[Bedon292]

The snow emergency was announced on Thursday a full day before the snow arrived. The emergency then went into effect Friday morning and the snow did not start until around lunch time, several hours later. There was not a single flake of snow in the first couple hours when most of the tickets were issues. People who are saying they got tickets for being 'snowed in' are blatantly misrepresenting what happened. They were parked illegally before the snow even fell, and had plenty of warning.

Additionally, as others have said, parking was FREE at metro station garages around the area through Tuesday. And many area garages were also offering free or $1 parking. There is absolutely no excuse for being parked on the snow emergency routes.

[rsp1984]

Maybe consider that many people just can't act that fast. Some may not have even been in town. The average time from when people heard about the announcement until the first snow was falling was probably just about a couple of hours.

I would also assume that the free or $1 garage parking was full just a couple hours after the announcement.

[mikeash]

Why would you go out of town in the middle of winter and leave your car parked on a snow emergency route?

You don't get to set up problems for yourself, then complain when those self-created problems have consequences.

I don't understand why so many are eager to defend these people. If you can't move your car quickly, don't park it in a place where you might need to move it quickly. If you negligently leave your car on a major road during a blizzard, don't be shocked to find that your car has been dug out courtesy of city parking enforcement.

[BostonEnginerd]

Some of us do travel for a living and can be out of town for weeks on end. It does happen -- and where you're parked is an afterthought. You don't always get to pick which street you park on.

[mikeash]

Really, you just can't be bothered to think about whether your parking spot is a wise location to leave your car for several weeks? And further, that you can't even choose not to park on a snow emergency route?

Your car is probably the first or second most expensive thing you own. Take ten seconds to read the signs governing the legalities of where you store it. If you screw they up (it happens to all of us) then own the screwup.

[BostonEnginerd]

I've lived in places where you don't have a lot of choice in the matter. I do make an effort to not park on the emergency route in my town. On the side streets, they have alternate side parking. Every week, you have to move your car.

I can go on a one week trip which will turn into a three week one. It's just the nature of the job - the customer's needs come first. They're running billion dollar manufacturing facilities and all the equipment has to keep running.

[threatofrain]

Not every city experiences the same logistical problems, and for a snowy city, I think it's quite reasonable to penalize people for parking in snow emergency routes. If Washington DC were such a place that didn't historically snow, I would sympathize with the fined.

The needs of some city residents to travel for weeks or months without thinking about where they are parked don't outweigh the needs of a snowy city to have emergency snow travel routes.

If you wanted to park some place and hope that it doesn't snow, that's both your loss and gain.

[nommm-nommm]

If I was leaving town for several weeks (or even just the weekend) my very first thought would be "is this a good location to leave my car for the duration I'd be gone?" and it certainly wouldn't be an afterthought!

[chrismcb]

Yes actually you do get to pick which street you park on. Unless you have one of the new fangled diverless cars. If you are traveling in winter and could be home for weeks on end, don't leave for cat in a place where it might get towed.

[smileysteve]

> -- and where you're parked is an afterthought

Not in places like NYC w/ street sweeping schedules.

[FireBeyond]

I'm on the West Coast. I knew about the snow predicted 36 hours before it hit.