Touching the lines can be worth a $30 ticket

August 17, 1999
Web posted at: 1:27 p.m. EDT (1727 GMT)

From Correspondent Don Knapp

PALO ALTO, California (CNN) -- Instead of road rage, authorities in one California town are dealing with parking peeves, cracking down on sport utility vehicles that residents say crowd out automobiles from nearby parking spots.

"I think SUVs are just way too big for everything, including the freeways," fumes Callie Gregory. "I get scared driving down the road, but I especially hate to see them crammed into small parking spaces."

Others besides Gregory have joined an apparent backlash against SUVs. After reviewing a study last November that determined that passengers in a SUV are much more likely to survive a crash with a car than those in the smaller vehicle, federal officials considered forcing manufacturers to redesign the larger vehicles.

And environmentalists criticize SUVs, which can legally pollute two to five times as much as regular cars. In a June survey, nine out of 10 people agreed that SUVs should meet the same strict requirements as standard passenger cars.

This policewoman says that as long as there is a significant amount of space between each vehicle she will not cite them

But Palo Alto has clamped down for reasons besides safety or the environment. Police in the upscale suburb of San Francisco are ticketing cars that poke over into the neighboring parking space.

"If you're barely touching those lines, you're probably over six-feet wide, and that's probably worth a $30 ticket," says officer Jim Coffman.

Small-car driver Loret Carbone hails the measure.

"Yeah, that is a good thing, because they open their door and crash the paint on your car," she says.

One parking enforcement officer assures that her department will not enforce the rule too zealously.

"If we feel there's a significant amount of space between each vehicle, then again, we may not cite it. There's some discretion," says Anita Henley, working her rounds and placing tickets on vehicles in violation.

Palo Alto maintains it is not singling out SUVs. Any big car, truck or van parked in a compact-car slot may receive a ticket.

Some SUV drivers charge that the parking regulation discriminates, and suggest authorities should fine compact drivers for parking in slots for regular vehicles.

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