuals.  Can one argue that we were never taught where to place our cars, focus on the fact that the department of motor vehicles doesn’t teach this and fight all the parking tickets?  Perhaps I just unlocked Pandora’s box.  Discuss amongst yourselves.