Helen ZhangThe Edmonton bylaw which governs on-street parking has a section stating that a vehicle may only be parked in an angle parking stall “with one front wheel not more than 500 millimetres from the curb or edge of the roadway.” Notice how it specifically states, “one front wheel.” This means that if you back your vehicle into an angle parking stall on a public street, including 90-degree parking, that’s a fineable offence.
The issue I have is not whether this should be part of the bylaw. The problem is that most people have never even heard of this before. Those who have usually first ran into it when they saw the ticket on their windshield.
This is the fault of the city, not the drivers.
Generally, ignorance of the law is no excuse, but we put so much time and effort into teaching and testing people’s driving. We have exams, learner’s permits, and driver’s ed courses. It’s completely unreasonable to expect someone who went through all of that to know something that’s almost never brought up. In fact, some people were taught specifically to back into parking stalls. The fact that so many people have never heard about this before is inexcusable when it’s something I saw so often while working in parking enforcement.
What makes the city’s inability to properly communicate this bylaw so baffling is the fact that there’s a very simple solution to this problem. Anywhere there’s angle parking, there is already a sign that denotes that. Just ad a few words that say, “don’t back into stalls,” or something to that effect. This would mean that reading the sign would make the law clear.
If you get a ticket, it should be your fault for not reading the sign, not the city’s for failing to make the law clear. Nobody’s first introduction to a bylaw should be in the form of the fine for its violation.
