Can you Distinguish a Safety Zone from a Buffer Zone?

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Last Updated on October 17, 2016 by Lawrence Berezin

Is there a difference between a safety zone and buffer zone?

Sue parked her chariot on Barclay Avenue near the intersection of Kissena Boulevard in Queens on Saturday. She opened her car door, stepped on some white lines painted on the roadway, and walked to the sidewalk. The white lines in the roadway separated the parking lane from the travel lane.

After completing her errands, Sue returned to parking space, got into her car, started the engine, drove her vehicle over the painted lines in the roadway, and waited for traffic to pass before entering the travel lane of Barclay Avenue.

At that exact moment, a parking ticket warrior vaulted from a nearby rooftop to her car, scanned her sticker, and issued Sue a parking ticket for standing in a safety zone. Yikes!

Does Sue have a winning defense to this evil safety zone ticket?

What is a safety zone?

A safety zone is one of the mysteries of Parking Ticket Land. It is not defined in the NYC Traffic Rules. But, you can still be issued a ticket for standing or parking in a safety zone, between a safety zone and the adjacent curb or within thirty feet of points on the curb immediately opposite the ends of a safety zone [4-08 (f)(6)].

Here are some pictures of a safety zone:

What is a Buffer Zone?

NYC Traffic Rules, Title 34, Chapter 4-12

(s) Crossing buffer zones.

(1) For the purposes of this subdivision, a buffer zone is defined as an area in the roadway, created by white lines, used to separate a parking lane from a travel lane or a bicycle lane from a travel lane, as indicated on the diagram below.

(2) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on or across a designated buffer zone, except when it is reasonable and necessary to enter or leave a legal curbside parking space or a driveway.

Here are some pictures of a buffer zone:

Here’s a look at Sue’s parking space

Larry’s defense certification

Dear Honorable Judge,

I hereby certify as follows:

I plead not guilty to this parking violation because:

-The TEA misdescribed the Rule

I was charged with violating the Safety Zone Rule, 4-08(f)(6). However, there was not a safety zone at the place of occurrence on Barclay Avenue in Queens. The roadway markings were a buffer zone, 4-12(s)(2).

I was not stopped, standing, or parked in a safety zone when this ticket was issued. I was stopped in a buffer zone 4-12(s)(2) waiting for traffic to pass to safely enter the travel lane of the Barclay Avenue in Queens.

I have submitted a series of exhibits in support of my defenses. Due to this circumstances, please dismiss this parking ticket. Thank you.

-I hereby certify that my testimony is the truth to the best of my knowledge. I fully understand that if my testimony is willfully false, I am subject to punishment

-I certify that the images contained in the exhibits are true and accurate reproductions of the originals as existed on the date this parking ticket was issued

Respectfully submitted,

Sue

Commentary

You be the judge. Guilty or not guilty? That, my friends, is the question.

Is there a difference between a safety zone and buffer zone?

What is a safety zone?

What is a Buffer Zone?

Here’s a look at Sue’s parking space

Larry’s defense certification

Commentary

Larry says:

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