Parking lot Etiquette

[kacealraid]

Here's my take on it, I don't know any LEOs to ask... The parking space itself is illegal to park in if you are not handicapped. The stripes alongside it? I don't know if that counts as part of the parking space or if that just represents the expected "walking" area. A good example is looking at your basic Wal-mart set up, where you see plenty of handicapped parking area, but a lot of the striped area is used as a walk-way for pedestrians as well. Just my thing. I've had security guards (not real cops) at Wal mart tell me it's cool to park on the stripes, just don't park near the building on the side walk.

[rkforrest]

Have a Accident in a Parking lot and see what Happens.Every law enforcement agency except the HP will refuse to do the report.They will say it is a Private Property offence and we dont handle it

[justinmahn]

Yeah, all this stuff on parking in the handicap spot is, as far as I'm concerned, off-topic. Both the examples I gave were clearly outside the handicapped spot, and the one my bike was in wasn't even NEXT to a handicapped spot. Non of the case law or LEO references are relevant to the MOTORCYCLE parking I was trying to comment on.

[PA Dave]

Originally Posted by justinmahn

Yeah, all this stuff on parking in the handicap spot is, as far as I'm concerned, off-topic. Both the examples I gave were clearly outside the handicapped spot, and the one my bike was in wasn't even NEXT to a handicapped spot. Non of the case law or LEO references are relevant to the MOTORCYCLE parking I was trying to comment on.

It actually seems completely on topic, and the two examples you gave were perfect in my mind. The striped off area at the triangle shaped end of the row is not a big deal. The striped area next to the handicapped space is a huge deal. When a quad like my friend that I referred to earlier returns to his van on a hot or cold day and finds that he can't deploy the hydraulic lift for his chair because a bike or car is parked there, it can have serious consequences for his health. His body does not regulate his temperature as well as ours do. It is bad etiquette to park there regardless of whether it is legal or not. There are a lot of perfectly legal moves that cagers make around us on the road that we call them names for. Legal and right are not the same thing. Legal and safe are not the same thing.

[tigrzeye]

I use a regular, marked parking spot far away from the store. Usually not as many cagers the farther out you park and heck might even walk off a bit of unwanted weight .. LOL I never park in striped areas, to me that means they don't want ANYONE parking there. Guess I get the law abider's trophy

[1996shadow]

Yeah, all this stuff on parking in the handicap spot is, as far as I'm concerned, off-topic. Both the examples I gave were clearly outside the handicapped spot, and the one my bike was in wasn't even NEXT to a handicapped spot. Non of the case law or LEO references are relevant to the MOTORCYCLE parking I was trying to comment on.

Here is a quote from comment #4, where you said that "parking lots are under the control of the owner". Now obviously in cases of Handicapped parking, that is not the case. You may feel that is minor, but to someone that is handicapped and needs that space it isn't. Also to someone that just got one of those very expensive tickets, becuase they believed what you posted it won't be a very good Christmas.

The last cop I asked, said that parking lots are under the control of the owner. They don't count as streets. You can park anywhere the management is ok with. The lines are simply the management communicating their preferences to you. Fire lanes are different, but normally it's all between you and the store management.

It does help to chat it up with them every once in a while.

If handicapped parking isn't part of "parking Etiquette" I don't know what is.

All this bad information about parking lots being private property so laws can't be enforced there kind of reminds me of the State Farm commercial on TV where the woman says she saw something on the internet so it must be true, because they can't post anything that isn't true.

[mistermoe]

I'm with 96 on this one. It really is amazing to find out how little people know about laws, including some LEO. There are a bazillion laws within any given state--who could possibly have command of all of them?

Officers use a lot of discretion and they need to.

I've never gotten a parking ticket on a bike. Then again, I've never parked like an *******. If it was a marginal problem where I parked, I can just imagine an officer looking at it, thinking "where the hell would I put the ticket anyway?" and just keep going. Too, lots of LEO around here are riders, too.

But 96 is right, you risk a pretty stiff fine parking like a jackass next to or between handicapped spaces.

Ride well, ride often.

Moe

[KPJ]

Just park in a parking space, it's not so hard. To the people that say they don't want to take a regular space because that means a car can't park there: you were going to the store anyway, what difference does it make if you took the cage or the bike, you still end up taking a parking space that someone else isn't.

[Big B]

Here's my take, anyone that can't park in a regular space, is either lazy or thinks they are better then the next guy. What makes you better then someone driving a cage? The few times I have ridden to the store, I've always parked in a marked spot. The section at the end of the rows that have been striped are like that for a reason, so no one will park there. The fact you can fit a bike there is irrelevant!

[tucker92]

Anyone that parks in an area that might restrict handicap access to a vehicle is a JERK regardless of the law!!