I received an email from a disgruntled reader complaining about a motorist who blocked a large portion of a sidewalk when reverse parking their truck which was equipped with a trailer hitch. It's certainly not very neighbourly, and this person wondered if there was anything on the books making the practice illegal.
Provincial Rules
The Motor Vehicle Act applies province wide and says:
189 (1) Except when necessary to avoid conflict with traffic or to comply with the law or the directions of a peace officer or traffic control device, a person must not stop, stand or park a vehicle as follows:
(a) on a sidewalk or boulevard;
Municipal Rules
The request for this article came from a Kelowna resident who also provided the photo above. Kelowna's Traffic Bylaw 8120 says:
4.1.2(a) on a sidewalk or boulevard without a valid sidewalk/roadway occupancy permit pursuant to Part 7 of this Bylaw,
Problem With the Parking Rules
Both pieces of legislation forbid parking on the sidewalk. The photo above illustrates parking over the sidewalk. The basic idea is that a vehicle will not impede traffic on the sidewalk but the courts would likely not look at it that way. A ticket for parking on the sidewalk would likely be dismissed if disputed.
The current rules may stem from a time when most, if all vehicles were parked parallel to the curb. Obstructing the sidewalk in that case required the vehicle to have the right side tires on the sidewalk.
The City of Kelowna is currently in the process of overhauling their parking bylaw and were made aware of this situation. In their reply to my inquiry the City responded:
We understand the wording could be more succinct and intend to make bylaw adjustments in a Parking Accessibility Program update later this year to remove any grey area.
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As a car owner, I long ago stopped moving before the front or rear bumper got to the curb (or parking bumper) because I don't want to drag car parts on the concrete. However, there are a lot of drivers who keep moving until their tires hit the curb. This creates problems, especially with trucks and vans with long rear overhangs.
This is a design issue that traffic technologists and landscape architects need to be cognizant of. I've also dealt with this when designing parking lots in a past job. The issue was a bit different - no sidewalk, but a privately-owned wooden fence. The fence was damaged one day by a police van that was backed into it. The solution was to fix the fence and install a guardrail to protect it.
The minimum clear path of travel for a sidewalk is 1.2 metres/4 feet to meet accessibility standards. This situation doesn't meet that. I now would recommend: 1. that sidewalks not be placed immediately adjacent to perpendicular parking stalls, or 2. that these sidewalks be made at least 2 metres wide (3 m is probably better), or 3. creation of a landscaped buffer strip between the pedestrian walkway and the vehicles. One could use pre-cast parking bumpers to prevent motorists from doing this, but these deteriorate over time, need to be re-pinned regularly in areas with heavy frost, trap debris, and generally don't look good. Vertical bollards might be a better option.
Then there's the issue of leaving the ball mount in the trailer hitch receiver. It is hazardous to shins, risks the mount rusting to the receiver tube, and results in more damage in rear end collisions because car bumpers can no longer function as designed. On the vehicle that is hit frame damage can result because the energy-absorbing bumper (at least on passenger vehicles, not trucks) is effectively bypassed.
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Parking over sidewalk