Ticketed for a traffic violation in a Wal-Mart parking lot?

[willowsnn3]

Just for the record, my car was backed into in the parking lot at my job on Valentine's day. The driver of the other car drove off but thankfully I had 2 witnesses that got the tag #. Police came out, ran the tag# & got the insurance info for me. She got a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident & I got a check for $500.00 for repair to my car....so altho it was private property, she left the scene which made it a ticket-able offense.

 

[Christine]

I'm glad I read this thread. My local Safeway and Kohl's parking lots have these. My impression of the "Stop Bar" was that I was to stuff if pedestrians were present (almost like a crosswalk). If no one is present, I thought I could sail through. I will be stopping from now on.

 

[torinsmom]

If we're talking about the stop bar at the end of each parking aisle, aren't you always supposed to stop there? I don't even need a sign or something on the ground to tell me to stop and look both ways before proceeding. It's obvious to me that the traffic going perpendicular to the aisles would have the right of way. As with most tickets, pay it and learn from the experience.

 

[mrsklamc]

I'd be very grateful to the police officer for hopefully teaching my child that they don't get to pick and choose which traffic laws to obey. Who knows, the reminder not to blow stop signs or stop bars may save your kid's life someday.

 

[christineann]

Maybe the police officer has "better things to do" than ticket drivers who break the law, but as long as people disobey traffic signals and markings, he's doing his job. Had someone committed the same offense and hit your car, would you feel the same as you do now?

FWIW, I think that the "better things to do" defense after committing a traffic violation is silly and actually disrespectful.

Mrsklamc...........

And a big thank you to LEOs and emergency workers for doing a thankless job.

 

[Andtototoo]

Yep...My DH got "reverse t-boned" in the parking lot at work on March 12th. He was driving in the driving lane and a guy in a delivery truck backed out of his space without looking. Completely smashed the rear driver's side door of DH's SUV. The cop wrote all of their info on an official form and gave them each a copy, but wouldn't ticket anyone or do an investigation because a parking lot is private property.

Which stinks, because of course the delivery truck company's insurance is trying to get out of paying for the damages...

We had the exact same thing happen to us. The cop told us that in this state they cannot ticket on private property.

I guess the law must be different in the OP's state.

 

[Christine]

If we're talking about the stop bar at the end of each parking aisle, aren't you always supposed to stop there? I don't even need a sign or something on the ground to tell me to stop and look both ways before proceeding. It's obvious to me that the traffic going perpendicular to the aisles would have the right of way. As with most tickets, pay it and learn from the experience.

No, not the same thing.

Let's say you are entering the parking lot and you are on the "road" portion of the lot, which often goes in front of the store. You have not turned into one of the aisles to park and you are meadering down that road either deciding which aisle you want to turn down or you are leaving and heading toward the exit.

It has been common in the last few years to add stop bars because people are crossing that road to get into the front doors of the store. My Kohl's added them in a few years ago as well as the Safeway where I live.

The Target has actually just put up real stop signs and not the painted bars.

 

[torinsmom]

No, not the same thing.

Let's say you are entering the parking lot and you are on the "road" portion of the lot, which often goes in front of the store. You have not turned into one of the aisles to park and you are meadering down that road either deciding which aisle you want to turn down or you are leaving and heading toward the exit.

It has been common in the last few years to add stop bars because people are crossing that road to get into the front doors of the store. My Kohl's added them in a few years ago as well as the Safeway where I live.

The Target has actually just put up real stop signs and not the painted bars.

My target has stop signs at the cross walk off the main corridor in front of the store, but the aisles also have stop bars on the sidewalk to show that the main "road" has the right of way. So, if someone is stopped at the stop sign on the main "road" and someone else comes up to the stop bar on the aisle that intersects it, the person on the aisle still needs to wait, from what I understand. The addition is that pedestrians always have the right of way. Because drivers don't always follow that, the stop signs have been installed to remind them. I always stop at both the bars and signs, because to me, they are the same thing.

 

[ols386]

I frequently see drivers practically flying through parking lots at the grocery store, Walmart, etc. Never stopping to see if another vehicle may be coming.

I would just chalk this up to a learning experience for your dd. She will probably be more aware of the importance of stopping at designated stop signs, whether it' a sign or painted on the pavement. It might save her in the future, from being injured and/or killed, or someone else.

 

[Disney Doll]

I have a really great idea.

How about telling your DD to obey traffic laws.

She may someday cruise through a stop bar and hit someone, or get hit by someone who also chose to cruise through a stop bar.

I would assume that if someone has the common sense to get a drivers license, they have the common sens eto know what a stop bar means and also the common sense to be able to tell where a stop bar should be in a store parking lot, even if it is not a newly painted one. Generally stop bars are at the end of aisles or near the areas of the store where people might be walking.

If she doesn't know that, then perhaps you should mention it to her.

As far as the disrespectful statement about the police having something better to do....they were doing their job...ticketing a driver who was not obeying traffic laws. If someone had cruised through a stop bar and hit DD's car, I bet you'd have a different reaction the police and what "better" things they had to do.

Cops and teachers....two of the worst jobs in the world in terms of appreciation for what they do.

 

[ILoveToRun]

I hate that! If accidents don't actually "count", then neither should traffic violations.

