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interchange42

interchange42

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Do parking laws not apply to the people who are meant to enforce them?

On a day when CTV News is reporting that parking enforcement officers were parking their cruiser in the disabled spot at a Tim Horton's, UrbanToronto has photos of parking enforcement officers parking illegally so that they could hand out tickets to other people doing the same thing.

The following were shot on Tuesday, August 24.

3:58 PM, Peter Street north of King

PkgEnf01.jpg



4:40 PM, Church Street north of Isabella

PkgEnf02a.jpg



Same spot, just proving no-one is in the car

PkgEnf02b.jpg



On a previous evening I came across a parking enforcement officer handing out tickets on Temperance Street. He was parked illegally, and I challenged him on it. He answered "Well, where am I supposed to park?" Isn't that the same question that lots of Torontonians ask themselves? Most manage to find a legal spot.

42
 
Well...where IS he supposed to park? He's not there to go to a store or grab some food, he's there to ticket cars (and therefore likely won't be there for long)...if we expected parking officers to have to find a valid spot and pay for parking everytime they wanted to write a ticket then we'd be collecting a whole lot less ticket revenue, and there'd be a whole lot more people parking illegally. They are city employees, and the city has decided to exempt them from the ticket requirements, which is its right.

As much as I hate getting a ticket (and I've got a fair number of them), I think that practicality demands that some people shouldn't have to pay for parking, and ticket people are one of them (others would likely include fire trucks responding to a call and police cars doing the same thing). I have to say that I don't think that they should be parking in the handicapped spaces, though.
 
NO PARKING—you can still make deliveries or pick-up passengers or drop-off passengers, but no parking otherwise.
NO STANDING—you can pick-up passengers or drop-off passengers, but no deliveries or parking.
NO STOPPING—you cannot stop, period. Except as directed by a police officer.

The parking enforcement officer was in a NO PARKING area and was delivering a parking ticket
 
to park in a handicap spot because it's not official due to the unfulfilled requirements of having both a painted pavement and a bylaw sign really shows the character of that person. it's an attitude of "i can get away with it, so why not?" makes me wonder if the only reason why this person doesn't murder other people is because it's illegal or a one way ticket to hell according to their religious beliefs.

there were so many other parking spots to choose from as well. i bet the person's justification is that cripples could have parked in the other spots. also, now that the cat is out of the bag, so many people are going to park in those spots when they shouldn't be which will make life harder for many. thanks alot dickhead!

parks in a handicap spot to go buy donuts. can someone fire this stereotype already? i expect a higher level of standards from someone with a job like this.
 
interchange42 said:
Do parking laws not apply to the people who are meant to enforce them?



On a day when CTV News is reporting that parking enforcement officers were parking their cruiser in the disabled spot at a Tim Horton's, UrbanToronto has photos of parking enforcement officers parking illegally so that they could hand out tickets to other people doing the same thing.
Click to expand...

Sometimes police officers have to speed to catch up to speeders!
 
It does bring up the point that maybe we could save some money from the budget by giving the parking enforcement people bicycles or scooters in downtown areas, instead of cars. Seems wasteful as it is.
 
GraphicMatt said:
It does bring up the point that maybe we could save some money from the budget by giving the parking enforcement people bicycles or scooters in downtown areas, instead of cars. Seems wasteful as it is.
Click to expand...

There are cities that use the segway for parking enforcement, security, and other uses as well.

bilde


Though we could add some accessories to boost their presence.

china-segway-olympics-security.jpg
 
Prometheus The Supremo said:
to park in a handicap spot because it's not official due to the unfulfilled requirements of having both a painted pavement and a bylaw sign really shows the character of that person. it's an attitude of "i can get away with it, so why not?" makes me wonder if the only reason why this person doesn't murder other people is because it's illegal or a one way ticket to hell according to their religious beliefs.

there were so many other parking spots to choose from as well. i bet the person's justification is that cripples could have parked in the other spots. also, now that the cat is out of the bag, so many people are going to park in those spots when they shouldn't be which will make life harder for many. thanks alot dickhead!

parks in a handicap spot to go buy donuts. can someone fire this stereotype already? i expect a higher level of standards from someone with a job like this.
Click to expand...
I frequently see taxis parked in designated handicap spots, particularly in Hamilton.
 
PinkLucy said:
I frequently see taxis parked in designated handicap spots, particularly in Hamilton.
Click to expand...

are they picking up disabled people though? if not, they're just as bad.

one thing i wonder about this particular parking enforcement officer is if he/she stops at stop signs in plaza/mall parking lots or if he/she just goes right through them because it is private property and not subject to the HTA. also, i've been told that you can have a collision under a certain amount of dollars on private property and you can simply drive away without worry of punishment (unless of course the other person takes you to court) because the police will not pursue it if it isn't at least $xxxx in damage. would this person engage in this sort of behaviour simply because it is not punishable? like parking in that handicap spot?

WARNING! not sure if the underlined section applies these days. the info is a few years old.

none of this should be taken as legal information/advice and should only be taken as opinion. it is up to you to inform yourself of the laws. you are responsible for your own actions.
 
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Hank said:
Well...where IS he supposed to park?
Click to expand...

He or she should be on a bicycle.

There's no excuse for them to even be in a car trolling around neighbourhoods making it even more of a pain for people to do business in this city. Get on a bike and set an example!
 
I guess the issue of whether a parking enforcement officer is entitled to park illegally or not should be considered on a case-by-case basis. I remember an older thread (either here or on skyscrapercity) by someone recounting having seen a parking enforcement vehicle parked on King St. during rush hour (i.e. illegally) tying up traffic behind it as cars were forced to squeeze into one lane. Meanwhile, the officer was ticketing cars on some quiet residential side street. I think that particular case is an example of abuse of privileges.
 
 
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I don't have too much of a problem with the parking officers in those images, not a huge deal. What drives me NUTS is when a city worker, be it; parks and rec, by-law, etc) parks their truck on queen st at 8:15am blocking curb lane so they can by their cheap cigarettes and coffee!! I've even seen the parking enforcement officer give a nod to them and carry on their way. I understand that on official city business they have to park illegally but this is a blatant abuse of protocol.
 
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