I fought the law and...

[BigC]

I won!

Last week I found a parking ticket on my truck as I was leaving for work. The ticket was for "blocking a drive way" Problem was it's not a driveway. I showed the adjudicator some photos and she dismissed it at once. Seems the DOT officer needs to learn the difference between "city" and "private" property.

She assured me she would educate him. City hall is a joy at 9AM.

The Offending parkage...

[tc95]

Congradulations....!!!...The officer was probably in a bad mood...that night...LOL
+1 for us..!!!

[kneemeaux]

Good use of a camera!

I had a crazy neighbor call in a report that I was letting a viscous dog off the leash and terrorizing people. (Harris county has a leash law) The cops show up and are ready to throw me in jail. Then I show them time-stamped pictures proving that I was not where I was "terrorizing" people for 45 minutes before the report. morale of the story is you never know what you are going to use those pictures for...

[C!LLY]

my friend came over to drop off some stuff from the store one day after my surgery. she was here for maybe a total of 15 minutes while she helped me put stuff away and when she went to leave she came back in a showed me a warning that was on her car for blocking the sidewalk because she was parked behind my car. I live on the corner and 5 feet past my driveway is a light pole. I went outside to look at her car and noticed that all down my street there were pieces of paper in everyones windshields. It's pretty sad when they come all the way out here in the middle of nowhere where I live to put warnings on everyones windows, but I never see a police car near my daughters school every morning when people are speeding and passing me in the turn lane during the school zone hours. I lose respect for the police here just a little every day.

[ngoduyviet]

Good use of camera

[Howard Barlow]

Actually, you are on city property. Private property starts at the grassline near the left tire.You do not own out to the curb. Usually, the property line is about 10' from the curb/pavement, in a situation like this. Even the 'driveway' portion is public property, until one crosses the sidewalk, if there is one. Your driveway, or property, starts on the other side of the line. Is that your garage? If so, that is why the ticket was dismissed.

Rest assured, if the officer is DOT certified, he knows the law. Most likely, he knows it much better than the judge.

[dpena]

you can beat the wrap but u cant beat the ride... but good for you !

[CaptainTom]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Actually, you are on city property. Private property starts at the grassline near the left tire.You do not own out to the curb. Usually, the property line is about 10' from the curb/pavement, in a situation like this. Even the 'driveway' portion is public property, until one crosses the sidewalk, if there is one. Your driveway, or property, starts on the other side of the line. Is that your garage? If so, that is why the ticket was dismissed.

Rest assured, if the officer is DOT certified, he knows the law. Most likely, he knows it much better than the judge.

So if I park in my driveway the police can give me a ticket for blocking my own driveway ?? Seems a bit odd.
I would think they usually wouldn't issue such a ticket unless there had been a complaint.

[Daniel W.]

While that may be city property, reasonability states that its access to your own driveway that you're blocking, they wouldn't issue a citation because they only person you're hindering... is yourself... with your own ... well you get my point. However, reasonability is rarely reasonable.

That being said, I very much so admire the law enforcement. While some are friendly, it's not in their job description. They don't have to be your friend, just stop the criminals and prevent crime. I've met the occasional rough cop, but given what they have to put up with, I'm more than willing to shut up if I'm wrong.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Police cant give you a ticket for parking in your driveway.... they can however give you a ticket for "obscuring the sidewalk or ROW" and/or parking facing the wrong direction on that side of the street.
Howard is correct though, that the"public" property is from the street where the concrete meets the asphalt to up the curb, across the grass, across the sidewalk + about another 2ft in most cases. Normally city ROW/easement is somewhere around 6ft from the side of the street.

Learned that one with a run in with HPD about 2yrs ago, over being ticketed, parked in my own driveway, but my truck when parked behind my car (while it did NOT hang over into the street) DID block the sidewalk. I guess he was low on quota, because he nailed every car in my subdivision (after a breif drive around / look-see).

[CaptainTom]

Originally Posted by Daniel W.

While that may be city property, reasonability states that its access to your own driveway that you're blocking, they wouldn't issue a citation because they only person you're hindering... is yourself... with your own ... well you get my point. However, reasonability is rarely reasonable.

That being said, I very much so admire the law enforcement. While some are friendly, it's not in their job description. They don't have to be your friend, just stop the criminals and prevent crime. I've met the occasional rough cop, but given what they have to put up with, I'm more than willing to shut up if I'm wrong.

But, what do you do when you are right and they are wrong ?

[dbphotos]

I would say that you got lucky, because technically you have a public "sidewalk" there, since, as Howard stated, the sidewalk/public easement starts at the grass line (whether paved or not). Most cities/towns have an ordinance that specifically identifies the city easement and it is generally 5 feet towards the property from the curb line.

What he should have cited you for is 545.302(a)(2) stopping, standing or parking on a sidewalk.

Now, unless someone complained I generally wouldn't have written that ticket, but it's officer discretion and I can guarantee a DOT officer would have a more vast knowledge of the Transportation Code than the Judge. Most traffic judges are part-time.

AND... what's with the "US vs. THEM" mentality on this thread?

[BigC]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Actually, you are on city property. Private property starts at the grassline near the left tire.You do not own out to the curb. Usually, the property line is about 10' from the curb/pavement, in a situation like this. Even the 'driveway' portion is public property, until one crosses the sidewalk, if there is one. Your driveway, or property, starts on the other side of the line. Is that your garage? If so, that is why the ticket was dismissed.

Rest assured, if the officer is DOT certified, he knows the law. Most likely, he knows it much better than the judge.

Right. There is no sidewalk and that's not a garage it's a residence. You guys may be right about it being city property. But it's the "City property" of my landlord. It's a good thing the city dismissed this One. It will make the One I found on my truck tonight from the same "officer" easier to deal with. :)

[CaptainTom]

AND... what's with the "US vs. THEM" mentality on this thread?

I think it is an unfortunate psychological phenomenon that occurs because as normal law abiding citizens the only time most of us have interaction with law enforcement is when we get a speeding ticket, parking ticket, or some sort of citation that is going to cost us a bunch of cash.
How many times have we spotted an officer and quickly let off the gas and looked at our speedometer to make sure we weren't speeding? We don't want THEM to give us a ticket. I hate to wear my seat belt, but when I see an officer I make sure the damned thing is on because I can't afford a ticket.

P.D. community relations programs are usually aimed at the lowest income neighborhoods. Most of us don't live there and don't get to see the officers helping out, etc.

Most of us don't get burglarized, raped, mugged, etc. What we don't appreciate is that we aren't being victims of these crimes because there is an officer out there trying to protect us.

Us vs. Them ? Maybe. Don't officers feel pretty much the same about the general public sometimes ?

[BigC]

Originally Posted by dbphotos

AND... what's with the "US vs. THEM" mentality on this thread?

On my part it's just for fun. I "interact" with law enforcement all the time from the DOT to the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI.