Personal Injury Firm
In an action that they called “understanding the needs and challenges of those in the communities we serve,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Parking Enforcement Detail announced it will temporarily relax parking enforcement to help cope with parking availability.
Temporary relaxed enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, which are effective immediately, will include street sweeping and expired registrations. All streets with posted signs for street sweeping will not be enforced, and vehicles with expired registration will not be cited. Moreover, registrations expired in excess of six months will not be towed.
“The recent stay-at-home order issued in early December, brought to light once again the need for additional parking across Los Angeles County,” the department wrote.
But this doesn’t mean that no enforcement will be made. Enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County that will continue include: blocking fire hydrants; red zone parking and/or fire lane; handicap parking violations; blocking driveway; parked vehicles which disrupt the flow of traffic; and metered parking in business districts. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will also continue to enforce violations which pose an immediate risk to public safety.
The Sheriff’s Department did not set a date for the relaxed enforcement to expire.
Moreover, tickets will still be given out during street sweeping in the city of L.A. To encourage residents to pay citations promptly, the city is reportedly offering a $20 discount on citations paid within 48 hours.
With COVID-19 case increases repeatedly setting records and fears of intensive care units reaching capacity, L.A. Mayor Garcetti has encouraged residents to stay home but kept parking enforcement in full effect.
A study conducted by the Southern California Association of Governments found that volume on the roads and freeways is currently down, but only 10% less than pre-pandemic numbers. That’s compared to the 80% decline seen back in April. Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on the freeway network alone dropped by nearly 50% in early April over prior year, but began increasing again by mid-April.
Having traffic come back to pre-pandemic levels also raises the concern about car accidents jumping back as well. It was previously reported that reports of road rage in Los Angeles were down, with a 33.5% decrease from last year.
