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How to pahk ya cah in Copley Squayuh
By adamg on Sat, 10/08/2016 - 3:07pm
David Harris notes the advantage of having a Smart Car in the city (note that the perpendicular Smart Car is right in front of a behemoth Mini Cooper).
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Comments
It would be great if this
It would be great if this were legal, but the city's written rules explicitly require your wheels to be parallel to the street.
True - but there are exceptions
I know it's the default to disallow it - and it certainly may be the rule along that particular street, but angled parking is allowed along at least three or four public Boston roads that I can think of. Just in my neighborhood there's the stretch of Centre below Weld.
So what?
Maybe there is something behind this law that should make me really concerned when it's violated, but I can't think of what it may be.
And yeah, I know 'the law's the law'. So if a police officer or traffic enforcement even knows this law (possible but not guaranteed), and happens to see this car (possible but not guaranteed), then they get a ticket.
Meanwhile, it's cute and it's not really hurting anyone. So I'm back to, "so what if it's technically illegal?".
Well for one thing a Smart
Well for one thing a Smart car is still longer than most cars are wide - so it is overhanging into the adjacent travel lane and on to the sidewalk a tiny bit.
Then there's whether or not this guy can get in and out of his car if other cars end up parking closer.
Those are fairly minor issues, but they'd be more significant with most any other car, and Smart cars do not have their own special set of parking laws.
Maybe it's the angle of the camera
but couldn't he have gone in normally and still fit?
Bumpers
When people parallel park, they often tap the bumper of the car in front or behind. Bumpers are designed to absorb parallel parking bumps without damage. The same can't be said for side panels.
Not to mention that pulling into -- and backing out of -- the space head in requires a turning radius in excess of what's on his lane, so that's a problem too.
On second thought...
Backing in might not pull him out of his lane. I stand by my side panel comment though.
Are they?
I thought they were designed to park in this manner - helping to alleviate parking strain.
eta: 106.10" tip to tail (including bumpers) - that's 8'-10" or so, less than a typical lane. Parking spots are usually 9' or 10' x 18' to 20' depending upon who's painting the lines.
Actually, parallel parking
Actually, parallel parking spots are typically 7' wide. MassDOT specifies 7' wide, except in areas of high turnover, truck usage, etc. where they recommend 8'. Wider than that are special cases involving trucks or preserving roadway width for future use (with a whole set of other regulations).
So no, parking spaces are not usually 9' or 10' wide, and a Smart car that's 8'-10" long would overhang a standard parking space if parked transverse to it.
Good points, but
Several great reasons listed why it may not be wisest move to park this way.
Still seems silly to fret that it's illegal.
He's going to regret that
When one of the other cars Boston Bumps him trying to get out of the now-too-small spaces he's trapped them into.
Yes, I'm assuming it's a guy driving that Smart car.
Yep
Have fun getting a door dinged instead of a bumper, dummy. The place to pull the gambit is somewhere between a hydrant and a curb, not at a 90 degree angle between parallel parked cars.
Seriously?
If you can't get out of that gap without hitting another car, you have no business in a motor vehicle.
I call these
Un smart cars.
You are
So clever.
Is the length of the smart
Is the length of the smart car much longer than the width of the other cars??
Seems like it is sticking out and waiting to get hit. I hope it doesn't because smart car owners tend to smart, educated and good neighbors. I see several in SoBo...
Width
Smart car: 106"
Large SUV (Chevy Tahoe): 81"
According to the I internet
So, this may be the best reason not to do this.
Yea but...
subtract the 10 or so inches it's extended over the curb and another 4 inches for the distance between a typical car and the curb. That gets you down to 92" (or so).
It would be tight
But it looks like they could have fit the regular way.
I wonder
How long were they parked there? It may have been parked like that for ease of getting in/out.
Another theory: they needed to load something into or out of the back from the sidewalk.
Another theory: they needed
And just what could they load or unload into the back of a SmartCar that they needed to position the car that way? It's not like they're going to haul a couch or something like that.
You might be surprised
In Portland, OR, they use the electric ones for a car sharing service. I helped my parents' neighbor, who is a keyboardist in a band, load two of them up with all of the band's road cases to go to the airport! They apparently did this all the time.
Parking a Car
Smart cars definitely have some positive things including gas mileage and parking. However, I don't trust the safety if I were to get in a accident. http://msftstock.net
Seems like a SmartCar is more survivable in a crash
than most people think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnI-LiKCtuE
Like a hamster ball
I found it amusing that, when they first came to the US, some people automatically assumed that they would be horrible in winter weather ... despite their German design and much earlier Canadian debut.
I view them like motorcycles
I can see how they can be driven in all weather conditions on all roads in a perfectly safe manner. But until the day I die, I'll be too chicken to do it myself.