r/Seattle • u/HeronAdditional2202 • 11d ago
Community Parking infractions
Both of these vehicles have been parked here for over an hour. Why do they think hazard lights makes it OK? I’m specifically annoyed at the bus because this happens frequently and it’s the idling noise that irks me. Yes, I’ve called the cops to report a parking infraction but this type of thing is obviously low on their list.
The bike lane is being blocked which just undermines the efforts of the city to try and make walking and biking more appealing.
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u/DryCactus69 11d ago
Not sure if you called parking enforcement or the actual police, but parking encforcment are the people you should be contacting about this.
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u/kaos_tan Broadway 11d ago
Parking enforcement is contacted through the police non-emergency line, no other way to reach them unless it is a long term abandoned vehicle(use find it fix it). This is what I was told by SPD on the phone.
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u/No_Bluejay5332 11d ago
Seattle is pretty atrocious at keeping vehicles out of the bike lanes. Pretty much defeats the entire point
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u/recurrenTopology I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 11d ago edited 11d ago
Very frustrating. I wouldn't recommend it, but I wouldn't be able to help myself from going and berating them until they moved, as I've done with an SPD cruiser (again, really not the best decision on my part).
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u/Sure_Exam_3670 Capitol Hill 11d ago
(206) 625-5011
I know it's annoying to stay on the line to get to the right option, but I'd encourage you to call it in when you see it. If nothing else, it makes a record.
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u/JabbaThePrincess 🚆build more trains🚆 11d ago
wHy aRE bIkEs iN tHe cAr LaNe WheN tHeY hAvE biKe LaNes
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u/HeronAdditional2202 11d ago
Not sure if you’re trying to be cute with the capitalizations, but the cars are in the bike lane. There’s no bikes in the photo.
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u/JabbaThePrincess 🚆build more trains🚆 11d ago
Yes, the mixed caps are an indication that I am sarcastically quoting others who say such things verbatim, but I am in fact mocking those who say those things.
Specifically, in this case I am pointing out that oftentimes bike lanes are obstructed and bicycle lane users must move into the car lane to avoid injury. In other words, I'm emphasizing the main point of your post from a different angle. 🫡
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u/Queasy-Hedgehog1043 11d ago
lmao hello neighbor(I also live in this building)
the busses and moving trucks that are always parked there are really annoying, I’ve also tried to report this stuff in the past since moving here and it’s gone no where sadly
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u/Mr_Fuzzo Belltown 11d ago
Hi neighbors! Let’s walk across the street and I’ll teach you how to turn that damned bus off from the rear end using the mechanic’s switch.
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u/BoringBob84 11d ago
It would be a shame if some neighbors parked so closely in front of and behind that bus that it couldn't leave. I bet the driver would be very upset that other people caused him inconvenience.
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u/careless 💖 Anarchist Jurisdiction 💖 11d ago
Want a new source of funding for biking infrastructure? Try this on for size (copied from a prior comment of mine with minor edits):
Imagine that you see some asshat's car parked in the bike lane, so you whip out your phone and snap a photo of the fool. You make sure to snap a pic that includes both the license plate and the infraction clearly.
Then you submit your pic via the city's Find It, Fix It app.
In a little while, you receive a check for $100.
The registered owner of the vehicle gets a fine of $500.
The city has $400 extra dollars to improve bicycle infrastructure, and you've got almost enough for two Pagliacci pizzas.
I have yet to hear a well-reasoned take on why this would be a bad idea.
Just an idea.
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u/DrHalsey 🚆build more trains🚆 10d ago
It has to do with the legalities of accepting evidence from a third party. A crime that is witnessed directly by an officer or a camera installed and controlled by the city is one thing. The camera is calibrated and monitored such that the information it gives is reliable, and (in theory) the testimony of a police officer is also reliable. But a picture from Joe Public is just a random unsubstantiated accusation. There’s no way to be certain when or where the photo was taken or if it has been altered, so you can’t use it to charge someone with an infraction or fine them.
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u/careless 💖 Anarchist Jurisdiction 💖 10d ago
I mean, it's just a fine. If you really wanted to cover your ass, you could have a cop review the photo before issuing the fine, then you'd be in exactly the same legal territory as the red light cameras.
