The Answer Is Parking Tickets
Bruceabeal, the creator of this YouTube video asks and answers the question, “What happens when you park in a Chicago alley illegally?”
The answer is pretty clear–and painful.
A $150 worth of bright orange pain.
Be careful parking in alleys. It’s legal to do it for short bursts of time to load or unload objects of people, but not for extended periods of time
So for God’s sake, don’t park in an alley overnight. You’re just begging for a ticket.
Just replay the video if you want proof.
You are asking for it if you park in an alley for more than 10 minutes in this city.
The code expectation is “Expeditious Loading/Unloading.”
Hmmm. The first cars in the video appear as though they might be parked on private property. I can, for example, park parallel to my garage and still be parked on my property, even though part of it is paved by the city.
And if your car is not 100% on/beyond your property’s ally line into Private Property, the city can Cite you for it.
Why risk the 150 buck Ticket?
I write ally tickets every shift I work….and my dismissal rate is one of the 15 lowest in the Department each year.
I understand that it’s illegal to park in an alley, but ticket issuers get really overzealous with this. I have twice been issued a ticket for “parking” in the alley behind my apartment. Both times I had my flashing lights on and was pulled over so as not to block the alley. Both times I was unloading groceries and was parked in the alley for less than 10 minutes. The first time, I saw the police car pull up next to mine before I had even gotten into my apartment! I came back down the stairs (groceries still sitting outside my door) and asked if he was writing me a ticket, explaining I was unloading and pointing out I had been there less than 2 minutes and my hazards were on – he replied “yes I am, you can contest it.” So I did. I won. The second time it happened, I had brought my groceries in, put away the refrigerated/frozen items quickly, and came back out – saw a police car driving down the street – and found the ticket on my car. Again, had the lights on, was inside less than 5 mins, and my purse and cell phone were clearly sitting in the front seat of my car. Again contested. Again won.
What do I need to do? Put a sign with the Municipal Code in my front window!? They should NOT be allowed to harass people like that. Unloading is allowed and they should have to give people a reasonable window of time before ticketing. This is a huge hassle and a waste of time for people who are following the laws.
Olivia,
I think the problem is, ticket writers don’t know how long you have been gone and assume the car has been sitting there for hours.
I REALLY like your idea of a little poster that says “Be Right Back” and spells out the Muni code to deter over anxious ticketers.
Keep an eye out on the site. I’ll try to have someone with computer graphics skills to whip something up drivers can download and print up.
Maybe just you and I will utilize it, but who cares.
GREAT idea!
God….i want to stick tickets like that to the face of a chicago cop or little ticket boy. I am moving from this City in Feb and partly due to the police force. I love you chicago, but hate almost everything about you.
I park in my ally for looooong periods of time with no ticket thank god. Those pics looked like Rogers Park. The cops in Rogers Park as SOB’s when it comes to tickets
Geek and Olivia…
The Code Specifies “Expeditious Loading or Unloading.”
There is no Time Limit in the code that covers “Park/Stand/Block Alley.”
Know why the cop’s are that zealous? Its because of all the Contractors that park in them all day. Or the Soccer mom’s that park in them to get Sally Screamer from Elementary School.
DoR Employee -
I understand the law – I’ve read the Code. I’ve used it in my defense when fighting and beating my tickets. You yourself said “You are asking for it if you park in an alley for more than 10 minutes in this city.” My point is – the cop’s should not ticket a car with it’s flashing lights on in the first moment they spot it. As I said, both of my tickets were for being there less than 5 minutes. If they want to make sure someone is “Expeditious”ly unloading then they should either wait a few minutes or drive back around in 10 or 20 and see if the car is still there and then ticket. I don’t want people parking in alleys or blocking traffic either, but I live in a neighborhood with a high crime rate and I should think that the police should have more important things to do than ticket me for unloading my groceries legally outside of my apartment. My 2-door compact car is obviously not a contractor’s vehicle. If I have my flashers on I am obviously not planning on parking all day or my battery would die. I understand that you work for the city and hear ridiculous excuses and complaints all the time, but a person can be as careful to follow all the laws as possible and still get screwed repeatedly by this city. I’m saying there should be some sort of standard for giving people a break and allowing them to live their lives. The law is on my side here, the police offers not following the law are the ones in the wrong and they suffer no consequences for it. That is what is so unfair.
