Hassled for parking by police

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Big Bird... I feel your pain. BUT here in my area, if big blue says "in my opinion you are", I would say excuse me officer while I move my scooter. Would be a personal thing, but I remember the movie "Cool Hand Luke".
Just my two cents worth, and by the way, I am curious to know if there is an actual law against what you did. Probably not.

We have people parking m/c's on the sidewalks here in the San Francisco bay area (all over the bay area) and I never see a police give them tickets. But I'm sure they let them since there are so many cars that need parking spaces.

What I do when a police does this to me is:

I pull out fake plastic gun and shout: "You'll never take me alive cop-per" .

Just kidding...don't really do that. But the cop should have just told you to park in a space or leave it alone, IMO.

What it come down to here is that he didn't write you a ticket. He couldn't have b/c it's private property. He was bust'n your balls b/c you were offending his sense of authority & power.

Well, actually, he could have but you'd have to show up in court to get the ticket dismissed. That'd prove to be an even bigger PITA.

It may be that I will be showing my actual age here, although I'm not that much older than JeffR. I wouldn't park on the sidewalk even if it meant that I was taking a spot from an automobile.

There is just something about parking on the sidewalk that sticks in my throat. Even when the bike is strategically positioned so as not to block pedestrians, it is still not parked where it should be (my opinion and possibly that of a civil engineer and city planner).

Do I think the "Police Officer acted stupidly"? Or was acting out his Walter Mitty fantasies of gestapo like control? I have no clue. I do think the bike should have been in a legitimate space, then this is a non issue.

Sorry, but I agree with jdeer, I am 60 and i still wont park on sidewalks, thats why they have parking lots. Sorry but the cop did right. Just because you ride a scooter, it's not a bicycle, lol. Try to be courteous to the other public and just obey the rules.

My response to a similar situation was:

"Officer, please educate me because I don't know which is proper ettiquette.
Parking here on the sidewalk out of the way of pedestrians and not taking up a spot that can be used by a car, or not taking up any sidewalk at all, but taking up a spot in a crowded parking lot that could have been used for a car."

Which do you think is more polite to others?"

Whatever he says, you say, "That's what I'll do from now on."

I would not park on the sidewalk BECAUSE I would RATHER deprive a cage a parking spot.

just apologize and avoid any penalties and try it again at another location

I'm with you Jon, LOL,


Here in Perth it is legal to park on the verge (Nature strip) but not on the footpath. Bikes/scooters can be booked for parking in car spaces. Bike parks are avail, but only short term and miles apart.
In Melbourne, bikes and scooters can be parked legally on the footpaths in the city center as long as they are not ridden on the footpath and they leave easy access for pedestrians. Melbourne generally has very wide footpaths, Perth has not.

Unfortunately if you put a uniform on some people they become over enthusiastic with their authority, best not to excite them and go along with them instead.

Bigbird could have asked BK if it was OK and then complained to the manager about being harrassed by said copper. BK manager may even have lodged the complaint to the cops as BK might just happen to want the business.

BigBird,

YUP...This is how it starts, next thing you'll want to get a "Born To Be Wild" tattoe and then join a 1% outlaw scooter club.

Be carefull dude...Johnny Law has your number now. They'll be looking for you from now on.

Just kiding..Ride safe.

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In NY you can park where the bike racks are as long as you velcro your plates and take them when you park.

tankyuong wrote:

In NY you can park where the bike racks are as long as you velcro your plates and take them when you park.

That's sad.

in the UK, the only vehicle allowed on the public footpath is an invalids carriage, if you park on private property then it's a civil matter, so possible consequence is a private prosecution for trespass but cps not interested.

you could be clamped and even towed, with extortionate release charges, but again that's a civil matter. conversely if you were to remove the clamps that becomes a legal matter for criminal damage - so go figure?

i had my van clamped by bailiffs on my own drive, for an unpaid fine for my son. showed proof of ownership yet they would not release. had i ground off the clamp i could be held criminally responsible and even got a criminal record because the bailiffs overstepped the mark.

'justice' is always blind and more rarely fair, so unless you have a lot of money for courts - imo forget your legal principles.

just an observation, as a kid i parked a 125cc Yamaha motor bike on a really wide pavement against a wall, which ws part of the buildings private land, and where i had thought was well out of the way, only to return later and be told to my horror a partially sighted elderly local man had walked into it and pulled the bike over on top of him as he fell burning his leg and arm on the still hot exhaust and pot.

so not always so cut and dried about anyone's 'writes' imo.