This isn't our long term 2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe but you get the idea. Here in West Los Angeles, parking is at a premium and sometimes it pays to double up.
Road Test Editor, John DiPietro, had the above pictured 2009 Smart Fortwo Brabus and was headed to a concert one night recently. Parking was tight and after he finally secured a spot, and was backing in, a second Smart appeared. The driver said, "Hey, mind if we share that spot with you?" The outcome is the photo.
Philip Reed, Edmunds.com Senior Consumer Advice Editor
altimadude00 says:
10:42 AM, 08/ 6/09
Didn't we already determine that this kind of parking was illegal? Something about paying for parking for someone else's vehicle?
nealibob says:
10:51 AM, 08/ 6/09
I love it. I would be willing to bet you would get a ticket for that here (Chicago). In fact, they would probably write tickets for both cars.
audisport says:
10:56 AM, 08/ 6/09
Yeah, the parking enforcement in the Chi is brutal...
mazdaspeed_jon says:
10:57 AM, 08/ 6/09
Yeah, something tells me the LA Parking Enforcement people would not be amused with this.
wobbly_ears says:
11:27 AM, 08/ 6/09
Agreed. Chicago's parking cops/goons were trained by Stalin's KGB.
Savages.
msdaisy says:
11:41 AM, 08/ 6/09
So do they both get ticketed when the meter runs out?
kingkhalas says:
11:43 AM, 08/ 6/09
That's illegal.
epbrown says:
11:55 AM, 08/ 6/09
Actually, Chicago's getting away from standard sized spots, since they out-sourced; I put the Smart in the inevitable half-spots left, pay and go. Pulled this trick at the Gold Coast Art Fair last weekend.
robs249 says:
11:57 AM, 08/ 6/09
HAHA, I don't see why that's illegal, its about the same length as a Suburban.
alman08 says:
12:00 PM, 08/ 6/09
so if a person parked a motorcycle in between 2 spaces, would he ever get ticketed in your area?
DCuerpoJr says:
12:10 PM, 08/ 6/09
Sharing spots in Seattle wouldn't work.
In Downtown they recently changed the metering system. So instead of using the traditional meter poles, we now have to buy time stamped stickers from a device on the street and place them on our windows.
Plus, you're no longer allowed to stay in the same parking spot for more than the allowed time period stated on the device (usually 2 hours). So if you park on the street you'll have to move your vehicle every two hours to another block as you're not allowed to purchase additional time.
Sucks if you ask me.
firstwagon says:
12:14 PM, 08/ 6/09
But why is it illegal (other then spite or jealousy)?
I see 2 or 3 motorcycles share the same spot lots of times and they don't get tickets.
Parking lots should 2 sizes of spots, cheaper small car sizes and more expensive full size/ SUV/ pick up spots.
nealibob says:
12:15 PM, 08/ 6/09
@alman08: nah, motorcycles go by different rules. The one that baffles me to no end is the requirement that cars have a front license plate, but motorcycles are exempt. I got a ticket for not displaying a front license plate the other day, when it was displayed in the windshield. They even took a picture of the plate in the windshield. The problem is it does not actually violate any laws to display the plate that way. We will see what the city has to say about my response. :)
@epbrown: good point. The smart is actually perfect for that. The new meter system is good in some ways, but it is also double-dipping (you cannot add time to already purchased time, be it your purchase or someone else's). Oh well.
nealibob says:
12:21 PM, 08/ 6/09
@firstwagon: because they want your money. Any time you try to "cheat" the city's money game, they get you back with interest. For some reason, motorcycles are exempt. I think that the reason behind that might be that motorcycles contribute less the road wear and tear due to lowered weight and less road contact, but that might just be crap.
empowah says:
02:10 PM, 08/ 6/09
What if one smart was on a trailer, which was attached to the other smart?
epbrown says:
02:50 PM, 08/ 6/09
@nealibob: Check around on your plate issue. I think there are regs saying it can't be above a certain height on the car, something like 36 inches, specifically to prevent people putting them on the dash. I don't have a front plate on the M Coupe, but I've been lucky - only one ticket in a couple of years.
stovt001 says:
02:55 PM, 08/ 6/09
Well that could apply to Smarts as well. But hey, when have government policies (local or national) ever been completely sensible?
johnnyturbo says:
03:58 PM, 08/ 6/09
I am happy to report that the parking Nazis didn't issue any ticket(s). And why should they?
-- We were occupying one parking spot and it was after 6:00 when parking is free.
-- These are the type of (rare!) parking spaces that not only are oversized, but also have considerable "buffer" zones between them, so no other vehicle could've boxed one of the Smarts in.
Besides, even if they wanted to, how would they know which Smart car got their first (and theoretically didn't do anything "wrong")? The first one could have happened to pull in right behind or in front of the lines, and the other could've pulled in later.
kingkhalas says:
04:04 PM, 08/ 6/09
you didn't get a ticket because parking was free.
kingkhalas says:
04:18 PM, 08/ 6/09
Ask the parking person, one vehicle per meter.
hondacura4 says:
05:05 PM, 08/ 6/09
Is the silver car a Braubus Fit? I know Smart announced there would be a Braubus version.
epbrown says:
07:22 PM, 08/ 6/09
It's a Brabus Smart - I don't think Brabus tunes Hondas! Bit of a gyp here in the US - we get all the appearance parts, but not the Brabus-tuned turbo engine.
hondacura4 says:
08:49 PM, 08/ 9/09
"I don't think Brabus tunes Hondas!"
I'm not sure why I typed Fit when I was thinking Smart.