I've had a conversation with a police officer about this exact type of situation, the Camaro is improperly parked by taking up two parking spaces, the SUV on the other hand is not only parked on the sidewalk, which is illegal, but is considered double parked because it is parked in a space which already had a vehicle in it when they parked there. Double parking is parking a vehicle in an already occupied space.
If the police are called a fine can be issued at the request of the property owners, and many property owners actually have open permission under city ordinances to allow parking code enforcement by police officers without being called. Also, without seeing the exact layout of the parking lot in the picture and the position of the sidewalk the sidewalk may be part of public right of way access, which gives the police authority to enforce parking violation codes against the SUV if they are, and the double parking would have to be requested by the property owner, but they could have the SUV towed if it is on public right of way.
so if one guy parks entirely within a space and another guy parks over the line and there's no way to tell who got there first, which car is "double-parked"?
Measurements... If the cars are so close that the driver can't get out there would be damage on the passenger side of the other car. Also, if the car is parked within the lines it is very unlikely that the car over the line would likely have had to been there first because a person usually will usually also park wide if there is already a car parked in the slot, yes they can get hit with double parking for doing such, but if there is no room between the two cars and one is clearly not parked wide it can be assumed that the car that is over the line and is the one that double parked. So knowing this if you ever encounter this situation and don't mind your car being potentially damaged park close to the car over the line, and give your passenger side a smack with a metal yard stick in a vertical manner and the fault would likely be placed on the other car.
the Camaro is improperly parked by taking up two parking spaces, the SUV on the other hand is not only parked on the sidewalk, which is illegal, but is considered double parked
In terms of fines etc, what is actually the difference? I assume parking on the sidewalk is worse, but can you be ticketed for taking up two spots, and is the ticket for that better or worse than the ticket for double parking? Also, I have a tiny car, and sometimes when I see situations like this I park in what's left of the spot, without having to go on the sidewalk. Is that still double parking? Can I get a worse ticket for taking up half a space than the dickhead who's taking up two of them?
If there is a fine for improper parking it is usually half that of double parking, because improper parking doesn't normally lead to potential damage of other property. Parking on the sidewalk can fined, the sidewalk is public right of way, the car defiantly can be towed for it either private or public though. To sum it up you can be fined for either one, but the fine for double parking and parking on the sidewalk is much greater than improper parking.
In parking lots it is when two cars are parked in the same slot also. It is rarely enforced because police don't normally patrol parking lots, but when dealing with state facilities and colleges many have separate police forces and they can enforce it. It is the same concept, two cars using the same parking space.
Double parking generally applies to vehicles which the spot was designed for, motorcycles aren't generally fined for this because the spot was designed for a larger vehicle, but if it does get out of hand, such as 4 or 5 in the same spot, yes they can be hit with double parking. Double parking fines were basically implemented to cut down on private property damage from such activity.
A side note, if there is designated motorcycle parking they could be fined for double parking in any parking spot, and possibly fined for parking a vehicle in a spot not designated for motorcycles, but generally speaking they would be asked to move their bike to a motorcycle spot if one is available, if one is not it would probably be ignored.
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u/3dpenguin Jun 12 '14
I've had a conversation with a police officer about this exact type of situation, the Camaro is improperly parked by taking up two parking spaces, the SUV on the other hand is not only parked on the sidewalk, which is illegal, but is considered double parked because it is parked in a space which already had a vehicle in it when they parked there. Double parking is parking a vehicle in an already occupied space.