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Parking in Cross hatch areas

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17K views 34 replies 31 participants last post by  dupdyke  
#1 ·
Ok I’m sure the laws are different in each States or City. Is it unlawful to park a motorcycle in a cross hatched area?

I was told many years ago it is not against the law. I think the only people who complain about it are people who don’t ride.

Your thoughts!


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#4 ·
Hard one to answer without knowing local ordinances, along with state and federal laws!
The cross hatching between parking spaces is there so vehicles with side lifts/ramps can utilize them.
The cross hatches at the ends of the rows are there so vehicles can safely make turns and not have the drivers vision blocked by a parked vehicle.
So even if it's not an ordinance or law in you area, you should not park in these cross hatched areas.
 
#5 ·
I have seen motorcycles parked in those areas without incident, but I have also heard of people being cited for parking in a "no parking" zone. Though it isn't pretty, I am fortunate to have a good, functioning body, so I gladly walk the extra 50 feet, 100 feet, or whatever, to a legitimate parking space.
 
#6 ·
I ride and never park in those areas and have never had any desire to.
I have been riding since the 70's and always park my bike in the same manner I park my pickup. I have never seen any disadvantage in doing so.

I really don't understand why anyone thinks that just because they are on two wheels that there is no need to park in spots specifically reserved for parking.

When I worked for a living, one of our drivers would always park in those striped off areas at the end of the row of real parking spots. Then one day one of the girls in the office left for lunch, turned too tight coming out of the isle and drug this guys spotless Heritage Softail 50 ft after she hooked it with her back bumper.
That never would have happened if he had parked in one of the real parking spots such as where my Goldwing was parked.

To me, parking in non parking spots, or even worse, on the concrete walkway in front of a store, just gives people one more reason to lump all of us that do ride into the "arrogant bad boy biker" stereotype.

I did once ask my boss if it was ok to park in one of the handicap parking spaces sine my bike was basically an inline motorized wheelchair. He laughed and said NO!
 
#8 ·
What he said. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Glen
 
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#7 ·
In KY, it is illegal to park anything in the yellow striped areas. They probably won’t ticket you, but if your bike gets hit and damaged it can allow the other insurance company and maybe your own to not cover the damage. Most policies cover the vehicle when it is in motion or when legally parked, not illegally parked. I need the exercise anyway, so I never park there.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I park in spaces and take up a full space per bike so the cars will have to park even further away and can't use the space I'm taking up. If six of us show up, it's awesome to waste all that space.

I do this to spite all the people that think parking in the hashed area somehow hurts the cage drivers instead of helping them. As such, I park JUST like a car.

Not really. I sure want to, but that's just stupid and spiteful and I'm not that kind of guy.

Honestly.....I don't understand why people don't think people parking up front in an hashed area is being considerate of others. It helps everyone. But...there are enough people that think it's rude that they'll mess with your bike or try and call the cops on you that it's just easier to take up a space and not be helpful.
 
#12 ·
If it is cross hatched next to a handicapped stall you cannot park there. If it is at the end of a row it is for sight distance and potential turning movements. Best not to park there but if you need to fight a ticket, check the ticket to see if it is a violation of a state regulation otherwise it might be coved by a local ordinance.
 
#13 ·
..So this was yesterday in a parking lot -
I walked past all of these bikes (the Wing is mine)
Which ones are LEGALLY parked ?
 

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#20 ·
STUPID motorcycles!!! They park in the walkway, they park in the parking lot taking up a whole space with just 1. They should all just be banned!!! It’s my road, it’s my parking lot. They should all just go away. Noisy things. I hate them !!!>:)

My work has motorcycle parking on the raised concrete islands to prevent another scene where the cowgirl drove her 1ton duelly crewcab to work and backed into the only nice close (car) spot to the building and took out a then 2 month old Harley full dresser. She didn’t stop until she had her duels to the curb. The bike was sandwiched underneath, so what does she do? Pulls back out to get the bike out from underneath. You could hardly tell what it was went she got done with it. Totaled.
 
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#14 ·
It partially depends upon where you are and what the situation is. Parking in a spot where a car will NOT be parking means you won't have some idiot hit your bike because they have no f$%^ing clue how to drive or park but as evidenced, in other places where it is marked for clearance it means you will get hit.

In some areas of the country folks will look on this as people breaking the law and will go out of their way to "teach you a lesson" while in other areas folks could care less. As a parallel example, in CA you can lane split (legally now) and everyone is fine with it but up here, try it and someone will deliberately block the lane in front of you.

It also depends upon the person's experience with motorbikes. If other folks ride then they are more lenient and understanding of motorcyclists parking in what we'd consider "safer" areas. Similarly, because I have a son who is in a wheelchair, I simply DETEST a$$holes who park in handicapped zones. He needs the extra clearance at the side of his car to get in and out so while he could easily park a ways away, when he comes back out, someone has parked beside him and he can't get into his vehicle. His only other choice would be to take up to two parking spots but people get REALY pissed at that.
 
#17 ·
One other thing I do when parking in a regular parking spot, is to keep the back of the near the rear of the spot so the back of the bike is visible. Stops the cage drivers from pulling into a space without realizing it's occupied. Too late after they pull halfway in and hit the back of the bike.
Or I just pick a spot at the far end of the parking lot. Walking is better than picking up a damaged bike.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Here’s the parking lot at Logan Pass in Glacier in 2017. Lots of bikes in the parking lot endcaps. I think they encourage it. There was no parking available unless you were on a bike. It really pays to tour the National Parks on a bike. You can always seem to find somewhere to park.

