Reflections

In Seattle, Even The Dead Get Parking Tickets

Posted by on Aug 6, 2010 | 10 Comments

One of Seattle’s traffic enforcement people takes her job very seriously. Spotting an overparked vehicle in a two-hour zone, she noticed that the vehicle was occupied. She tapped on the window but the occupant did not respond. So she issued a $42 parking ticket and placed it on the windshield. It was later determined that the guy was DOA when his lifeless body was discovered by his girlfriend.

In a recent article it also stated that:

Medics were dispatched at 12:47 p.m., but the man was unconscious and unresponsive when they arrived, Fire Department spokeswoman Dana Vander Houwen said.

The driver was Derek Michael Eldridge, 36, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The office is waiting for tests before releasing his cause and manner of death, though police say there was no sign of homicidal violence. Eldridge’s exact time of death was not released Wednesday.

Parking enforcement officers have radios and a reasonable expectation to call for help in an emergency.

But police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said it’s not uncommon for parking enforcement officers to find people asleep in their cars. The woman, a 29-year parking enforcement veteran, did nothing wrong in the circumstances, he said.

The ticket issued was Eldrige’s first parking ticket in Seattle Municipal Court, records show. The ticket was voided about an hour and a half after he was pronounced dead.

One would have thought that the veteran parking enforcement person would have taken the opportunity to check further on the man’s welfare. It would have been a simple matter to contact dispatch and have a cop respond to check on the man. Just my 2 cents.

I smell lawsuit! What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Source – Seattle PI

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  • http://www.urbanelectronicgames.com/ Eric Fox

    Lawsuit, probably not. A change in procedure, more likely. This is actually an accident of compassion. In a situation where someone is sleeping, people tend to let them sleep. If someone is sleeping in their car, there is usually a good reason for it, like a long trip ahead. As such, it is significantly kinder to let them sleep, as the ticket must be given anyway if one is to do their duty.

    I suspect, however, that it will become common practice to check on sleepers from now on.

  • http://www.gavinstipsandtricks.co.nr/ Gavin Roskamp

    You never know, Eric. We Americans think we can just sue for anything. Watch the court drama TV shows. Sure, they probably aren’t all entirely real, but there are some seriously hilarious claims people make.

    I do agree with the fact that it is nicer to let sleepers sleep. I mean, I wouldn’t want to sleep just to wake up to a parking ticket, but I wouldn’t sleep sitting up in the driver’s seat and in a timer-based parking space, but some people might. If I AM sleeping in my car with the seat back and in a proper parking lot under a shade tree, you better of hell not wake me up though :)

  • -kg-

    I take the opposite view from above.

    While it would be nice to be allowed to sleep until ready to wake up, and while it would generally elicit a “negative response” being awaken, I think there is a moral duty implicit with “protecting the public” to assure that such a person isn’t dealing with a critical health issue in such a situation. It’s entirely possible that, had the police officer practiced due diligence in ascertaining that the person was JUST sleeping and called emergency crews when she found he was unresponsive, he might have received medical attention soon enough that his life might have been saved.

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