Q: I read your column on pedestrians being required to use the sidewalk when one is available. Is there any law about cars not being allowed to block sidewalks? As a runner, I am continually running out into the street to go around all the cars parked in driveways that hang back enough to block the sidewalk.
A: If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. Wait, no, that’s the wrong phrase for this situation. I wish I could come up with something as clever as Johnnie Cochran did; a phrase burned into our cultural psyche (at least for anyone exposed to the news in the 90s), so memorable that drivers would no longer park their vehicles on the sidewalk.
Yes, there is a law about blocking sidewalks. The Revised Code of Washington has a list of places where parking is prohibited. Sidewalks are near the top of that list. And it seems like such an obviously logical rule. You wouldn’t build a sidewalk which, just by its name, is clearly meant for walking, and then permit parking on it.
Why then, do people block the sidewalk with their vehicles? Maybe some people just don’t care, but I’ll speculate that it has something to do with a mismatch between driveway and vehicle size.
Many municipalities allow a garage to be as close as 20 feet from the property line (which is where the sidewalk typically starts). At least four vehicle manufacturers build pickup trucks longer than that. For anyone with a garage at the minimum setback, last year nearly a million pickups were sold that won’t fit in your driveway. Add to that older homes with smaller setbacks and the fact that you’re not going to park with your bumper touching the garage door, and even cars less than 20 feet long can block the sidewalk when parked.
We have a situation where our parking space requirements don’t match the vehicles we’re parking there. That’s not an excuse for bad parking. The law is clear that you’re not allowed to park on a sidewalk. Pedestrians are required to use sidewalks when they’re available and drivers are prohibited from blocking them.
If you can fit your car in the driveway, do it. We build sidewalks so that people walking and running have a safe place to travel. When you park with your tail blocking the sidewalk you defeat the whole purpose of building it in the first place; that is, to protect walkers (who are killed in traffic crashes at disproportionately high rates) by keeping them separated from vehicles.
And if your vehicle is longer than your driveway? Ah, the poetry. You park somewhere else and walk on the sidewalk that is now available because you didn’t park on it. If you have a 22-foot truck and a 20-foot driveway you might not like that answer, but there isn’t an exception in the law for “but it doesn’t fit in the driveway.”
As I write this I haven’t given up on a catchphrase. Here are my attempts:
“If you block the path, beware the wrath.” Nope, that doesn’t work. I don’t want to encourage violence when you encounter poor parking. Let’s solve things peacefully.
“If your tail sticks out, your intelligence is in doubt.” Nope, too mean. You can’t call someone dumb just because they don’t know how to park. I mean, legend has it that Albert Einstein failed his driver test three times because he couldn’t parallel park. It’s probably not true, but he never did get a driver license.
Okay, I’ve got it: “If it’s too long, you don’t belong.”