Just Ten Dollars For Intentionally Parking In The Wrong Direction?

There are plenty of unlawful and dangerous things that drivers intentionally do which irk me. Parking in the wrong direction is definitely on the list, and that is exactly what I saw a neighbor of mine do yesterday on N. 6th Street, just north of State Street.  It's a stupid, inconsiderate, and dangerous thing to do, and my neighbor knew exactly what he was doing when he parked in front of two cars facing the other direction.

As the driver and his passenger exited the illegally parked car and began walking toward their house, I scolded the driver for not parking properly.  His response was a simple, sarcastic "I know."  He might as well have said "I don't care," because he obviously didn't.

I called HPD to tell them of the illegally parked car, and I was told that an officer would respond when someone became available.  I didn't hold out much belief that the car would stick around long enough to be ticketed.  Much to my surprise, 15 minutes later, with the car still parked the wrong way, a parking enforcer came walking up State Street and headed directly to the car.   I thought I was hallucinating.  He took two pictures, scanned the registration and issued a ticket, placing it under the windshield wiper.

The violation for parking the wrong way on a city street falls under the IMPROPER PARKING category.  The fine for that violation is the same as parking in a metered parking space without time on the meter -- just TEN DOLLARS.  This makes no sense. It's one thing to intentionally fail to fill a parking meter (or fail to fill it with enough quarters), but quite another to intentionally park headed the wrong direction and endanger other drivers, isn't it?  

I then informed the friendly parking enforcer of another illegally parked vehicle further up 6th Street, where a contractor's pickup truck had been parked in a clearly marked NO PARKING zone all day.  The enforcer issued the pickup a $25 ticket.  HPD has never offered me a commission for the dozens of parking tickets they have issued after a call from me!

A few days ago, while riding my bicycle on N. 5th Steet, I was scolded by a driver as he passed me.  He (wrongly) felt that I was in his way, as he told me through his open window to "get the f~~~ out of the middle of the road, asshole" after I had passed a double-parked car and slowed him down for a moment.  At the light at Warren, where he was stopped, I asked him what the problem was and what I should have done.  He told me that I shouldn't be in the road.

"Where am I supposed to ride?" I asked.

"You're supposed to be on the sidewalk.  Now get the f ~~~ off the road," he responded, in all seriousness and anger, before pulling away. 

Ride a bicycle often enough around Hudson and Greenport, and an incident like this will not surprise you.   It's scary, for sure, but not too uncommon.