2 hr parking signs, what is considered moving my vehicle?
 

Near my work, there are "2 hour" parking areas. It's a commercial area and I'm wondering how is my 2 hours calculated?

What I mean is, does the Parking Attendant just take down the plates and check if the vehicle is still in the exact same spot 2 hours later?

What if I park for 2 hours, and then move my car up one spot for example?
Or does my vehicle have to be in a completely different area?

Since the parking is basically outside my work place,
it won't be a problem for me to just move my car every 2 hours if all I have to do is just find a new spot within the same area.

The signs doesn't specify 2 hours parking in that specific spot, that block, that region, street, etc.
Or is it based on where that set of signs begin and end?

So I just want some clarification.

I think you would just need to move it up a spot. I've done the same and never had an issue. If there is a spot available a little further away from I originally parked, I usually take that one just to be safe.

The parking enforcement officer will either chalk your tire, or place a pebble on top of your tire. So if you move one spot the chalk mark will be in a different position and it will be smudged, or if it is a pebble it would have dropped or moved as well. Then the officer cannot issue you a ticket because your vehicle moved.

So yeah just keep moving your vehicle before the time limit is up, even if it is one spot up and you are good to go!

:considered: what if... I just push my car few inches or just rub off the chalk/remove the pebbles..

does that really worked?speedstar?

Theoretically, on those 2 hr residential parking lots, or the one by Burrard, it should work. TIME TO FIND OUT! :fullofwin:

i don't know if that works. Again, we are all guessing here, you are still within the same ZONE or area within the 2 hours. Unless you park outside of the zone,(next block/ street), the 2 hours within the same zone is still in effect.

It works, you remove the chalk mark the officer has no way of knowing if the vehicle moved or you rubbed it off, same with the pebble. Just make sure if you are rubbing it off, rub it off good.

The parking enforcement officers also chalk mark in hard to spot places on your tire or they chalk in two spots, in hopes it wont be spotted or if you spot one and rub it off they still have the other chalk mark, so your best bet is to move a few spaces in the same zone.

I wouldn't recommend moving the car only a few inches, because the chalk mark won't move that far and the officer will think you didn't move at all, make sure you do at least a few full rotations of your tire when you move up a space or so.

If you move up a few spaces, the chalk mark or the pebble they use to see if your vehicle hasn't moved in 2 hours will be gone. They Can't ticket you because they can't prove that you didn't leave the 2 hour zone to grab a coffee or something and then came back and parked in the same 2 hour zone again.

They need a mark to prove that you didn't leave said zone and parked there again.

All of the posts in this thread are about how to hopefully not get caught. The actual rules say that for anywhere that has a parking limit, you cannot park in the same block for the remainder of the day, not just the same spot. If you park two spots up and the bylaw officer is smart enough to figure out that it's the same car, you are definitely liable to get a ticket.

Mark

If the bylaw officer is smart enough? They can't even if they know.

There have been a lot of times where I know a vehicle has rubbed off their chalk mark, or I know that a vehicle just moved one spot but didn't leave the zone, but I can't ticket them because I can't prove 100% that they didn't leave the zone. So if it goes to adjudication OR it gets disputed that ticket is going to be tossed.

You will not get a ticket, if you move your vehicle within the same 2 hour zone, this only applies to city streets and lots, I don't have any experience with Private lots enforced by private parking companies.

I thought the bylaw officers have better technology than just chalk and pebbles?

I know at the malls - I've seen them go through with the scanning vehicles that will scan all the licence plates.

Yes we tried using that system, its slow as shit when doing streets much better in the mall when you don't have to manually enter every single street and block number that you drove by and what type of hour zone it is.

That system takes a picture of the license plate and the valve stem location of the wheel, so same thing applies, if you move the vehicle the valve stem location will not be in the same position therefore no ticket. Now this only applies for city streets, I'm guessing the mall rules are different?

I wasn't even sure did they still do the chalk/pebble thing.
Thought a lot of them just input plates on their tablet or something.

Cause if that's the case, moving the car wouldn't matter if the plates are still in the system.

AndroidAAA, are you a parking attendant for city street parking?

Yeah I am, good pay and it works around my school schedule.

They don't put it into a tablet, its chalked or pebbled, because how can they prove that you did not leave the zone after they took your plate# and then came back to that zone? They have to prove that you stayed over two hours in that zone.

OK, thanks for your input. Was just making sure that's how the 2 hrs are counted.

I know in metrotown parking for example, they scan plates as you enter through their entrances.
And I got a warning ticket one time for shopping in the afternoon, leaving, and coming back at night to catch a movie (parked in a different area of the parking lot).
But it's one big parking lot, and it's four hours max per day.

According to their system, my car was there for 8+ hrs. lol

I'm more familiar with Burnaby but I suspect Vancouver would have similar laws:

BYLAW NO. 4299
13. (9) No person shall move a vehicle from one location to another in the same time block to avoid the time limit regulations specified in that particular block.

The problem is enforcing the rule, how do you prove that they moved from one location to another in the same time block? What if they left for an hour and came back and parked in the same time limited zone? The only way to do it is sit there and watch the vehicles for the time amount, and no one has time for that.

They don't have time for that?
You underestimate the powers of the dark side, young Skywalker.
Or maybe you doubt the depths of the public purse.

These ain't no private parking lot tickets either.

You can (theoretically) end up in court for this and the Crown should have a fairly straightforward case establishing mens rea that you intended to deceive the bylaw officer by moving your car around.

Boom. Conviction.

I actually work for the parking bylaws for the city.

We chalk the tires, or place a pebble on the tire, or take a note of the license plate and valve stem location on on of the wheels.

If i come back after the time limit has expired, and a vehicle that I had chalked is now moved forward a few spaces in the same time limited zone, my chalk mark is gone I cannot ticket that vehicle. I can't prove that it didn't leave the zone come back OR if they are cheating by just moving forward, honestly I don't even care.

You will NOT get a ticket if you keep moving in the same time limited zone lol, unless the officer sticks in that zone for that duration of the time limit, watches you move your vehicle and then they can issue you a ticket. I don't think any parking officer is that retarded.

Besides you get so many tickets, and there are so many violations it doesn't really matter if a few vehicles are moving around in a time limited zone because you still get 25-40% of them.

Just curious, do you get paid a commission for the tickets you write?

Nope, no commission for the tickets you write, I am paid hourly.

I was told that you have to move your car and not park on the same block.
My buddy left for a doctors appt and parked on the same block when he came back. At the end of the day he got a ticket for parking too long in the 2hr zone even though he had left and come back.

I park in a 1 hour limit space infront of my work I have parked there all day every day for the past 3 months and only saw the officer walk by once and so I moved my car before he came back. So far no ticket fingers crossed. But one day I parked on Broadway near alma for an hour and a fifteen minutes and came back to see that I got a ticket :okay: Those guys work in mysterious ways.

I'm guessing when he came back the second time he stayed over two hours? You have to keep moving your vehicle every time before two full hours are up in the zone, or whatever the time limit is.