A few nights ago I pulled into a complex to drop a friend off. I pulled over to the side of the road where I often see cars parked. I saw someone I knew outside, so I stepped out and was standing 10 feet from my car. Two minutes later, a lady backed out of a space, into my car. The cop wrote her a ticket, and also wrote me a ticket for parking in a fire lane. There are no signs or ANTHING indicating no parking or a fire lane.

My first question is: Is it at the officer's discretion to write me this ticket, since there is nothing stating no parking?

2nd Question: The officer told her if she told her insurance company that I was parked in a fire lane, she may not have to pay for my car. In the same context, could I be blamed for the whole accident and forced to pay for her car?





below is a picture of the area, and the law that I found pertaining to fire lanes.

Any help will be appreciated.

Quote :

"Parking in Restricted Areas The law does not allow attended or unattended vehicles to park in these restricted areas: • On a street or highway in front of aprivate driveway • Within 15 feet in either direction of a fire hydrant or entrance to a fire station • Within 25 feet from the intersection of a curbed street or within 15 feet of the intersection of property lines on a street without curbs. Local authorities may pass an ordinance decreasingthis distance. • Any public vehicular area that has been designated as a fire lane, including shopping centers and mall parking lots; however, temporary loading and unloading is allowed as long as the vehicle is attended. Law enforcement officials may remove any vehicles found in violation and may not be considered criminally liable unless there is wanton misconduct or intentional wrongdoing. [§20-162] Parking in front of private driveway, fire hydrant, fire station, intersection of curb lines or fire lane: 20-162."

8/11/2007 11:27:28 AM

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse...so the fact that it's not marked doesn't matter. A better question would be whether or not where you parked fits the definition of a fire lane.

8/11/2007 11:43:13 AM

that is a definite question....

Quote :

"and also wrote me a ticket for parking in a fire lane. There are no signs or ANTHING indicating no parking or a fire lane. "

also, I never left the car unattended, I never entered an apartment. I walked to the sidewalk to speak with someone, that is all... the cop didn't even ask me anything, he wrote my dad the ticket using the info from my license plate... and didn't even look at my driver's license or speak to me other than to give me the ticket.

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 11:46 AM. Reason : .]

8/11/2007 11:45:17 AM

So, does your parking space fit or not fit the legal definition of a fire lane, keeping in mind that there is no requirement that it be marked?

8/11/2007 11:48:53 AM

i was near the intersection that you see on that picture... from what I can tell (from the information I quoted above), it is NOT a fire lane. What do you think though?

8/11/2007 11:50:18 AM

If you were within 25 feet of the intersection, then yes, you were parked in a firelane (local laws notwithstanding).

8/11/2007 11:53:07 AM

the intersection i'm referring to is the one in the complex... i was not within 25 feet of the main road to the right of the photo (kent rd) The complex is private property, i'm told.

here this shows a little better



[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 12:02 PM. Reason : .]

8/11/2007 11:55:25 AM

I don't think the private property part makes a difference. If you don't think that you were in a fire lane, then appear for the ticket and state your case. Take some pictures, make some diagrams, and explain why your parking space doesn't meet the definition of a fire lane.

8/11/2007 12:05:59 PM

thanks, I was considering that. I just want to make sure I can't get fucked over. Since she got a ticket too, they can't stick me with the whole blame of the accident can they?

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 12:16 PM. Reason : if I don't get anything from her insurance company, i can deal with that, but no worse.]

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 12:17 PM. Reason : .]

8/11/2007 12:16:12 PM

[lawyer]

8/11/2007 12:26:25 PM

plan on calling one monday, but until then i'd like to figure out as much as i can

8/11/2007 12:29:10 PM

A--lawyer...but i bet if you do go to one (just call and talk to an atty over the phone, many will talk to you for free) he's gonna tell you B
B--this has contributory negligence written all over it. and in NC, if you are contrib you are just as at fault as she; therefore, her ins pays nothing. sorry dude.

and no matter what a ticket may say, as evident by a previous thread, an insurance company can come up with their own decision on fault and negligence.

oh, and one last thing. very few PI attys handle property damage alone. they usually look for something with PD and an injury. however, a good atty will tell you how to handle your PD claim if the adjuster is dicking you around--but it may not work b/c of what I said in B.

either way, good luck.

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 12:42 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2007 12:32:55 PM

yea, as long as we are both to blame and i am not stuck with both mine and hers, i can handle it

8/11/2007 12:41:37 PM

yeah, you shouldn't be stuck with her PD at all.

