11-02-2020, 08:53 PM
(11-02-2020, 06:12 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: As for why I believe this is okay, you're right, I don't measure the distance to the curb, but I know that farther than 15 cm (about half a foot) is not okay, which means when I park, I ensure that I'm closer than that...it isn't hard...I don't need a measuring tape, if I'm at all close to half a foot, I'm not close enough.
This is actually an example with some complexity, because the rule should not be distance of the nearest part of the vehicle from the curb but distance of the furthest part of the vehicle from the curb. If I’m parking a Smart car, 50cm from the curb is fine — I’ll still be taking up less of the road than an ordinary vehicle parked more closely. And if I’m parking a Hummer, maybe there isn’t room for me to park even if my tires are rubbing the side of the curb; if so, that’s just tough for me; I can find a larger parking space or a smaller vehicle.
Quote:Look I'm basically just ranting at this point, but I'm sick and tired of this bullshit. I'm sick and tired of blocked sidewalks and I'm so fucking sick and tired of council telling me enforcement is the solution, then refusing to even enforce the bylaws...GAH!!!
So right. If the City can’t enforce, then we should all hear about it as a problem they have, rather than just silently letting scofflaws get away with blocking the sidewalk year after year.
If the officer needs to observe somebody being obstructed in order to write that, then there is a simple solution: enforcement teams should consist of an officer and somebody in a wheelchair. If the wheelchair person can’t easily get by the car, then the officer observes this and uses it as evidence. Until the JP’s get it through their thick skulls that the sidewalk is obstructed if enough width for such a person is not available, even if they don’t happen to show up at that particular moment.
How are these people hired, anyway? If a JP is really demanding an actual victim, then they are wrong; unless the law is really written that way, in which case it clearly needs to be changed; except that the court system should be capable of changing it all by itself by applying the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which forbids discrimination against people on the basis of disability. And requiring an actual victim before prosecuting a violation constitutes discrimination; people in wheelchairs (or whatever) shouldn’t have to show up and subject themselves to discrimination in order to achieve systemic justice.
Overall, lots of good points. Fundamentally, you have passion about this issue; but too often justice is viewed as just another administrative matter.