Parking for 50 bucks
 

A lot of people are happily exchanging their driving licenses these days..... and creating a potential money earner for the City of Vancouver in the form of tickets!

Apparently i broke a by-law the other day, when i parked my car on the street, 'within 6 meters of the nearest edge of a sidewalk of an intersecting street'.

Perhaps i under-estimated how simple i am.... when i parked i ensured that i was causing no obstruction to pedestrian or vehicular traffic. And of course i ensured that i was neither within five meters of a fire hydrant nor 6 meters of Stop sign, but that seemingly was not enough.

I shall pay the 50 bucks and forget about it; but i post this as a warning / enlightenment to others in here, who might overlook the potential 'blessing in disguise' that is the straight swap of various driving documents, without also reading up on the gagillion fineable traffic offenses in this province.

This moment of driver's ed has cost me $50. If at least one of you can say "i didn't know that!" i can gain a little extra value for money!

Drive (and park) safely!:fingerscrossed:

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Here's another lesson for new people...

I got a $50 fine in Banff, for parking in a perfectly legal bay, but facing the wrong direction.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Did you drive into it forwards like a girl? If you did you deserve the fine for being a poof.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

poof 2 (pf)
n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for an effeminate or homosexual male.
[Probably alteration of puff, braggart, homosexual man, from puff (influenced by poof).]

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Damn your eyes, sir, certainly not.

It was a parallel park on the road. Apparently you're only allowed to parallel park in the direction of travel.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Then you have my sincerest apologies. I did know that was illegal, but didn't know they would actually be anal enough to enforce it.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

This is better than Morecombe & Wise.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

A friend also got a fine for - um i'll explain this the best way I can -

Say you're driving forwards on a road through town somewhere (small town not big town) and on each side of the road you can pull in to park in front of shops but not paralell park - the type of bays where the cars stick their arses out so you literally just turn into the space.

Well a friend was driving, and saw a spot on the opposite side of the road so indicated left and pulled into it. No sooner had he got out of the car the local county mounty slapped a fine on him for crossing the road to get to a parking space.

Apparently he should have gone around the block or something to make sure that the parking space was on his right!!!!!

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

That's called an illegal turn. I normally look around first to see if there's any cop around to make such a turn.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

it's a bit daft though eh in the grand scheme of things!

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Of course not. Same as in the US.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

A lot of people in Kelowna just ignore the rules of the road and do whatever they think is ok much to the dismay of the newly arrived British driver who has swapped his licence and is trying to do things right.

I see so many driving infractions each day i think that if i was a traffic cop in disguise i would be getting an award for number of tickets issued.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Bit of a moot point as to whether it's the same in the states seeing as it happened here and poor old Jings was not aware of the rules!

(and yes we are aware that you should read up on rules of the road before you move - but really unless you have to take another test - did anyone? I learn as I go along through others mistakes - Thanks Jings ;))

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

A small town, so cops have nothing else to do but give tickets like that. I hardly see any cops on the streets since I moved to Canada from the US.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

I have to agree with you but exchange the US for the UK. They do have a habit of materialising when you least expect em to though :huh:

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

What especially annoyed my about getting the ticket in Banff is that Banff is supposed to be a tourist town. Their entire raison d'etre is to get out-of-towners into Banff. And then - give them tickets??!!

By comparison, as anyone who's parked in a Calgary Transit or ParkPlus carpark knows, you're supposed to park nose-in*. This is so the poor, downtrodden car park monkey can walk up and down the centre of the road checking rear licence plates. (We don't have front plates in AB).

I didn't know this, and backed in as usual. I came back to find a friendly pre-printed flyer on the windscreen asking me to park nose-in* next time. Take note Banff - a friendly request, not a $50 fine!!!


(*poof-style)

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Does Calgary Transit patrol those lots or does the Calgary Parking Authority do it?

If it's the Parking Authority then that poor downtrodden monkey as you so eloquently put it, is likely driving a state of the art SUV with cameras mounted all over it. ;)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/...1169c951de.jpg

So likely only has to get out to put a notice on a windshield when inconsiderate persons like yourself park facing the wrong way. :p

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

I know someone who got a ticket for parking in the wrong direction in front of their house in the Calgary suburbs. They are Canadian so should have known better. They actually have a driveway but prefer to park on the street!

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Using mobile telephones while driving is rife in the UK - I see it all the time, even in articulated lorry drivers ad vans labelled with the telephone number of their company! It makes my so annoyed - people have been killed by this kind of stupidity.
Do they clamp down harder on that in Canada, or is it just the petty stuff?

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Oh dear. Better bring your blood pressure tablets.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

They've just made it illegal in BC this year. This said, I see a lot more of it here than I ever did in the UK - probably because everyone drives auto's and so it's easy to do it.

Yes this - if it annoys you then be prepared to be very annoyed.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

I drive an automatic and I don't do it:frown:!
I'll just have to be patient - if the police are anything like as diligent about caning people for this new B.C law as they are apparently about parking, it will soon be a lot less common!:p

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

I like pulling up next to people and shouting - oi get off the phone! they normally drop it in sheer fright!! :rofl:

wouldnt do it in Uk - get shot probably!

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

The difference between Canada and the UK in this context is the British tend to be more sober at the time ;)

Looking forward to reading your threads in MBTTUK :thumbsup:

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

What is MBTTUK?:confused:

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

The "moving back to the UK"part of the forum

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Ah, I see, Thanks!
Well, el richo is jumping the gun a bit there - I haven't even moved over there yet:) Why he would look forward to reading such a sad thing about me or anyone else escapes me, but he'd better not hold his breath. I am sure that there are also idiots in Canada, just as there are everywhere, so I doubt that little revelation will make me run for the hills.
I'm unsure as to how anyone can get drunk in B.C properly anyway - the alcohol prices are vicious!:eek:

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Moonshine, Hooch, Hoot wine .......................

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

After a while you cant take the uk pace with regard alcohol consumption - so 2 glasses of wine and your sloshed!

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

So B.C has a problem with alcohol underconsumption:p
To be honest, I have only rarely drunk home-brewed alcohol. My OH's uncle brought some home made wine to a family wedding to avoid the extortionate reception venue bar prices and it was potent stuff indeed; whether it was palatable or even safe to drink is questionable:unsure:. After the first glass you couldn't taste anything anyway.

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

I was joking:thumbup:

Still, i have to admit to getting wound up much much more when driving in Canada when compared to the UK (i commute in London). I also know of more drink driving, of which appears to be more acceptable to the general population, in Canada. Silly buggers!!!

The point is, if you're wound up by drivers/driving in the UK, there's a chance it could be much worse in Canada :)

Re: Parking for 50 bucks
 

Sorry, mate:o Being all alone and waiting is making me a bit touchy, I suppose.
We are heading for the sticks, anyway, the lawless fringes of society where traffic is unbelievably light from our experience and driving after a few is probably not going to do any more harm than frighten the wildlife. Probably one of the Gulf Islands - just narrowing down our search at the moment. OH is going on a recce this weekend. OH is a biker anyway and as such has no time for car drivers (except me:wub:!).
We even very seriously considered (and may consider again in a few years if money alows) Lasqueti island as a location to live, which hasn't even got a vehicle ferry and has no mobile telephone service either. What Bliss!:thumbsup:.