Last Updated on January 18, 2018 by Lawrence Berezin
The minority view holds that a passenger vehicle can double park
But, only under certain circumstances. Double parking is a no standing violation. Ergo, you can double park when you stop temporarily to expeditiously drop off or pick up a passenger at the curb. The PVB recognizes a passenger vehicle’s legal right to double park. Here’s their wonderful Ebook. Check out pages 11 and 15.
The majority view and one held by the Evil Empire and Parking Ticket Warriors is that a passenger vehicle can never, ever double park.
I was contacted by a wonderful member of the NYC driving community, who was bewitched, very bothered, and bewildered about getting a parking ticket for double parking while waiting on the roadway side of a vehicle parked at the curb for a driver to vacate a parking space. “How can I get a parking ticket for this?” Our irate driver asked.
I am sorry to report, according to the rule prohibiting double parking, under the circumstances described by our angry driver, you are technically double parked. Amazing!
You may wish to take a few moments of your valuable time to view the Slide Share presentation and learn how the double parking rule can ambush NYC drivers.
Commentary
Don’t double park unless it is really your only option. If you double park, please be sure a driver remains seated behind the wheel. Trust me, you cannot run into the store for just a couple of minutes. Warriors swarm to an unattended double-parked vehicle like bees to honey.
If you are seated behind the wheel of a double-parked car when a Warrior shows up to give you a parking ticket, try to get a photograph of the Warrior leaving the ticket under the wiper without entering your name on the ticket. You can raise the defense of lack of proper service when you fight the ticket. Remember, if a driver is seated behind the wheel of their chariot when a Warrior issues a parking ticket, she is required to enter the driver’s name on the ticket. Sadly, this rule is honored more often in the breach.
Do you know the difference between a stop line and a crosswalk line? Can you park in the curb space between a stop line and a crosswalk line? You may find this blog post helpful.
I was extremely shocked when this happened to me a couple of days ago. I was three doors down from my home, on a one way residential street, waiting for a neighbor to pull out of the space that he was parked in, so that I could park. I was not blocking the street, and there was plenty of room for cars to get by my car. I’ve lived in NYC for over 50 years and I had no idea that there was anything wrong with doing this (and still don’t think there should be). I never left the vehicle, and was prepared to move it immediately if necessary.
An officer pulled up behind me in a patrol car and stopped. I thought that perhaps he was responding to a call at the house that I was in front of and wanted to put his patrol vehicle there, so I started to move up slowly to get out of his way. As soon as a started to move up a bit, he put on his flashing lights, which I took as a sign that he did not want me to move, so I stopped and waited. He then approached my car and told me that I can’t have my car sit there, and when I replied “No problem”, before I could move, he placed a $115 ticket on my windshield (didn’t even hand it to me) for double parking.
I couldn’t believe that this actually happened. As far as I am concerned, sitting in your car while waiting for another driver to vacate a space, while being ready to move your car immediately if necessary, is not double parking, and the application of a little common sense by those issuing tickets would go a long way.
Larry: If I am reading your posting correctly that any stopping of a car next to a parked car is double-parking, wouldn’t that technically make the act of backing into a parking space illegal, since when you pull up along side of the car in front of a vacant space and prepare to back into the space, you have to stop momentarily to shift your car from drive to reverse? Is a person guilty of double-parking for that instant that his car is not in motion? Where is the line drawn between the act of being in the process of legally parking and the crime of double-parking?
Is there any point to my attempting to fight this ticket, or will the courts be as uninterested in what the spirit of the law is as the officer who wrote the ticket was?
Michael,
What a sad state of affairs. There are many things that happen in Parking Ticket Land that boggles my mind, but is one of my top 3 “Peeves.”
Yes. Technically, when you stop your chariot for a NY minute alongside a car parked at the curb, it is double parking. However, most warriors and cops don’t enforce this absurd technicality, especially on a residential street. This kind of stuff drives me nuts!
I’m happy to fight this ticket for you at no charge. Please email me your:
-Home address
-Plate number
-Summons number
I’ll take it from there.
Looking forward to getting some justice in the wacky world of Parking Ticket Land.
Regards,
Larry
Thank you so much, Larry. I greatly appreciate your kind offer, and I will e-mail the information to you.
Perhaps the City Council needs to amend the law to state that it will not be considered a violation if a driver stops their vehicle next to a parked car on a residential street as long as the driver remains in the car, prepared to move it immediately if necessary, and provided that the vehicle is not obstructing the flow of traffic. Hopefully, this would stop this kind of abusive ticketing in the name of meeting quotas……oops, I’m mean in meting performance goals, since I understand NYPD does not have “quotas”.
Maybe it’s time for all of your blog followers to contact their councilpersons and request this. Your website seems like it would be the ideal place to start such a grassroots movement.
One more question for you on the ticket that I received: I have an NYC PPPD (disabled parking permit), which was displayed in my windshield (right next to the registration sticker that the officer looked at for my vehicle make and registration expiration date). On the ticket, the officer indicated “No” for “Permit Displayed”. While I understand that this permit does not cover “double-parking”, would the fact that the officer indicated that there was no permit displayed make it a defective ticket and qualify it for dismissal as such?
And yet another issue with my ticket that I noticed after reading more on your blog about ticket defects: On the ticket, there is a line which asks “Name of Operator, if present”. Is this a required entry? The officer never asked me for my name or to see my ID, and left this line blank.
We had a flat tire. There was no parking space available so we pulled up along the side of cars that were being serviced put the hazard lights on as I was about to jump out of the car to ask them where should we wait, the police pulled up behind. The officer walked over and my husband asked what’s the problem the officer stated your double parked. My husband said “ Sir we have a flat and we’re trying to find out where we should wait to be serviced.” The officer said license and registration. Now my question is what do you think about this situation?
Hi, Cylynthia,
Good morning.
What a shame!
Technically, you were double parked. But, you have a reasonable defense, i.e. you unexpectedly got a flat tire and there was nowhere to park curbside. Here’s what the PVB has to say about raising the “disabled vehicle” defense:
“Disabled Vehicle – The NYC Traffic Rules, 4-08(a) 8, require that “a vehicle that becomes disabled must be pushed to the side of the road so that it obstructs traffic as little as possible, and must be removed expeditiously.” The best evidence to support that the vehicle became unexpectedly disabled is documentation indicating:
• That the vehicle was quickly removed (usually towed) from the location, and
• The bills/receipts showing the nature of the repairs to the vehicle.
[Source: “Got Tickets? Your Guide to Parking Ticket Hearings”]
Although the “disabled vehicle” defense is not a slam dunk, I would absolutely fight this unjust ticket.
Let us know the outcome.
Good luck.
Regards,
Larry