I must confess that I have many times entered onto the 4800 block of
Beaumont, and parked on the left side of the street, without even thinking
that it might be the wrong thing to do. Most cars parked on either side of
the block seem to have entered on 48th Street.
I tend to agree with Tony Lapp that the police might have taken a more
diplomatic approach than simply writing out tickets. The application of this
law to a single lane two way "highway" seems a bit arcane, as a Philadelphia
lawyer could argue that such a "highway" is effectively one way whenever a
car passes down the road. A car heading in the other direction must either
wait before entering the street, or pull over to the side to yield the right
of way on the "highway".
By the way, and unless I am mistaken, the relevant paragraph in the
Philadelphia Code of Ordinances is:
§12-914. Additional Parking Regulations.[Note 34]
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Title, every vehicle
standing or parking upon a two-way highway shall be positioned parallel to
and with the right-hand wheels within twelve (12) inches of the right-hand
curb or, in the absence of a curb, as close as practicable to the right edge
of the right-hand shoulder.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this Title, every vehicle
standing or parked upon a one-way highway shall be positioned parallel to
the curb or edge of the highway in the direction of authorized traffic
movement with its right-hand wheels within twelve (12) inches of the
right-hand curb or, in the absence of a curb, as close as practicable to the
right edge of the right-hand shoulder, or with its left-hand wheels within
twelve (12) inches of the left-hand curb or, in the absence of a curb, as
close as practicable to the left edge of the left hand shoulder.
34. Added, 1989 Ordinances, p. 99, effective June 30, 1989.
Elliot M. Stern
552 South 48th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19143-2029
United States of America
Telephone: 215-747-6204
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 7/23/02 1:37 AM, Tony Lapp [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Hmm, I share many of your complaints, Ann, but I was also one of the
> Beaumont Avenue residents out "complaining" to the police Sunday. I
> didn't hear anybody arguing with the officers about whether it was right
> or wrong to enforce the law. What we neighbors were requesting was the
> following:
>
> --some acknowledgement that no one has been penalized on our block for
> years for parking the "wrong" way. I talked to several 10+ year block
> residents after the "confrontation," and none of them had ever been
> ticketed in all the time they've lived there. One thought he remembered
> hearing about one occasion where cars had been ticketed ... before his
> time.
> --that if, after all this time, the local police have suddenly decided
> to enforce this law, that it would be courteous to inform someone on
> this block of heinous lawbreakers and give us a chance to examine the
> error of our ways, and maybe even begin parking the "right" way.
>
> The 4800 block of Beaumont is a narrow little road that doesn't continue
> beyond the block in either direction. We rarely have anyone speed
> through the block, simply because the road is too narrow. Also, since
> it is a one-lane, two-way road, it doesn't matter which way you're
> parked, you always face the possibility of pulling "into traffic." We
> have numerous friendly dogs and scads of cats, and also have lots of
> kids playing in the street, which makes it a wonderful block to live on,
> even if you don't have any children of your own, which we don't. (Two
> cats, though!) In my experience, all this has meant that drivers on our
> block pull out of their parking spaces very carefully.
>
> Frankly, I'm quite happy to be more careful about which side of the
> street I park on when I'm facing which direction. That was never the
> point of contention.
>
> I do want to say that I was proud of the way my neighbors turned out and
> quite reasonably persuaded the officer not to continue ticketing until
> we had a chance to warn others on the block. Within a half hour every
> windshield and mail slot had a notice explaining the new enforcement
> "policy." (Quick slide into cynicism: Any takers on the likelihood of
> there being follow up enforcement in the next months/years?)
>
> One last comment before I'm off to bed: At least from what I could
> see/hear, all the sensible, calm, non-argumentative communication was
> coming from the neighbors. I thought both the officer and her
> supervisor handled themselves like defensive little children.
> Fortunately, through patience, the adults in the conversation gently
> contained and redirected their brattiness.
>
> Night all,
>
> Tony Lapp
> 4816 Beaumont
>
>
>
> Mayer, Ann wrote:
>
>> Subject: [UC] RE: Police Ticketing -- high time!!!
>> Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 23:37:09 -0400
>> From: "Mayer, Ann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>
>> I share Katie's reactions; I would also be thrilled to
>> have police around to monitor the horrible driving and parking habits
>> that I see on a day to day basis around my block -- drivers
>> going the wrong way on one-way streets, double parking, speeding,
>> zooming through red lights, not stopping for pedestrians on the
>> crosswalks, and blaring their #@&%!! boomboxes with their crashing
>> and rattling bass notes at all hours of the day and night. Besides,
>> it is DANGEROUS to park the wrong way! Drivers commonly park the
>> wrong way on my block and, when pulling out, have created a number
>> of close calls for law abiding drivers not expecting to see
>> cars pulling out in their lanes going the wrong way. I vote
>> in favor of an augmented police presence.
>>
>> Ann Mayer
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Katie Convery Diller
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Sent: 7/22/2002 11:20 PM
>> Subject: Re: [UC] Police Ticketing Residential Areas
>>
>> One of the biggest problems in west philly is
>> that drivers blatantly break traffic and parking
>> laws, and the police do nothing about it. I
>> would be thrilled to have more of a police
>> presence in the neighborhood - I don't think they
>> are wasteful for taking a few minutes to ticket
>> illegally parked cars.
>>
>> --- Joe Clarke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> Sunday morning I was alerted to two patrol cars
>>> out on the 4800 block of
>>> Beaumont ave. They were there ticketing cars
>>> for being parked facing the
>>> wrong direction. Anyway, most of the neighbors
>>> were out asking why this was
>>> going on. I think that one explanation that
>>> the police gave was that it was
>>> part of Operation Safe Streets. This I
>>> sincerely doubt.
>>> I am my neighbors problem came from:
>>> Not being notified.
>>> Our police officers being used in such a
>>> wasteful fashion.
>>> Being fined for parking on our streets.
>>> None of us disputed the violation, we just
>>> wondered what new program is
>>> underway to rake additional income into the
>>> city. The Parking Authority is
>>> a patronage trough which in a sense imposes an
>>> additional tax on
>>> Philadelphians who must pay to park around
>>> greater and greater expanses of
>>> the city. And then there is the "Gotcha" game,
>>> when you are ticketed. The
>>> PPA is a very well run city service, its just
>>> too bad we don't know what
>>> they use these additional hidden tax dollars
>>> for. Is it to pay for the
>>> police overtime that we keep hearing about?
>>>
>>> Have any of you been exposed to this?
>>>
>>> Joe Clarke
>>> 4811 Beaumont Ave.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Wearing a hole in my novelty genes..."--
>>>
>>> Roy de Philadelphie
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________
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