A friend of mine who is a traffic court layer told me a long time ago that store parking lots that had all the signs about parking limitations could not actually enforce those because in Washington, unless the lot is a paid lot, you were allowed to leave your car there for up to 24 hours as a patron of the business serviced by that lot. Unfortunately, my friend moved a few years ago and we lost touch.
This is what happened a few days ago:
There is a gas station on Broadway which has a convenient store and a parking lot for 10 or so cars. I stopped there, bought some gum, then went across the street to get some food and when I returned some idiot was tagging my car with a ticket. They have signs all over the place about the lot being for customers, etc. I told him that I was a customer, but he didn't care and started going off about how I entered a contract by coming on their property.
First off, to my knowledge, you have to perform some act, like sign something, push a button, etc., to enter a contract. Just because some sign says something, does not mean that I consented to anything.
Second, the lot is not paid - it is a public lot belonging to a gas station, which I patronized - according to what I was told, I can park there all I want.
The guy started to point at his signs, which somewhere in 15 or so lines of fine print text talk about how I have to be in premises or something...
Either way, I tried to look up information regarding parking laws and limitations online, but found only stuff pertaining to city property... I think that given the fact that the lot services the gas station - a public establishment, the laws are different.
Can someone help me figure this out?
This is what happened a few days ago:
There is a gas station on Broadway which has a convenient store and a parking lot for 10 or so cars. I stopped there, bought some gum, then went across the street to get some food and when I returned some idiot was tagging my car with a ticket. They have signs all over the place about the lot being for customers, etc. I told him that I was a customer, but he didn't care and started going off about how I entered a contract by coming on their property.
First off, to my knowledge, you have to perform some act, like sign something, push a button, etc., to enter a contract. Just because some sign says something, does not mean that I consented to anything.
Second, the lot is not paid - it is a public lot belonging to a gas station, which I patronized - according to what I was told, I can park there all I want.
The guy started to point at his signs, which somewhere in 15 or so lines of fine print text talk about how I have to be in premises or something...
Either way, I tried to look up information regarding parking laws and limitations online, but found only stuff pertaining to city property... I think that given the fact that the lot services the gas station - a public establishment, the laws are different.
Can someone help me figure this out?