8/11/2007 12:43:04 PM

sounds like the cop was being a dick

8/11/2007 12:54:16 PM

^

8/11/2007 1:07:08 PM

this kinda happened to me sans the popo being involved. i was helping my sister with yardwork and her driveway was full. it is illegal to park in the grass or on the street technically so i had 0 ways to park. i parked on the street anyways since id only be there for an hour. her neighbor backed right into my car and crunched my door.

her response..."well you arent supposed to park on the street." thanks bitch, you arent supposed to back up without looking either.

i dont see how they can force people to not park on the street when you can only fit 2 cars in the driveway and you cant park anywhere else legally either.

8/11/2007 1:12:18 PM

so what did you end up doing?

8/11/2007 1:14:15 PM

nothing, my car has a ding in it.

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 1:14 PM. Reason : i was just empathizing]

8/11/2007 1:14:35 PM

Only in the world we live in would you be at fault for someone backing into your car... What if someone backed into an old lady in a scooter who was sitting there and severely injured her? Would she be at fault for neglecting to sit in a designated pedestrian area? No.

8/11/2007 3:26:30 PM

Him writing you that ticket sucks because it gives her insurance company pretty good ammo to classify this as a double fault (both at fault).

I hope your deductible isn't too high and I hope you don't have other claims/tickets in the past.

8/11/2007 5:03:29 PM

no claims or tickets... if it is ruled a double fault, i will not even be filing it with the insurance... the damage is not enough to cover the deductable.

8/11/2007 5:31:44 PM

There was a people's court episode on this. It involved a person who was stopped, waiting to drive the wrong way out an entrance to the parking lot and was backed into by someone pulling out of a space. The judge said that it does not matter whether your car was legally there, all that matters is that your car was not moving at the time of the accident, making it 100% the fault of the person that hit you.

In other words, if she could not see where she was backing up, then she could not back up without assuming full and complete liability for what she hits.

That said, your insurance company would know this, have you not informed them of the accident?

8/11/2007 5:34:43 PM

i'm hoping to not need to take it that far, but that is good to know

8/11/2007 5:51:05 PM

^ But, why not go there? It was her fault, therefore her insurance will pay to fix it. Your deductible only applies if it is being fixed by your insurance; here, it is being fixed by her insurance. You can apply directly by calling her insurer if you really want to try and keep your insurer in the dark. Even if you don't want to bother getting it fixed, some cash is always appreciated.

8/11/2007 6:46:07 PM

yeah, she said she had an appointment at 8am monday with her insurance adjuster and would call me after. if nothing is done then, i guess i'll be calling her agency. The officer told her that is she told them i was in a fire lane they probably wouldnt have to fix my car.

8/11/2007 6:54:55 PM

Very well. Go ahead and wait. But don't wait too long, burden of proof increases with time.

That said, filling a claim with her insurance costs you little. If they refuse to pay, so be it.

8/11/2007 7:14:27 PM

just be glad you didnt park in trees and leaves

8/11/2007 7:40:01 PM

might as well have


tripleD4u was there, it was trees and leaves all over again in that parking lot



[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 7:46 PM. Reason : at least i still have my rims though.]

8/11/2007 7:45:24 PM

Quote :

"this has contributory negligence written all over it. and in NC, if you are contrib you are just as at fault as she; therefore, her ins pays nothing. sorry dude"

Would be my guess as well, but you could easily get the payout from her insurance on it too, just depends if they feel like fighting it.

Also, big difference between parking on a public street versus parking on a non-marked area of a parking lot.

8/12/2007 4:55:12 AM

did you get a parking ticket, or a uniform traffic citation (small piece of paper vs. full size pink "uniform citation" w/ a court date?)

unless things have changed, rpd doesn't enforce fire lanes on private property - including shopping malls / apt. complex

as far as what insurance co's do - it's completely up to them, within the rules of the insurance commissioner. the tickets written/not written by the investigating officer are not supposed to have any effect on the ins. co's determinations of fault (even says that in bold on the dmv349 record of collision)

8/12/2007 2:44:47 PM

it is a big white sheet of paper with a court date. $145 total (25 for the ticket, 120 for court cost)

8/12/2007 3:48:41 PM

Wow.. that cop was just being a prick.

8/12/2007 4:04:42 PM

Not gonna sort through your responses, but my first knee-jerk reaction is to go back to the spot, take a picture of the accident location, and report the officer. Whatever documentation you can gather on the results of that, fax that to her insurance company as proof that you were legally parked. You may also want to get a notary to stamp a testimony by your friend that you were parked legally.

