Anti-ICEing Legislation

[Lucky_Man]

I'm working with a friend who is proposing new legislation in Colorado covering the problem of ICEing. We've observed multiple attempts at the state level to address this problem [currently documented at plugsites.org]. While these laws are well meaning, they appear to fall a bit short when it comes to enforcement.

We're soliciting comments and suggestions from a wide audience in an attempt to make this one better. It'd be beneficial to all EV drivers if we could come up with a model usable at a national level.

Here's a sampling of point to be addressed...

> laws are local but have nationwide implications

> pavement marking is suggested but it gets covered by snow

> EV 'stickers' - don't help out-of-state visitors

> charging vs. not actively charging - idle

> private property vs. public re enforcement complications

> overnight parking/charging at lodging facilities

> traffic offenses/fines vs. towing from private property

A collection of state laws are documented at:

Legislation Reference - Reserved Parking for Plug-In Vehicle Charging | PlugInSites

Everyone - feel free to add your comments.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Thanks for your efforts and for creating this thread. As I mentioned elsewhere, I hope legislation doesn't require special license plates or stickers. As the law is written in AZ, it sounds like it is technically illegal for out-of-state cars to use EV spots in AZ. Also, I don't want to have to cover my car with stickers from each state (or any state, for that matter). Law enforcement should be able to identify EVs from a list of makes/models. If a home-built EV is using a public charger, then I can see the potential for them to be ticketed if the LEO is uncertain but there should be a way to contest such tickets.

 

[cpa]

Just throwing out my ignorance here. Zoning laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Parking spaces likely fall into these zoning laws whereby for each X ft^2 of building space, the location needs Y parking stalls. Taking a handful of parking stalls out of general availability might run afoul of these laws.

I would research to see how Colorado adopted its handicapped parking laws--whether the state preempted local zoning laws or grandfathered in existing sites with new construction subject to the new law regarding the dedicated handicapped parking stalls.

As I understand California (and I suspect Colorado has similar laws), shopping centers and access thereto are considered public access private property. Infractions are not generally enforced on private property while misdemeanors and felonies are, of course. With the exception of the handicapped parking laws, law enforcement does not bother with other types of parking violations.

The legislature or the local municipalities need to create new laws with teeth that will not only dissuade ICE from usurping charging stalls, but also to be able to be enforced locally by the property owner/manager with hefty fines and/or towing a la handicapped parking.

It would seem self-evident that if a charging cable is inserted into a charging port then the vehicle is charging or it has recently been charged. It would be difficult to assess whether a vehicle is still charging because of the wide variety of charging speeds and SOC of the cars that plug in.

I highly doubt that any government agency will want to have visible markers on the charging stations to highlight whether a car is charging actively or is just plugged in and parked.