Police in Lakewood over the past few weeks have issued many summonses for parking the wrong way in developments, according to multiple reports we received.
Though it has been for years considered the norm for residents in developments to park in one direction on both sides of the road, motorists were shocked to find parking tickets on their windshields.
In one development, close to 20 tickets were issued.
“Has the police department run out of things to do?” wrote one angry resident to TLS. “They should be focusing on fighting crime, not on parking which doesn’t bother the neighbors,” said another resident.
However, Police Chief Rob Lawson says that though there’s a potential hazard in parking this way, his officers and resources aren’t out on the roads particularly focusing on these infractions – which don’t generally bother residents within the developments.
Police however are cracking down on more severe and dangerous infractions, the Chief says.
[TLS]
Chief Lawson isn’t answering the question. Why were close to 20 tickets issued in one area? is he telling his officers to stop ticketing without a warning. i would have thought if for 10 years, i didn’t get a summons even though the police were patrolling my area, it means they are ok with it. so now, if you changed your mind, please tell me first.
great job and hope they step up enforcment , the question i have is in developments/streets with a culdesack folk park front end with the car sticking into the street , is this legal
Oif emesen, I don’t see any justification for parking the wrong way on a public roadway in violation of the law. The angry resident has only himself be angry at, if he’s too lazy to spend a few more seconds to park like a mentch. Lakewood isn’t a hefkervelt. What’s bichlal the hava aminah afilu to even park like that!? How did he get there without driving on the wrong side of the road? Does he park on top if his lawn too??
This behavior also brings to mind those people that park on an angle and take up 2 spots at the shopping plazas.. I bet they’ll be just as angry to be ticketed as this guy is..
“Police however are cracking down on more severe and dangerous infractions, the Chief says.” like, ticketing drivers for talking on cell phones? not stopping by stop signs? turning onto the road right in front of someone?
corner huggers should ticketed. parking over sidewalks too needs attention. the guy who has a problem. read your car driving manual.
Also, parking on the side of the street that says clearly “no parking this side”. Besides illegal, it’s inconsiderate and dangerous.
If you pull out and you are facing the wrong way and you hit someone head on, Who is at fault?? the Driver that didn’t see you parked the “wrong way in traffic” or the you who was parked the wrong way and hit them as they were driving out of the neighborhood like they always do..You are at fault..and if you park too close to the corner you are responsible. You must accept the town is getting more crowded and anything that the police do will never make anyone happy..so deal with it.
Did you break the law?? Then dont be mad at anyone else but yourself. Hold yourself accountable, part of growing up in the real world. Taking the extra 30 seconds to park correctly wont affect your day!
To aaaa:
I understand the frustration with the ticket after years of getting away fine with it. Think of it as a ticket divided over years of parking the wrong way; does it come out to one ticket divided over 10 years x 365 days of parking this way? Shoin. It was nice while it lasted. The fun is over.
Come on, seriously that’s what they are busy with. There’s real crime downtown.
If the police is changing a 10 year policy they should issue warning tickets around town first for say 6 months before issuing real tickets to educate the puplic about the new policy. Thank you!
Ignoring the law and complaining you get a ticket is a symptom is what is wrong with many things in this town. I applaud the police for enforcing the law. An illegally parked car in my development caused and accident. Had it been ticketed, maybe the ignorant person would have parked correctly next time and prevented a problem. The police ignore parking problems in my development. Every morning the fire hydrant is blocked, the intersection is encroached, and wrong way parking is common. Yes I have called the police and tickets were issued. My vehicles have been damaged in my driveway by people making u turns leaving the shule, my mailbox was knocked over and trash is thrown on my lawn by children arriving in vans for summer school. Loud noises at 6 am and in the evening as 30 cars come and go every day affect my quality of life. Issue tickets and maybe correct bad behavior, maybe even save a life.
to Mr. Airborne: Everyone agrees when someone is violating the law which affects someone else, then the person deserves a ticket. But when a person is just parking in front of their home in the wrong direction, and for many years, it was ignored, I think the proper approach would have been to give them a warning.
