This column has been updated.
After publishing this column on Saturday, the Road Warrior got several comments challenging the answer to this question from a reader:
My sister tells me it’s illegal to park on the street in front of (blocking) my own driveway. I don’t do it very often, but sometimes it’s the only place left to park near my home. My neighbors frequently park in front of their own driveway, and I’ve never heard that they’ve been ticketed by the police. Thanks. Sara
The answer comes from Sgt. Jason Krauss of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety:
It is OK for a person to park in the street and block their own driveway as long as they park along the prolongation of the curbline and do not park over 18 inches away from that curbline. Perpendicular to the driveway would not be OK. You must be facing the correct direction, as if parking along the curb.
From the Road Warrior: After some of the comments below, we asked Krauss about them. This is his response:
The definitions of section 22500 of the California Vehicle Code as explained by Ken, Jonathan and Rose are accurate. If a person was to go by the “letter of law,” vs. the “spirit of the law,” parking in front of one’s own driveway would be considered a violation, unless otherwise permitted by local ordinance. In Rohnert Park, we apply the “spirit of the law” and what is best for our community when interpreting the applicability of this section. That being said, I think the intellectual acumen applied to Dave Stubblebine’s post will best help Sara with her question.
From the Road Warrior: We also received emails asking people who park in front of driveways to take into consideration anyone in wheelchairs or motorized scooters who may need to gain access to the sidewalk via the driveway.
Here’s another question from a reader:
In school zones, what does the “Speed Limit 25 When Children Present” mean? I have asked a CHP officer, a SRPD officer and the DMV. Some say “present” means when school is in session, others say when they are outside the classroom, another says when on the sidewalks outside school property. What is the LAW? Bill
The answer: I pulled out my hefty California Vehicle Code book and looked up Section 22358.4 that addresses the issue. It says if there’s such a sign posted, then you can’t go more than 25 mph whenever “children are going to or leaving the school, either during school hours or during the noon recess period” and when the school grounds “are not separated from the highway by a fence, gate or other physical barrier while the grounds are in use by children.”
So it seems that everyone you talked to is partially right. But if you’re unsure as you approach a school, it’ll be safer to slow down.
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If you have a question for the Road Warrior, please send it to jim.fremgen@pressdemocrat.com
Ken
This advice about parking in front of your own driveway is not necessarily universal throughout the state. Local ordinances generally define parking violations and what may be true for Rohnert Park may not be for, say, Santa Rosa or Healdsburg. State law pertaining to this only gives authority to tow when blocking driveways and does not speak to enforcement.
February 11th, 2012 9:29 am
Rose Williams
California Vehicle code 22500 states that no parking
e) In front of a public or private driveway, except that a bus engaged as a common carrier, schoolbus, or a taxicab may stop to load or unload passengers when authorized by local authorities pursuant to an ordinance.
February 11th, 2012 11:06 am
Jonathan
The parking, stopping, or standing of a vehicle across a driveway (even by the homeowner) is prohibited by
California Vehicle Code section 22500(e). However, code section 22507.2 allows for an exception:
“Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 22500, a local authority may, by ordinance, authorize the owner or lessee of property to park a vehicle in front of the owner’s or lessee’s private driveway when the vehicle displays a permit issued pursuant to the ordinance authorizing such parking.”
February 11th, 2012 12:28 pm
David Stubblebine
Everyone here is correct a little bit. The statute, strictly speaking, prohibits parking in front of any driveway – even your own. As a practical matter, no police department in California would enforce this section in a residential neighborhood without a complaint. Unless you are apt to complain on yourself, no enforcement would result if you parked blocking your own driveway, so long as everything else about your park job conformed with the law – which is exactly what Sgt. Krauss said in the first place.
February 11th, 2012 8:56 pm
Ken
Whoops, my bad! forgot about 22500 regarding enforcement, however it still holds true regarding local ordinances allowing parking in front of driveways as Jonathan so kindly pointed out. Still, neighbors often take issue with parking and enforcement does occur so it would still be wise to check your local ordinances before parking in front of your own driveway.
February 12th, 2012 8:50 am
Mike, Boise
to: David Stubblebine, I received a parking ticket from SFPD for parking in my own driveway. When I asked the officer about it, he said it was against the law in California, as per the Ca. Veh. Code noted aabove, and he
had no way of confirming whether it was parked in front of my driveway, in any case, tough luck!
February 12th, 2012 11:27 am
RG
Sort of a related question – several people in my neighborhood park in their driveway, but don’t pull all the way in, so their car blocks the path of the sidewalk. Is that illegal (or just rude)?
Thanks!
February 13th, 2012 9:55 am
LegalCat
So, on the one hand, there’s the widely-recognized tendency of police officers to enforce the spirit of the law but not the letter. And then on the other hand, there’s the point that if they tag your car for blocking a driveway, they can have the car towed, and the towing company gets to charge you many hundreds of dollars for releasing the car, of which the city gets a hefty commission, on top of the fine. I think maybe I won’t depend on the the police’s interpretation of the spirit of the law trumping the letter.
February 13th, 2012 12:20 pm
Itsme
San Francisco, like a lot of huge cities, isn’t part of the known world and doesn’t operate by common sense.
That explains why the San Francisco parking tickets.
February 18th, 2012 5:11 pm