07/23/2002   English German
  Edition # 38  
San Francisco, 07-23-2002

Personalized tickets

Michael Recently, I thought to myself: It would be nice if we got a parking ticket as a memento of our time in San Francisco, with "PERL MAN" on it -- the personalized police license plate of our car (Rundbrief 03/2000). On Sunday afternoon, it finally happened: I came home from the supermarket and boldly parked the trusty "PERL MAN" on the sidewalk to unload it. Upstairs in the apartment, Angelika signaled to me that she was on the phone with Oldenburg and that we could set off to an outing in two minutes. In high spirits, I turned on the TV. An hour later, it happened, and we had a parking ticket on the car, hooray! At $25, it wasn't exactly cheap, but it's a unique souvenir, as you can see in illustration 1!

Figure [1]: A ticket for PERL MAN

You can also see that it costs $250 if you park at a bus stop or $275 if you park a car without a disabled permit in a disabled parking space -- or come within three feet (about one meter) of a ramp for the disabled! Similarly draconian penalties are imposed for driving in the carpool lane (Rundbrief 07/2001), a fine of $274 is imposed if you are driving by yourself instead of carrying the mandatory passenger. "Parking within 18 inches of curb" costs 23 dollars--I assume this means that you must not park more than 18 inches (45.54 cm) away from the curb. And parking in front of a hydrant costs only the everyday low price of $33--I can afford that, just wait, maybe soon in the newsletter!

By the way, all of the absurd numerical values that every Californian driver must know when applying for a driver's license are listed on a Website by Søren F. Ragsdale: For example, you may only park 7.5 feet away from railroad tracks, 15 feet from a fire hydrant, and 3 feet from a curb ramp.

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