About 140 tickets have been issued since the grace period ended on a new city ordinance that prohibits parking on curbs and sidewalks, a city official said today.
The tickets have been issued all over the city, many to vehicle owners who have parked with their cars facing against the flow of traffic, Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi said early this afternoon.
“It’s so visible,” Akagi said. “It’s such a dangerous violation.”
He said tickets have also been issued to autos parked on sidewalks and large recreational vehicles.
Akagi said police officers also plan to ticket boats and large vehicles that violate the new ordinance.
Under the ordinance, ticketed motorists could face fines and court costs as high as about $159. The changes were approved by Oak Ridge City Council in March and April, and they also prohibit vehicles and objects placed inside of them from protruding outside marked parking spaces.
The grace period ended at midnight Sunday.
Akagi said he hopes the new ordinance will improve the city’s quality of life, make motorists more aware of how to park, and create better lines-of-sight for drivers.
City officials have fielded a mix of complaints, questions, and expressions of appreciation for the new ordinance, Akagi said.
The parking ordinance changes support initiatives approved last fall as part of a “Not in Our City” plan.
Earlier this year, city officials said they want to use the new parking ordinances to make sure that pedestrians can use sidewalks, and emergency vehicles and other large vehicles can safely maneuver on residential streets.
The new parking requirements also:
- prohibit recreational vehicles and utility trailers from permanently parking in on-street parking spaces while providing exceptions for specified temporary purposes,
- clarify existing on-street parking requirements, and
- add extra “prohibited parking places†to the on-street parking provisions.
Andrew Howe says
Parking against flow may well be a dangerous thing in specific locations. However, on most side-streets, especially the cul-de-sacs, it most definitely IS NOT. Simply put, if you know how to drive (i.e. use your rear view mirrors and turn your head), parking against flow on most Oak Ridge roads is NOT AT ALL a dangerous thing.
As for the parking of trailers, RV, boats, etc, issues like this should be dealt with in the same manner that barking dogs and noise ordinances are dealt with. Neighbors should try to resolve the situation one-on-one first, and the city should be called in if that doesn’t create the needed results. But to ticket and tow carte-blanche is WRONG in our city. It’s simply NOT NEEDED.
E.G. My end of the street doesn’t care what is parked in spaces, OR what way they are facing. We frankly DO NOT WANT our neighbors ticketed for these ‘infractions’ which ARE NOT a problem to us. If we have an issue we can’t resolve, we’ll call you. Until then, go bust some real criminals, thank you.
Blocking sidewalks with vehicles IS a bad thing. But again, a warning sticker should suffice. Sending out a storm-trooper force to write a 140 odd tickets in the early, early morning is just a dick move. Sorry, Oak Ridge officials. We don’t need you being dicks to us, thank you very much.
Mostly the city is once again using a law to take money from us. Once again in lieu of using the city’s financial and personnel resources to stop real crimes like: drug dens, crack houses, human trafficking, dirty cops, dirty judges, dirty lawyers, and dirty politicians.
If the city really wanted to make the roads safer, they’d pull the licenses of the citizens who clearly are not capable of driving anymore. We have a real problem here with the original generation getting so old they can no longer safely drive. THAT alone is a much greater safety issue than “parking the wrong direction”.
But that won’t put coin in the coffers, and it’s bloody obvious to me that financial gain is the primary thing that drives the police force around here. I handed them a burglar on a silver platter a year ago – proof AND an admission of guilt – and they’ve yet to bother to try and arrest him. A neighbor down my street was nearly killed during a home invasion. The ORPD hasn’t done a thing to investigate that crime.
They simply don’t care about us as people. They care about us as bottomless pockets.
I’m not saying the individual officers feel this way. Not at all. I imagine they’re wanting real crime work as much as we are. It’s the upper-crust setting the direction of the lower level officers.
People, this is what we get when we bring outsiders in to run our town. They want to turn it into NYC or something it’s not. We want Andy Griffith in office. I grew up wanting to be a cop because I admired Andy so much. It’s simply pathetic how times have changed.
Govts across the entire nation, from small town to the federal level, have over time become “entitled”. They used to work for us. Now they act like we work for them.
Time to raise up a grassroots movement to get rid of the out-of-towners and money-mongers. Time to elect people who care about the people. I’m over this shit. And from what I gather from talking to people, everyone is.
Parker says
This sounds so “Oak Ridge” it never changes for the better. Twice my vehicles have been side swiped and I pull over the curb onto my own yard oppisite the sidwalk and I live on a straight part of Outer Drive and still……Get side swiped and mirrors knocked off. The police and leaders in this town need to concentrate on the speeders and drunks driving around our streets and leave the law abiding citizens who are home in bed alone. They aren’t controling the streets, what difference do they think some parking tickets are going to make? I for one am glad to leaving this city……..156 Outer Drive will be listed FOR SALE by mid July. I was already fed up before this anyway. And they wonder why so many people are bailing out…….
jmk says
I have had 3 cars hit while parking in a parking space in front of my house. The last time that happened, I had a police officer to tell me that I “SHOULD BE PARKING” on the curb. If I ever get a ticket for parking on the curb of the road I’m tell the ticketing officer that I was told in 2011 that I SHOULD BE parking on the curb. Why doesn’t the city at least repaint the parking spaces so people might have a better chance to see the cars parked on the side of the road? If your car or truck is parked just one foot on the curb, how is that hurting anyone?
Glenn Bell says
Well-put, Mr. Howe, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
CN says
Two things seem problematic about not following this traffic regulation. First, other drivers do not expect to see a vehicle pulling out from that side, going that direction. Second, in order to park that way, the driver had to drive the wrong way in the adjacent lane of traffic. These are certainly safety issues and worth regulating even if only to remind drivers that we need to know all the rules of driving safely.
kay williamson says
What’s more pathetic is the real problems still EXIST, AND these tickets just like the red-light camera tickets are not worth the paper they are printed on. What happens if you don’t pay them!!!!!! NOTHING, What happens if you don’t go to court??? NOTHING!!!!!!
T J says
CN, no problem on 90% of the streets in OR—only the main arteries for wrong way parking.
Only someone using the cell phone would not see a car facing them on the street. I, personally, am more alert to this.
It is much easier and
Safer to pull into a space on the left side than to stop
And try to parellel park between two cars on the right side.