Issue: LA Will Take Your Car Away If You Don’t Drive it Every Three Days

Date: Apr 3, 2015

Los Angeles has got infamously tall parking signs everywhere, telling you when and for how long cars are allowed to sit there. Don't follow the rules, find a ticket on the dash. But one LA parking rule—a rule that can be one of the most expensive to break—is a frigging secret that is not explained on any sign anywhere: the 72-hour parking limit. 

Officials admit on record that there's no posted signage about the citywide restriction which, if violated, can result in a ticket and the car being towed to impound, but their defense is basically a trumped-up version of "If you don't use it, you lose it." The city's now being sued by a couple whose car was towed away while they were on vacation, the LA Times reports.  

The Sackmans live in Sawtelle. They have a parking permit for their minivan so they can park on the street outside of their house. They didn't know about the 72-hour rule, probably because despite having every single other restriction clearly explicated in curbside sign form, LA doesn't have a sign for this one. 

They went on vacation to San Francisco and, on that same day, a neighbor "flagged down a parking enforcement officer and lodged an anonymous complaint about the couple's car." 

An officer put a ticket on the car after three days and it was towed after five, but, while the Sackmans had returned, they didn't know their car was gone because they don't drive every day. 

Less than a week after the initial anonymous complaint, Mr. Sackman went to drive to work and discovered the car had been towed. 

Lesson learned: if you hate your neighbors because they get the street parking you want, just wait until they go on vacation.  (Read the rest … including how many cars LA tows away … here)  

-cw 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 28

Pub: Apr 3, 2015

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