Backing into a public ChargePoint

[Zidge1751]

Hello all,

A question of parking vs charging!

My city has an ordinance that was enacted in 2012 that makes it illegal to back a vehicle into a parking space! I have no choice but to back into the Chargepoint station!

Has any legal definition been done to distinguish between parking and charging an electric vehicle?

 

[cpa]

I would contact your city attorney's office for clarification on the matter. Usually the city attorney works with the city council to draft local ordinances.

If it is indeed prohibited, perhaps you could take a few pictures of your car trying to charge at the Chargepoint station parked head first. Maybe he could suggest to the council to amend said ordinance for charging stations.

Good luck!

 

[Ande]

Sounds crazy, what country/city have such nutty laws ? Sounds like one of the less sophisticated us states.

 

[BrettS]

Sounds crazy, what country/city have such nutty laws ? Sounds like one of the less sophisticated us states.

It’s fairly common in states like Florida that don’t require a front license plate. If you back in then the tag is not visible.

As far as the original question goes, it does seem like a bit of an issue although a lot of public chargers that I’ve been to have pretty long cords and would reach the charge port even if I were to pull in forwards.

 

[tga]

Have you tried parking nose first? I'm pretty sure I've parked nose-in at some local Chargepoint stations and the cords were long enough to reach.

 

[cwerdna]

Sounds crazy, what country/city have such nutty laws ? Sounds like one of the less sophisticated us states.

Daly City | bart.gov (just a bit south of San Francisco) has signage prohibiting people from backing in. However, there's no EV charging there.

I've seen other places that have signs that specifically only allow you to face a certain direction.

 

[Tam]

...illegal to back a vehicle into a parking space...

Some cities in California have that law as well.

They may have some great talk about protecting public safety but I smell revenues.

In Florida, there's no front license plate law, so they need to see whether you have a legal rear plate or not.

In California, although they can indeed see front license plate (because it's the law) but the expiration date is only shown in rear so they make the law to see if they can easily make money off you with a glance.

If the laws want public safety, they should require backing into parking spaces:

It’s much safer to back into parking spaces. Why don’t we do it?

4 Reasons Backing Into Parking Spaces Is Safer | SafeStart

Pedestrians are killed an injured because cars are backing out of a parking space so laws raising revenues this way are quite deadly.

Some one needs to stand up and stop this kind of madness!

 

[ccdisce]

It’s fairly common in states like Florida that don’t require a front license plate. If you back in then the tag is not visible.

As far as the original question goes, it does seem like a bit of an issue although a lot of public chargers that I’ve been to have pretty long cords and would reach the charge port even if I were to pull in forwards.

Thanks for posting this as, I am now aware that I may have broken the law twice last month in Florida.

1.Explains the long cords at a Destination ( HPWC )

2.Drive in at an angle with the Superchargers located in the middle of the public road. Cord was just able to reach the port with my RH front tire getting pinched on the edge of the curb. I have seen cars with their tires up and over into the 'grass'., thankfully kerb is low so spoiler safe....tire??

 

[Lawsteve]

Hello all,

A question of parking vs charging!

My city has an ordinance that was enacted in 2012 that makes it illegal to back a vehicle into a parking space! I have no choice but to back into the Chargepoint station!

Has any legal definition been done to distinguish between parking and charging an electric vehicle?

I ignored such a rule at a municipal garage in Sarasota FL a few years ago. The officer gave me a ticket, but then decided to be a jerk and turned off the charger.

 

[cpa]

I have no clue how to show a picture from maps.

However, for those who are interested, Bridgeport, California (a tiny burg on US395 about 45 minutes north of Mammoth Lakes) has diagonal parking for one block that requires backing into the slot. This arrangement was done about three years ago.

 

[rhumbliner]

However, for those who are interested, Bridgeport, California (a tiny burg on US395 about 45 minutes north of Mammoth Lakes) has diagonal parking for one block that requires backing into the slot. This arrangement was done about three years ago.

Salt Lake City also uses this approach on some downtown streets.

 

[Lasttoy]

I have been in a lot of charge point spots, but never ever on a public street. They have all been in private parking lots. If it is in a parking lot ,garage, etc, you can't get a ticket. Police can't issue parking tickets in parking lots or on private property. I had a cop tell me he couldn't issue a accident ticket when a lady was at fault hitting me in a parking lot. He said only when it involves human safety, guns, etc, can he get involved.

 

[SMAlset]

Lady rear ended me on the exit out of a shopping center and on private property so cops don't care, between your insurance. So I would think backing in on private property chargers wouldn't be covered as not part of the public roads. Clearly when some of these laws were enacted EVs with chargers on all sides of their cars weren't a consideration. Law should be changed to exclude while charging, if necessary. I certainly wouldn't want a charging cord tight against my car and if so would find other charging..but maybe not always to do. Certainly Tesla Superchargers in Florida aren't a problem are they? Assume all on private property of one sort or another (gas stations, retail shopping, hotels).

 

[cwerdna]

I have been in a lot of charge point spots, but never ever on a public street. They have all been in private parking lots. If it is in a parking lot ,garage, etc, you can't get a ticket.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. What I posted in post #6 was in a BART parking garage.

I'm pretty sure About BART | bart.gov is government run and they also have their own police. You can look up salaries of all their workers at https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/san-francisco-bay-area-rapid-transit-district/.

 

[cwerdna]

Daly City | bart.gov (just a bit south of San Francisco) has signage prohibiting people from backing in. However, there's no EV charging there.

I've seen other places that have signs that specifically only allow you to face a certain direction.

To resurrect an old thread, while looking for something else (rough part of Vegas on Google Street View), I came across Google Maps in Vegas which shows a parking lot w/a sign "No Backing Into Stalls".