8/12/2007 4:34:24 PM

he doesnt know that it was legal though. he was parked in an unmarked spot within a parking lot. if the complex cared im sure he could have been towed.

8/12/2007 4:42:15 PM

yea i went back today and apparently it is a firelane... this should still apply since i stepped out of my car for 10 minutes and never walked more than 10 feet away from it.

Quote :

"Any public vehicular area that has been designated as a fire lane, including shopping centers and mall parking lots; however, temporary loading and unloading is allowed as long as the vehicle is attended."

8/12/2007 6:07:37 PM

i got a quick question

if you didnt walk no more than 10 feet from your car, how does a woman hit it without you like yelling "HEY DONT HIT MY CAR HO"

8/12/2007 6:12:33 PM

back turned, in conversation.. do you always yell at everyone backing anywhere near your car? people figured she would stop

[Edited on August 12, 2007 at 6:34 PM. Reason : odds are i'll be yelling at the next person to approach my car]

8/12/2007 6:29:08 PM

oh ok

[Edited on August 12, 2007 at 8:41 PM. Reason : i can understand the "expect her not to hit my car thing"]

8/12/2007 8:41:21 PM

I'm surprised that RPD would right tickets for a fender bender that occurred on private property. They tend to not write accident tickets for minor wrecks at all.

I'm not sure that your definition of "attending" the vehicle would qualify under the law. You can make a good argument that since you weren't there to move it out of the way or warn the other driver that it was unattended.

Regardless, report it to your insurance. The haggling over who pays is their job. But, if you don't hurry up and report it, they may not cover you.

8/12/2007 9:25:02 PM

Quote :

"however, temporary loading and unloading is allowed as long as the vehicle is attended"

First off something tells me you weren't loading or unloading anything while chatting. But even if you were unloading, being 10 ft away means the vehicle was unattended.

I hate people that park in firelanes or places where you know you're not allowed to park at stores/apartments.... for example places such as food lion were the firelane has more cars in it then the parking lot (glad someone got a ticket for this) at last.

I still think/hope you will win because you should never back out without looking behind you ever.



[Edited on August 13, 2007 at 6:50 AM. Reason : .]

8/13/2007 6:38:23 AM

i didnt know there was a firelane there dickwad, i was there to drop a friend off and saw someone i knew.. it was not like i was holding up traffic

8/13/2007 9:44:33 AM

haha i used to live in that building...those apartments suck

8/13/2007 9:48:37 AM

i hate people that just park their shit in the road and dont use a parking space

i dont care if you were just going to speak to someone for a few minutes....park your car in a space not in the road

if you had done this you wouldnt be in this mess

8/13/2007 10:06:35 AM

no spots were availabllleee

8/13/2007 10:22:09 AM

i bet if you looked at the lease of your friend, Ther will make a statement that parking anywhere other than designated spots is illegal. Next time go find a spot and walk

8/13/2007 12:00:47 PM

their insurance is covering it.

^what part of i couldnt see the writing on the ground at 2am, saying it was a fire lane... and had no intentions of getting out of the car to begin with, don't you understand

/thread

8/13/2007 12:23:11 PM

I thought they would; it doesn't matter if your car was parked legally or not.

As for the ticket, bummer, I have no idea what the judge is going to do with you there. Tell the DA that the car was attended, maybe he'll let you go. Look and see if you get any letters from lawyers in the weeks leading up to the court date.

8/14/2007 11:39:07 AM

unattended or not...you don't just back up without looking. What if a tree had fallen and taken up that space...you going to back up into it just because it shouldn't be there? I swear...women should not be allowed to drive....

8/14/2007 6:12:04 PM

Quote :

"it is a big white sheet of paper with a court date. $145 total (25 for the ticket, 120 for court cost)"

WTF

so if i am dropping a buddy off in front of Los Casadores which is a fire lane and "oh shit, let me grab (fill in random object) out of the trunk" ; if the police just happen to roll by I will get a $145 ticket???

I always thought that shit only applied to leaving your car unattended. It is stupid shit like this that makes me hate cops. If the kid left the car while he went somewhere else then yeah he deserves the ticket. But unless the firetruck can not park while the Fucking Apt building is burning down their is ABSOLUTLY no justification for the cop to write a ticket for this. and yeah that dumb bitch should be liable for back into the car

8/14/2007 8:32:42 PM