PARKING WITHIN 50' of a STOP SIGN IS ILLEGAL! archived

bookworm

May 3, 2012 at 5:43am

I recently received a $54.00 parking ticket for parking my car within 50' of a stop sign. It seems I'm one of the few people who was unaware of this law. There was no yellow curb, there was no sign other than the stop sign and I thought I was far enough from the corner so as not to interfere with someone's ability to assess crossing traffic at the intersection. I'll bet there are many other people who are unaware of this law.

johnlockedema

May 3, 2012 at 5:45am Edited

This comes up all the time on Parking Wars. They don't mark yellow curbs near fire hydrants either. I'm pretty sure this law is covered in the driving test you took as a teen.

RobB

May 3, 2012 at 5:46am

WTF is Parking Wars?

johnlockedema

May 3, 2012 at 5:51am

RobB said:
WTF is Parking Wars?

TV show, which follows parking enforcement staff in Detroit, Philly, and Providence. Watching people try and complain/get out of being ticketed and/or booted is a guilty pleasure. The indignation! How dare you give me a ticket!

johnlockedema

May 3, 2012 at 5:52am

http://www.aetv.com/parking-wars/

Syzygy

May 3, 2012 at 5:59am

I've taken the NY written test once and the NJ written test twice. I wasn't aware of this law either.

METALART

May 3, 2012 at 6:02am

It's one of the questions on the driving test in New Jersey. Time for a refresher course maybe?

bookworm

May 3, 2012 at 6:06am Edited

When I got my license they didn't have stop signs per se. There would be an old man in a straw hat sitting atop an ox and when you approached the intersection he'd slowly get down off the ox and wave his hands above his head in a criss-cross fashion. I hope this message helps spread the word and prevents others from getting tickets. Not going back to Driver's Ed for any refresher courses.....

KarenMarlowe

May 3, 2012 at 6:21am

Yeah, I knew that... but it is a little screwed up that some stop signs actually have signs saying, "no parking within XX feet of sign".

DEFCON_Creator

May 3, 2012 at 6:33am Edited

marylago said:
Yeah, I knew that... but it is a little screwed up that some stop signs actually have signs saying, "no parking within XX feet of sign".

And some stop signs are encrusted with Christmas lights, but not all of them. Do you treat the blinky ones differently?

And yes, the 50 foot rule IS in the driving test. You are also supposed to signal a turn 100 feet before you make it. Man, I would LOVE to see them enforce that!

KarenMarlowe

May 3, 2012 at 6:36am

WTF does that mean, dude? :-p

DEFCON_Creator

May 3, 2012 at 6:49am

Not quite sure myself, but I was chuckling when I posted it. It's been a rough morning. I changed it to more of what I was trying to say.

Rastven

May 3, 2012 at 6:51am

How about we just get them to start enforcing signalling a turn and work our way up to the 100 foot concept

mbaldwin

May 3, 2012 at 6:53am

johnlockedema said:
RobB said:
WTF is Parking Wars?

TV show, which follows parking enforcement staff in Detroit, Philly, and Providence. Watching people try and complain/get out of being ticketed and/or booted is a guilty pleasure. The indignation! How dare you give me a ticket!

Sad to say I've watched this show enough to have recognized one of the "stars" when in Philly a while ago.

johnlockedema

May 3, 2012 at 6:56am

mbaldwin said:
johnlockedema said:
RobB said:
WTF is Parking Wars?

TV show, which follows parking enforcement staff in Detroit, Philly, and Providence. Watching people try and complain/get out of being ticketed and/or booted is a guilty pleasure. The indignation! How dare you give me a ticket!

Sad to say I've watched this show enough to have recognized one of the "stars" when in Philly a while ago.

It's a guilty pleasure, I'll cop to DVR'ing COPS as well. I never said I'm perfect!

Tom_Reingold

May 3, 2012 at 7:25am

DEFCON_Creator said:
And yes, the 50 foot rule IS in the driving test.

I remember this. I took the NJ test in 1987.

You are also supposed to signal a turn 100 feet before you make it. Man, I would LOVE to see them enforce that!

I remember this, too, and I follow it.

I know that I remember more small details for longer than other people do. I don't know what the solution to this problem is. It's our obligation to remember this stuff, though.

shell2

May 3, 2012 at 7:57am

Isnt it usually maked below the sign for those who forget??... i must admit i haved pushed this one ...

musicmz

May 3, 2012 at 8:07am

When I got my license (in 1973!) I had to re-take the written exam, since it had been more than a year since the driver's ed test in HS. I remember the stop sign/parking question being on there. The one question I got wrong was: What is the speed limit on State Highways?

DEFCON_Creator

May 3, 2012 at 8:10am

musicmz said:
What is the speed limit on State Highways?

Whatever speed I am currently traveling at.

lisat

May 3, 2012 at 8:12am

I wish people would stop at a stop sign.

sac

May 3, 2012 at 8:13am

I wish that they would enforce the more important laws (like speeders in residential neighborhoods for a start, and drivers not stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks) rather than ticketing cars for being a little too close to a stop sign.

locowolfy

May 3, 2012 at 8:24am

as I recall lately, it is whatever the cars with the taped license plates are doing!!!

Emskware

May 3, 2012 at 8:40am

How about the cars that park right up to your driveway apron so you're barely able to pull out of your driveway? This happens countless times (especially lately, when realtors/potential buyers of the property across the street park right up to my driveway -- and give me an argument when I ask them to pull their cars back so I can get in/out). Geesh.......

mrincredible

May 3, 2012 at 8:47am

I have thought about buying a plastic hydrant to put in front of our house to keep people from parking too close to the driveway.

Either that or a meter.

EBennett

May 3, 2012 at 8:59am

I was taught that the 50 feet point is usually where the dividing line between lanes on a side street ends. For example, where Jefferson meets Ridgewood the white central line extends 50 feet.

Of course, I might not remember correctly ;-)

KarenMarlowe

May 3, 2012 at 10:17am

DEFCON_Creator said:
Not quite sure myself, but I was chuckling when I posted it. It's been a rough morning. I changed it to more of what I was trying to say.

Now THAT's funny...

ctrzaska

May 3, 2012 at 11:44am

50 feet?? I leave a car length from the sign or crosswalk if there's no yellow curb. Wowza. Where was this?

dk50b

May 3, 2012 at 1:06pm

Didn't recall this law from the driver's test either. Learned the hard way with a ticket in Newark many yrs ago. Almost no stop signs have the little warning attached, it's another thing you're just supposed to remember. If almost no one knows or cares pedestrians have the ROW in a crosswalk, not sure how many know this law either.