While driving in San Francisco, I got a cell phone call that I had to take. So I stopped at the metered space for maybe 2 minutes to take a call.
Next thing I see is a parking enforcement car behind me with a lady writing me a ticket. Her vehicle blocking my way out. I honked asking to get out, but she just walked up and put it under the wiper blade even though I am in the car with the engine running. When I said "Excuse me!" there was no answer, like I don't exist. I took the ticket and pushed it into the opening in her car.
But now I found the citation online:
- TRC7.2.26 YELLOW ZONE $91.00
7.2.26 says: "To Park in a yellow zone indicated by yellow paint on the curb or signage ... Non-commercial vehicles shall not be Parked in a yellow zone in excess of a period of three minutes, during which the operator must be in attendance ...". Wikipedia defines parking as "(an) act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied."
My questions:
Vehicle wasn't unoccupied, and also it wasn't disengaged. Am I right that this is an unlawfully issued citation (not an instance of "parking")?
Can the parking enforcement vehicle block the way out for the vehicle it issues citation for?
Can the parking enforcement officer ignore the honking and still proceed in issuing a ticket?
I was there more than 3 minutes only because I was blocked by the parking enforcement vehicle. Does 7.2.26 still apply if the vehicle is blocked from leaving?