Illegally Parked

You learn a lot of interesting things by reading through the law. The law in my state is known as the Oregon Revised Statutes. I like to peruse these occasionally, sometimes simply out of curiosity, other times because someone, or some event, has compelled me to see what the law actually says.

Recently, I had the occasion to check the exact wording of the law regulating parking in my state. Specifically, parking on the shoulder of a road. I thought I knew what it said, but it’s always best to be sure when you plan on standing up to an individual who believes they own and control the public streets. My town seems to have more than its fair share of these people.

After reading through the entire section, it was clear that the law was as I’d thought; just because someone may not like where a car is parked, if it’s not illegally parked they can’t have it towed. What constitutes being parked illegally is spelled out in the law and not a matter of opinion. This all should be a foregone conclusion, I know, but like I said, I needed to be sure.

I was also quite intrigued by what else I discovered. In Oregon, as in many states, no vehicle can be parked within 50 feet of a traffic light or stop sign. This was interesting to me because the police in my neighborhood like to pull alongside the curb, sometimes within ten feet of the stop sign, waiting on unsuspecting motorists.

There are exemptions to this statute and I figured the police would be included in them. I was wrong. Police cars are not exempt—unless they are responding to an accident or other emergency. Cool, I thought. I’m getting my camera ready. I have a feeling the city isn’t going to like me soon.

But then, I found something even better. One of the exemptions listed is “commercial vehicles engaged in any activity associated in the collection of solid waste.” Hey! That’s me! For those who may not know, “solid waste” is the sanitary term for garbage.

So, in effect, what I’ve learned is, once the cops stop their illegal parking activities, I’ll have a new place to park my semi if I need to stop at home for anything!

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Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books, including: Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and The Wynn Garrett Series. Available in ebook and paperback on iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords, or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. Amazon Profile - http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-A.-Borders/e/B006SOLWQS Bruce A. Borders also serves as the Vice President of Rave Reviews Book Club http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com

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