I hope the NPs start to build and dedicate motorcycle parking areas. There are a ton of bikes in the parks.
 

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#23 ·
I've noticed this as well.

In fact, the idea that motorcyclist are being inconsiderate, selfish, lazy, whatever....simply disappears when the parking spaces for cars are limited. Sure....they all think you're a jerk if you park in the hashed area when there are 100 open spaces in the lot, but if there are limited spaces and you take one when the hashed area was open, just watch and see how inconsiderate they think you are then.

Case and point....last year at Banff (Lake Louise) and at Glacier NP at the lodge at the top, the parking lots were full and they were turning cars away and / or they were lined up for miles to get in. If I had taken a full space with my motorcycle, I'd probably have gotten into a fight with someone in a car that was desperate for a place to park. They were all more than happy to have me park in the hashed area at the end of the parking lot with 20-50 other bikes and not have us taking up 20-50 spaces that were in short supply.

This thread comes up from time to time and I always see the polarized answers but I'm really not sure why people see parking in the hashes as right or wrong. To me, it's completely situational. If you park between two handicap spaces in a wide open parking lot because you don't want to walk 100 extra feet, then yeah...your a jerk and inconsiderate. If you park in the end of a row that is hashed off at the mall and not by any handicapped spaces but only hashed off because they couldn't make full spaces out of it on black Friday where the cars are lined up looking for a parking space, you'll have 10 people that thank you for not taking a space. Use a little common sense and think about others...it goes a really long way into letting you know what the right thing to do is.
 
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#19 ·
Too many lazy or self-righteous dudes on motorcycles park in cross-hatched places that are blocking handicap access, walkways between cars, etc.

I have parked in the occasional weird corner of a parking garage that is in absolutely no one's way. I would feel my moral high ground had been violated if I were ever cited there. Come to think of it, they may have been yellow lined but not cross-hatched. Every once in a while you see one like that. Most of the time, there's a good reason for the no parking.

I saw a bike about a month ago blocking a guy in a van trying to use his wheelchair ramp. I pushed it out of the way. I wanted to push it over. No moral high ground there.
 
#21 ·
The rules/laws may be different from state to state or from private to public locations. Most law enforcement lacks jurisdiction on private parking lots and do not patrol them, so it's probably little chance of getting a ticket there.

Hatched areas is to discourage parking for several reasons. The most common is that they are access isles for the handicap. As others have said they are sometimes used to allow wider turning radius in tight parking lots. Either way parking in one you are either being inconsiderate of others who needs this access, or putting your bike in danger of being damaged.

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#24 ·
To me its pretty simple. They are "hashed out" because they specifically do not want vehicles parking in them for some reason. If it was for motorcycle parking specifically it would say so. I know if you park in these areas in the municipalities around me (not private parking lots) you can be ticketed or towed.
I try pretty hard to be extra courteous when on my motorcycle since there are so many people out there that routinely give us all a bad name. Thinking I am special and parking my bike in an area clearly marked as not for parking does nothing to improve our image.
My .02 only, feel free to do as you please.
 
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#25 ·
I never park in any of the blue handicap hash marked areas, but there are plenty of parking lots with half spaces hashed near end caps & islands were a car won't fit, but a bike will easily. In general I just use a regular car space, but if parking is limited I'll tuck it in a half space.
At my job we have a concrete island (sort of a walkway) that is were we are told to park bikes in front of 1 building & in front of the other building they gave us 3 short car spaces (they were marked compact only & people kept parking trucks in them sticking to far out into the lane) & there are a couple half space end caps we can park in. All the car spaces are permit only for managers & visitors, the regular employee lot is over a half mile away & they bus us in & the parking authority doesn't allow bikes in the employee lot because the gates could injure a rider.
 
#26 ·
Motorcycles are a motor vehicle and are subject to the same laws. If you park in a gore area you can be fined, even though some cops may not issue a ticket, they can. The Gore area at the end of parking spaces is hashed and no parking is permitted to allow vehicles to make the turn. I never understood why some bikers think they can just park anywhere, but that's just me.
 
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#27 ·
I used to park in hashed ares of parking lots until I read here that some people think it is inconsiderate. I generally do not do that any more unless the parking lot is full. In that case, I try to use my best judgement. If I can park in marked off spaces and not be in anyone's way, I'll do it. Otherwise, I'll go ahead and take a normal parking place. However, I do admit to parking by the bicycle parking at our local WalMart. The only real disadvantage I see is the bicycle parking area is not covered by security cameras. The area is out of everyone's way and I don't feel guilty for parking there.
 
#29 · (Edited)
I wouldn't, park in hatched lane areas will mean one of several things, 1st a ADA { American for disabilities Act} parking lane for the ADA person to access their vehicle, 2nd a ADA accessible route / path {48" to 60"} path in a retail/office/ ect. parking lot to go from the building through the parking lot { a certain width} to a sidewalk to get to for example a Bus stop. Third is a fire lane usually 10 feet along side a building . Hope this helps In Florida all these are violations and carry a $250.00 fine and up.
 

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#30 ·
In our area, HD riders park in front of the bicycle racks a Wal Mart and most anywhere else they feel like it. Then wake up the world when leaving. I park my Wing quite a ways away and walk into the stores. I tried to park like the others once and got a very rude person telling me what to do. I asked about the HD's doing it was told never mind. I left.
 
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