The 5-ft rule *might* have helped in a situation where one of our building's occupant pulled out of a driveway that had a car parked within a foot of our curb. This was on 57th between 17th and 20th. People tend to move on this street and in this case, a car traveling at a decent speed clipped him good. Lots of damage. His fault, yes. But if he had five feet of space, he may have been able to see her barreling down the street. I come out of that very very carefully and inch out. It's a pain. We have a condo meeting Monday. I might propose we buy five feet worth of yellow paint.

I always have cars parked on both sides of my driveway, usually mine on at least one!

I will say that it irritates me to no end when people park over my driveway (I can't stand inconsiderate people). Having said that, I think 5 feet is ridiculous- I'm happy with 18", or even 12! Gives me and my mini van plenty of room to back out or pull in.

What mom said. It doesn't really matter how small your car is when you are trying to get into a narrow space surrounded by behemoths. Also, often the size of the driveway counts. That is why the 5' thing probably doesn't apply in a lot of other places - if it's a suburban neighborhood, your driveway will be at least two cars wide. In Seattle, some driveways are so narrow, you can hardly squeeze a Honda Civic in there.

Steve - others have stated that they either didn't know or didn't think or just had a different perspective. Several have admitted that this is a good heads-up.

And then Nina - you still have to second the jerk statement?! wow...

shelia,

i too have a small car. it's the others that are parking that have the road hogs.

Calling someone a jerk in this case is just rude. rae said it best: "And I usually pull right up to the edge of a driveway because I don’t want to be considered a “space waster”. "

I have no trouble getting my car out of my driveway and there are always cars parked all the way to the edge. My common sense tells me to have a small car.

I live on a street that has cars parked on both sides and there's only room enough for cars to go one direction at a time. Often I have to pull into someone else's driveway to let cars go by the other way.

@ Dorian Gray: Actually, there's plenty of notice given (and permits required) when streets are closed for parades, construction and the like. And if you consider it a "courtesy" that you get to drive on the street in front of your house, which was paid for with taxes levied on drivers and homeowners, you have an incredibly messed up view of how your government and your rights work (or should work). Please don't vote and impose these absurd views on the rest of us.

I second the jerk statement. I can't see out of the drive way because people parking so close to the drive way.

You know, I never thought about trying to swing out of a driveway when cars are parked right up to the edge and across the street.

I live on 56th, between 30th and 32nd. It's a very narrow street with cars parked on both sides. And I usually pull right up to the edge of a driveway because I don't want to be considered a "space waster". When I see a car parked around 3 ft from the driveway, my gut reaction is "Wasted space!!" But your comments have opened my eyes.

I'm sorry, Mr Red Car across from the Lock Haven apartments. You must have a hard time backing out of your driveway with us all parked so close. My apologies. I just hope no one thinks I'm a space waster if I leave that gap.

It's a double edged sword, really....

Perhaps in other places, the 5' driveway rule doesn't exist - I have visited many places where it would be completely unnecessary.
I've lived here most of my life, and took Driver's Ed here, and learned about it in Driver's Ed. It was a question on the written test when I took it 19 years ago.
More importantly though, it should be common sense. Perhaps you simply haven't yet witnessed a situation where it would indeed be difficult to get out of/into a driveway if cars are parked too close.
Last house I lived in, cars would regularly park too close to my driveway (on both sides) and if cars were parked directly across as well, it was impossible to swing wide enough to get a clear shot at the driveway without taking out someone's bumper. That is why it is common sense to just not do it - some people are not as aware as they could be of the dimensions of their vehicle, or in the dark or under other less than perfect conditions, your car being too close to someone's driveway could result in it getting hit.
If there were no law, it would be the other person's fault, but still a pain in the ass. As it is, I think it would be at least shared fault, and still a pain in the ass.

So is the 5-foot rule for parking similar to the 4-foot rule in "gentlemen's clubs"?

The 30-ft from a curb is something they teach you in driving school and test you for on your license test. The 5-ft law is something I'd never heard of before and I admit sometimes I park much closer to driveways than that.

However, in order to avoid a beat down from Steve, I'm going to say now that I will be more aware of how close I park to driveways and do my best to stay 5.1 feet away from any driveway.

I'd also like to point out that for me anyway, parking closer to driveways wasn't out of rudeness or carelessness, it was simply not knowing the law completely. When I did park close to driveways, I made sure that I wasn't actually blocking it.

I apologize to anyone who may have been put out in the past by my ignorance of the law and you can be assured I will make my best attempts to avoid it in the future. After all, if everyone in Ballard is as intolerant as Steve, I could get my butt kicked.

Per an SPD parking enforement person I talked to, it's allso illegal to park within 30 feet of any corner/intersection. Another one they don't bother to enforce...

"mom" is right that 5 feet suddenly seems a lot smaller when you're trying to back out onto a narrow street.

My impression from the few neighbors who've bothered to paint their driveways is that people usually judge based on their wheel edge rather than their bumper anyway so your theoretical 5 feet is often closer to 3 in reality.

Wow Steve. I was pointing out my education of the law and you are inviting me to park my car next to your driveway? I am confused now. Please tell me where you live so that I can park my grey 1997 Nissan Maxima next to it and push my luck.

k thanks

trust me. you need 5 feet if you trying to back out and you have another car behind you that's blocking you from the back. you need to turn as such a tight angle that would require the 5 feet on either side!

let's not look only at driveways as a source of income but what about no parking zones and fire hydrants. now there is some serious money.

and dorian, i think your comparing apples to oranges w/the traffic circle thing. check your facts.

I think even the parking enforcement police don't adhere to the 5 foot rule. It seems a bit much. During the Fremont Fair, I can barely get out of my garage but that's mostly because cars are partially blocking the driveway. There are always tons of parking enforcement cars driving around looking for people to ticket, but they don't seem to ticket those not adhering to the 5 foot rule. One or two feet makes sense, but 5 seems like a lot of room.

Umm Stevo -it's you that came off as the douche (jerk is far too nice). It's mouthbreathers with a sense of entitlement and a hint of totalitarianism that turn a non-event into a big-deal as seen with the traffic circle last month. Actually the streets are for basic services (police, fire, mail etc.) the fact we drive on them is only a courtesy and is revocable without notice (see parades, street improvements etc.)

Your driveway could probably fit three cars on it, chastising someone for trying to fit their single car on the street indicates a lack of understanding the issue at hand.

cheers laude,

there is always such aggression in the comment sections here. "jerk" ??? really? do you feel better now after calling him a jerk? if i was as corny and angry as you i would say somthing like....

"these passive aggressive new ballard yuppies save there thoughts for the blog comments instead of standing up for thensleves while face-to-face."

sorry if this seems to only be directed at you steve, you arent the only one.

cheers!

Unless the yellow curb is accompanied with a yellow restriction sign, it's usually a bogus attempt by a property owner to "claim" some territory.

Steve...easy there tough guy.

Dusty, It's jerks like you who are always making it difficult and dangerous to back out of my driveway and often are overhanging or completely blocking their cars into my driveway. The police ticket people for this frequently. Go ahead and push your luck. The curb is clearly marked for a reason.

Thanks for that City of Seattle link. I had no idea there was a 5foot legal buffer and that mere property occupants can do the painting. 5 feet seems excessive and I park within 2 feet of driveways often. There's a motherlode of money for Seattle if the metermaids acted on this legality.

Yessss! That was so rude.