The right to park in Richmond

Viewpoints

August 28, 2010

Larry Brock Special to the Register The Richmond Register Sat Aug 28, 2010, 02:00 PM EDT

RICHMOND — It never ceases to amaze me how parking tickets can inflame people. Officers routinely issue speeding tickets or citations for running red lights that can cost the violator in excess of $150. Rarely does a citizen complain about such citations. Yet when they receive a parking ticket that costs $5 to $25, the complaints roll in.

More often than not, the violator will admit to committing the parking violation — they just feel that they should be exempt from the regulations. They know that they were parked on a yellow curb and that it is prohibited, but since there were no other legal spots in the parking area, it should be okay to park on the yellow curb. No! There is a reason why curbs are painted yellow or red. It is to facilitate traffic flow or provide emergency services access to critical areas, such as fire hydrants.

One good example is a yellow curb on Professional Drive near Fire Station #2. It is designed to prohibit parking so that fire trucks can make a right turn unimpeded as they depart the fire station on emergency calls. Yet people park there and complain when they receive a ticket. Why does one think that their right to park close to an eatery overrides the rights of the rest of the citizens to receive unimpeded fire service when their house is on fire?

Fire lanes are another hot (no pun intended) area. Take the front of Walmart for example. The area closest to the front of the building is designated as a fire lane where no parking is allowed. This is so that in case of a fire or other emergency, emergency services can respond unimpeded to address the calamity. Yet people think that this area is designated as reserved parking for those who do not wish to follow the same rules as the rest of us. Anyone who has driven through the area knows how treacherous it can be when people are parked all over the fire lane. Find a legitimate parking spot in that large lot and walk a few more feet to the store like the rest of us do.

Downtown parking is unique in itself. Most of the downtown area has a two-hour parking limit during the daytime hours. Many people who work in the downtown area and have access to off-street parking refuse to use it because they may have to walk a few additional yards. Instead, every two hours, they run out of their work place and move their vehicle to another location to avoid a violation. If they ever figured out that all of that running in and out requires a lot more walking than just parking in a lot to start with, maybe they would reconsider their strategy.

Many approaches are taken by violators in their attempt to escape responsibility. Some say that they never received the parking ticket. They should be aware that leaving the ticket on their windshield until they reach 70 MPH and allowing the wind to blow it away does not qualify as not receiving the ticket. Of course, there are the ones who feel that they should not be subject to the parking rules like everyone else. “Do you know who I am?” That is heard on occasion. Sometimes the name or title of a city official is brought up to have the ticket taken care of, as in, “I’ll talk to the mayor about it.” As the mayor has often stated, she paid the parking ticket that she received.

Occasionally, a parking ticket is issued in error, which we try to correct. More commonly, the root of the problem is that we have become a society that can’t be inconvenienced. Consequently, many of us wish to ignore such things as parking regulations and traffic laws that help us maintain an orderly flow and provide safety for society.

Now, let’s all park and walk. Most of us need the exercise.

Larry Brock is chief of the Richmond Police Department. Reach him at 623-1162 or 623-8911.

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