Elistan

We had dinner with some friends (near White Rock Lake, on a normal residential street) who got a parking ticket at 8am because one of their cars, parked directly in front of their house, was facing the wrong way. Now, I've always heard about such a requirement but this is the first I've ever known it to be enforced. (It's complete BS in my opinion, btw.) Then just as we pulled up to the house around 10pm (facing the correct way) a Dallas cop car rolled through the neighborhood slowly.

I guess Dallas is really feeling the budget crunch these days.

BlackBearTX

My friend got a ticket for it in front of his house. There's a cop who lives in his neighborhood who is a dick. I parked on his grass/driveway, and got a Class C misdemeanor warning for parking on the sidewalk (because it's like Driveway, sidewalk, and after the sidewalk to driveway branches out to to street, so I was parked on the bottom. For lulz when I got home, this dick 2 houses down always parks on the sidewalk and gets in the way when I am running at night so I put in under his windsheild wiper (Just to make a point, it was a mckinney warning and I live in Plano).
So yeah, usually it is the cops in the area, the cop threatened to give my friend a ticket if he ever drives by in front of his house again (He passed by going the speed limit.)

mxt_77

Yep, it's illegal and I always make a point to make sure and follow it. Like you, I've never heard of it being enforced, but I know that I'd definitely get the ticket if I didn't abide by that law.

I can see the logic behind it:
1) You have to cross oncoming traffic (twice) to park that way. And when you're pulling out, your view could be completely obscured by a car in front of you (since your driving position would be on the opposite side of the car).
2) Seeing the headlights/front of a car facing you on your right side could be confusing if you're coming down the street. It could mislead someone to think that it is a one-way street.

As for the "parked across the sidewalk" ticket... that's a pet peeve of mine, and I wish they would hand out more of those (at least to people who are *constantly* parked like that). Many people in my neighborhood do that, and as you mentioned, it's a real PITA if you're walking/jogging.

Gernby

I've heard of more people getting tickets for it, but the biggest reason to NEVER park with the car pointing the wrong direction is that it will be YOUR FAULT if someone runs into your car while it's parked there.

LMB2000

Funny you should say that - you would think that would be true - but it's not...

I dated a girl way back in HS who after having her license and car for under a month slammed into the front of a car parked facing the wrong way in Plano and it was ruled her fault. Bottom line is, if you hit a stationary object, it is your fault and noone elses.

Gernby

I'm not following why she hit the parked car from the back if it was parked the wrong way. Did she cross to the other side of the street to hit it?

My neighbor's 16 year old daughter had an accident with a car pointed the wrong way, but it was head-on. It was considered dual fault. Both cars were covered by their own insurance policies.

LMB2000

my bad dude - she slammed into the front.

Tharg!

lol is it just me or am i way more relaxed than some of ya'll? who could possibly support a law where you have to park "in a correct" facing fasion? So long as its parked and not in the middle of the street who cares???

ye haw.

Gernby

Oh. That's weird then. I guess the cop felt much more strongly that the teenaged girl was at fault. That definitely wasn't the case for my neighbor.

Gernby

I'm trying to figure out why you think you are more relaxed than anyone else in this thread. Nobody in this thread was involved with writing the law that we're discussing. It also doesn't matter which laws we care about. Cops decide what laws they care about, and enforce them as they please.