 

[daughtersrus]

My DD got into an accident also in a WalMart parking lot. Our lanes are 1-way with angled parking. She was backing out of the spot in DH's Ford Focus. There were two huge SUV's next to her (I think an Expedition and something else). She backed out slowly when a guy in a pickup truck was speeding down the lane going the wrong direction. The truck caught the back end of the car and ripped the bumper off. The police came said that the driver of the truck was 100% at fault but couldn't give him a ticket since it was private property. The cop said that they only do that under extreme conditions. Our insurance said otherwise. They said DD was 100% at fault since she was in reverse. Long story short, the driver of the truck never filed a claim. We had to fight with State Farm because they were going to drop DD's Steer Clear discount and remove our accident free discount even though they weren't going to be paying a penny. DH works at a dealership and could get it repaired for less than our deductible. Our agent went to bat for us and got them to reinstate the discounts since they all admitted that there was no way DD could have seen the truck speeding the wrong direction with the SUVs that were next to her.

Yep...My DH got "reverse t-boned" in the parking lot at work on March 12th. He was driving in the driving lane and a guy in a delivery truck backed out of his space without looking. Completely smashed the rear driver's side door of DH's SUV. The cop wrote all of their info on an official form and gave them each a copy, but wouldn't ticket anyone or do an investigation because a parking lot is private property.

Which stinks, because of course the delivery truck company's insurance is trying to get out of paying for the damages...

If the truck was in reverse, he should be completely at fault. At least in most states.

I got a snow parking ban ticket 2 weeks ago. Its the first one I have ever received, I just forgot my car was not on the sidewalk.

For the record, it hasn't snowed where I live in well over a month, probably closer to 2 months and the temperature was 72 degrees that day. It had been 80 most of that week. I understand I broker the law, but seriously, common sense needs to take over at some point. No doubt the cop that wrote the ticket has driven past my car dozens to 100s of times and its always been on the sidewalk,so he knows its something I just forgot to do. Unfortunately he was probably just bored that night. It was only $15, but its the principle of receiving a ticket for breaking a snow ban, when everyone is complaining about getting sunburned!!!

You park your car on the sidewalk? Here, if your car in on your driveway and it's blocking the sidewalk, they can give you a ticket.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I stop at the end of any aisle in a parking lot to make sure I am not hit by people who are ignoring stop bars, stop signs, or the common sense that people are coming from multiple directions in a parking lot.

 

[disneymarie]

My DDIL was just ticketed in a Wal-Mart parking lot for failure to come to a complete stop at one of those painted on the pavement "STOP" signs at our local Wal-Mart!
It just seems the local police would have something better to do than get Wal-Mart shoppers grazing the parking lot for a parking space!

You better check the vehicle code in your state, in PA the traffic offenses are only enforceable on the highways. Traffic patterns in Kmart or Walmart, are only a curtesy traffic pattern safety sign. They are on private property.

Your town can not even place a sign up in an area where people speed down a roadway. It has to confirm to the rules and regs, and be amended into local ordinance, but it has to be a roadway, not a private parking lot.
IF the owner of a shopping center wants the local police to ticket parking offenses in front of the store, as a fire lane, they have a lengthy procedure to go through and store owners FLIP out as the customers take it out on them. Now, that is where the signs are up and local ordinance or private parking lot is under contract with a tower to remove unauthorized parking.

You can be exiting a shopping center at a redlight and turn onto the highway against a red signal and can not be cited. Stupidity is not against the law.

The only enforeceable offenses on a none road or traffic ways are the Serious Traffic Offenses as defined in the "code" ones such as DUI.
Perhaps this is a new officer and does not undestand the traffic code is only for highways and roadways....
Title 75 PA vehicle code
Sec.
3101. Application of part.
.
§ 3101. Application of part.
(a) General rule.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the provisions of this part relating to the operation of vehicles refer exclusively to the operation of vehicles upon highways except where a different place is specifically referred to in a particular provision.

(b) Serious traffic offenses.--The provisions of section 3345 (relating to meeting or overtaking school bus), Subchapter B of Chapter 37 (relating to serious traffic offenses) and Chapter 38 (relating to driving after imbibing alcohol or utilizing drugs) shall apply upon highways and trafficways throughout this Commonwealth.
(Dec. 21, 1998, P.L.1126,

 

[jujube]

Don't know about the legality of the ticket but parking lots scare the bejeezus out of me. People drive like frickin' maniacs. I've started parking on the last row to try and avoid people going up the wrong way, not watching as they back out of a space, letting their children jump into traffic, speeding, etc.

 

[cm8]

Don't know about the legality of the ticket but parking lots scare the bejeezus out of me. People drive like frickin' maniacs. I've started parking on the last row to try and avoid people going up the wrong way, not watching as they back out of a space, letting their children jump into traffic, speeding, etc.

 

[John VN]

Simply research traffic statutes. Private property is private property and unless there is a special statute, not enforceable in court.

 

[hereyago]

Don't know about the legality of the ticket but parking lots scare the bejeezus out of me. People drive like frickin' maniacs..

They scare me to. Yesterday, I took DD13 to meet her stepmom (they live an hour away and due to certain things, I am no longer nice enough to drive that far,lol

So we met half way and met at Walmart. I loathe wally world as it is. but we parked at the very end of an aisle because they will drive crazy all over, in between cars.

Then my local grocery store: same thing, people think it's the autobahn in the parking lot.

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Cops and teachers....two of the worst jobs in the world in terms of appreciation for what they do.

So true!

 

[Tozzie]

Simply research traffic statutes. Private property is private property and unless there is a special statute, not enforceable in court.

It depends on the location, where I live if the property is open to the public then traffic codes are fully enforeceable, expecially handicapped parking tickets