Olivia, personally…that’s what I do.
If I happen to glance a vehicle parked in an Alley with its blinkers going…I walk around the block…usually takes me about 15 minutes to get back…at that point; if the vehicle is still there…ticket time.
And regarding the comment of “Cop’s not following the law..etc…….”
remember….PEA’s ticket Everyone. We are not allowed to care if its a Cop or CFD or whomever.
We are Equal Opportunity Assholes….we will ticket everyone.
Now…High Crime verses Low Crime and Coppers writing tickets..
I am of the personal opinion that the Police should only be trolling for parking tickets for the following violations:
Tow Zones
Hydrants
Disabled Parking/Loading spaces
Bus Stops
Cause Crime isn’t dropping in this city with the current Manpower shortage in the CPD.
Cops are lax about writing tickets…unless its Alleys, Street Cleaning or Rush Hour…then they swoop in like the Vultures people accuse Us of being.
What an irony. While cars are getting officer-issued parking tickets, auto theft in Chicago went up over twenty percent. I guess they didn’t steal any illegally parked cars, they would have had a bigger chance of getting caught.
The really funny thing Doc…
A PEA starts to write a car that was reported stolen…we get a Pop-Up that SAYS its stolen.
A cop has to run the plate with their in Car Laptop….if they bother to check it at all.
We find and recover more stolen cars than the CPD does.
DoR,
So, the PEAs, armed with AutoCites can identify a stolen vehicle issuing tickets faster than a cop writing a handwritten ticket, right?
The fact that the AutoCite flags the stolen vehicle is TOTALLY cool!
Wow!
Simple answer is: Yes.
Then we VOID the Ticket for the Stolen Car…….no need to add Insult to injury.
I work in Rogers Park and they have street cleaning every week. It’s just another scam to tax drivers. Parking is tight there, so the Zambonis are there more often, to make parking harder – and collect more parking tax.
those cars should be ticketed. I have to enter the garage of my condo thru an alley, which is often blocked by people “temporarily” parking there to pick up their mail at the UPS shop on Van Buren.
How long am I supposed to double park on the street waiting to get thru until you get back? Why don’t YOU double park in the street with flashers on, rather than BLOCK an alley.
Eric – your experience is understandably frustrating, but the point your making isn’t really applicable here. The cars in the video are not blocking the alley. Yes, they are illegally parked, so they’re going to get a ticket, but not one of them is blocking the alley. Also, the tickets I’ve received while unloading at my apartment – as I stated earlier – I had not been blocking the alley whatsoever. In fact, the first ticket I received when I talked to the police officer while he was writing the ticket – he was parked next to my car and drove by it when he finished – therefore, my car did not block anyone passing. I only unload in the alley when there is no parking within 2 blocks of my apartment. Why does that happen? Because I live across from a park and soccer field and none of the streets require permits, so the streets are always full from people who do not live in the neighborhood. I guess it just goes to show that we all put up with a lot of annoyances because of living in the city.
Olivia…
Its a Parking/Blocking Fine. We have been over this.
As for the Double parking comment…..thats a 100.00 fine for Double Parking/Double Standing, and we can cite you while you sit in the car.
As for “No Permits, can’t find parking.”
Get a petition signed by a majority percentage of the neighborhood residents, take your petition to the Alderman/woman, and tell them you want it Zoned for Residential Parking Permits and that you want it for a Permit Number that has Not been Used anywhere else in the city, to prevent people that don’t live in that area from coming in and parking without a Temp Permit.
Anon in Rogers Park…
Some streets in this city have a weekly scheduled cleaning with Permanently Posted Signs. Other areas have Temp signs posted depending on what Grid is being done that week or that day.
Don’t like it? Move out of the city or get a garaged space and stop crying like a girl