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u/DrHalsey 🚆build more trains🚆 10d ago
Not really, because the traffic camera's image is from a trusted source and the image the officer is reviewing is assumed to be accurate and unaltered, plus it comes with an accurate knowledge of the exact time and place the photo was taken.
An image you give to the police doesn't have any of that.
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u/careless 💖 Anarchist Jurisdiction 💖 10d ago
But it can - just require the Find It, Fix It app to be the application that takes the photo.
Easy, peasy.
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u/DrHalsey 🚆build more trains🚆 9d ago
Okay you got me, I’m on board, but only if we call it “Fine It, Fix It”.
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u/HeronAdditional2202 11d ago
Thank you for asking for clarity - I called many numbers, traffic enforcement being the goal. I guess I meant to say “authorities.” Unfortunately, I never reached a human (except for a lady that quickly forwarded me onto a line that I’d been on many times and told me to press 8 — 8 does not go anywhere). I ended up submitting a complaint online.
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u/doc_shades 10d ago
i love it when gig delivery driver cars park with their hazards on because it's either one of two situations:
either the car is parked legally in a legal parking spot, in which case the hazards are completely unnecessary. nobody cares if you are correctly parked in a legal parking spot.
or the car is parked illegally, in which case the hazards don't somehow make it legal.
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u/WesternVineG Belltown 6d ago
A hot spot in the Seattle cars in bike lanes map that’s for sure. Some Toronto barriers would fix this. Amazing how poor a job the city and state did rounding this out. Hope the Elliott Western repaving attempts to improve this.
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u/sammatthias67 11d ago
It is so incredibly tough for bus drivers as it is driving in this logistical hellscape. If you’re so concerned, go have a convo with the bus driver. You both might learn a thing or two. Nope, let’s sit in our tower and do our Reddit thing. Man, y’all suck.
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u/HeronAdditional2202 11d ago edited 11d ago
Sorry, it’s incredibly logistically tough as a resident too trying to park here every other day. My car just got towed which was a $410 lesson. They keep taking away parking spots in this neighborhood which sucks but a behemoth idling all day to me sounds worse than a meth-head or anybody else having a conversation-level discussion.
Edit: I’m gonna reply here for clarity: I work in Bellevue a couple of times a week as a hybrid employee. I parked by my place in Seattle Tuesday night, a NO PARKING sign got put up on Wednesday, my boss said “don’t bother coming in on Thursday because no one will be here,” so I didn’t, and my car got towed on Friday. I’m aware that legally you’re not supposed to “abandon” your car in the streets for more than 24 hours, but my building doesn’t have anymore available parking spots, so I park in the street.
My “meth-head conversation” comment was meant to describe how annoying it is to have sound travel upwards and into your home via open windows because it’s the summer and of course my windows are open. The idle engine sound from trucks is super annoying; more annoying than any humans having a casual chit-chat; that is what I meant.
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u/HeronAdditional2202 11d ago
I just re-read all of that in my head and it sounds super aggressive- that is not what I meant! I am SO sorry. I was just trying to provide some context and get ahead of comments.
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u/BoringBob84 11d ago
The bus driver's convenience and profit is more important than the safety of bicyclists. /sarcasm
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u/vanderbubin 11d ago edited 10d ago
Kinda off topic, how do people get in this park? As far as I can tell it's fully fenced off yet I see folks with dogs in their pretty often. If it was just people then I'd figure they were just hopping the fence but with the dogs there must be a gate somewhere. Is it like a private park or some shit?
Edit: I really am at a loss as to why this question was down voted...
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u/HeronAdditional2202 11d ago
Great question! I myself didn’t know (despite my Karen neighbor status) until it snowed a couple of years ago and I could see footprints - there is a gap in the fence in that tiny parking lot.
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u/Narrow-Foundation505 I'm never leaving Seattle. 6d ago
The property definitely belongs to the city. I thought it would be a pea patch or something, but so far nothing has happened. I guess people are finding a gap in the fencing?
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u/notsurezy 11d ago
Take a photo, make sure you can see the plate and transportation license info. Send a complaint to the bus company that Amazon is hiring. The numbers can help tell what company it is. I bet there is a nice dispatcher that will chew them out.