Jay walking is also against the law and no one says to enforce it. There are many laws that were written over the years that are either obsolete or don’t apply to a given situation. If it’s not bothering anyone than leave it alone. We don’t need to harass us citizens more than we already are.
# 7 even if you are on the right side the guy pulling out is always at fault the driver in thr road way has right of way
to #12 how can a car cause an accident by facing the other way
aaa Would you give someone driving the wrong way on a one way street a warning? The law about parking on public streets hasn’t changed.
they should WARN in advance
Not sure what neighborhood you are in that it doesn’t bother the neighbors but it is bothersome in my neighborhood. Just this morning i had a man who decided to park in the middle of the street, i kindly asked him to relocate his parked car and his response to me was “Other cars fit by just fine”, thats not the point, the point is he is parked illegaly and thinks there is no problem with it. I told him I’d be calling police and his response was “Go ahead.” Not sure if anything actually happened because i did have to get to work but sure hope it did.
#14 how can you say it’s not bothering anyone. For starters it means that the car went on the wrong side of the street to prk which is itself a hazard. in one of the large developements I have had cars zoom towards me hed on to park on the wrong side of the street. It usually goes along with parking on the side of the street where there is no parking allowed as well, which is a major hzard as children cross the street with no visibiity and cars try to squeeze through a street that wasn’t meant for 3 lanes.
Lakewood has grown and we have to deal with reality. As much as we wan’t to fargin the other person, a city of this size nees enforcement to prevent sakana. Whether it’s car parked the wrong way, sukkahs in middle of the street etc. there is no large frum city that would allow this to take place. Violators would face hefty fines not because those in charge are calllous but rather because there is no other way to run a city so that everyone can live safely and in peace. It’s time for Lakewood to do the same. True compassion sometimes looks callous but its the right thing to do. The ame goes for a host of other traffic and non traffic violations.
I lived in several cities in Europe where it is common and legal to park on the opposite side of the street. A person is compelled to look a complete 360 when pulling out, but I don’t understand why it was ever illegal here. By the way a fact of law, if the police ignore a law for over a certain period of time (in other words they don’t enforce it)- they are required to inform the citizens that they are enforcing it. A person can forget a law if it’s not enforced or commented on. I do not live in a development and try not to choose a playgroup in a development because of the parking/passing/space issues, but do pass through a development daily. I am encouraged that the situation would get safer, but notice to the people would have been respectful and more understanding of the enforcement had the police been more courteous and given notice.
I think most developments should have one way street ( like Villas) .then cars could park all in the same direction. And a car could get thru easier this way when no cars coming from opposite direction. it is impossible to get thru when cars park on both sides of the street, which is 2 ways, since its not wide enough. It’s such Chillul Hashem when buses have to get around and create major traffic. And guess what? On many occasions I would say this to person parking , where it says clearly not to park, he would look at me and do it anyway. His excuse , that he is late for a miniyan….I wonder if he is right….I live next to Kol Shimshon and its happens every day.
I think many commenters here may not have seen many of the developments being discussed. Many of them, once there are cars parked on both sides, are not exactly two way streets (which may be a problem, but from the builders, not the residents). When you park the wrong way you don’t have to cross any lanes. In fact, it may be more dangerous to “take the few mins” to make a u turn to park the right way
#15, the reason its a hazard to park facing the wrong direction is the driver is next to the curb, not the direction of traffic. When pulling out, a blind spot occurs caused by the cars in front and behind you. When your car is parked in the direction of traffic, the driver has a clear view of traffic to his rear in the rear view mirror. This assumes you check your mirrors and are not on the cell phone when pulling out. That’s what caused the accident.
to airborne, what do you say about a one way street is the driver not next to the curb? and what about in Europe is the driver not always next to the curb? and to those that say the car drove on the wrong side of the street , well maybe a wide street but most small streets there is pretty much space for like one car, so what wrong side did the car drive on?
It’s against the law to park your vehicle the wrong way. I’m glad to see something is finally being done about it. It’s not that difficult to do..so just do it and no tickets will be issued. Problem solved.
For some reason, people are missing the point. If the police have let it go for so long, so before giving tickets, at least give a warning first.