CopyCited 1 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 2011 WL 5914260, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136238
...iguez stated ....” 9 (Id. ¶ 36). *1338 On these allegations, there can be no section 1983 violation based on the parking ticket. Plaintiffs description of his own actions demonstrates Officer Rodriguez properly ticketed Plaintiff. Florida Statute section 316.1955(1) makes it unlawful for any person to stop, stand, or park a vehicle within, or to obstruct, any such specially designated and marked parking space provided in accordance with s....
...553.5041, unless the vehicle displays a disabled parking permit issued under s.
316.1958 or s.
320.0848 or a license plate issued under s.
320.084, s.
320.0842, s.
320.0843, or s.
320.0845, and the vehicle is transporting the person to whom the displayed permit is issued. Fla. Stat. §
316.1955 (1)....
...fic control sign or signal.” Id. §
316.003(52). Based on the definitions of stop, stand, and park, and based on Plaintiffs description of the incident, it is clear that Plaintiff had halted his car in a manner that obstructed a handicapped space. Section
316.1955(1) prohibits stopping, so under that section Plaintiffs halting of his vehicle while waiting for his wife was a violation of that section; when stopping is prohibited, unlike with standing and parking, persons cannot even temporarily halt their car to load or unload passengers....
...Thus, for Plaintiff to halt his vehicle in order to drop off his daughter at school in a spot that obstructed the handicapped spaces violated Florida law. Officer Rodriguez therefore properly ticketed Plaintiff. Plaintiffs contention that he was not “parked,” even if true, is irrelevant under section 316.1955 because the section prohibits stopping. Moreover, Officer Rodriguez properly followed the method prescribed in section 316.1955(1) in remedying a violation. He first asked Plaintiff to move his car. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 34); Fla. Stat. § 316.1955 (1)(a). Then, when Plaintiff refused to move his car, Officer Rodriguez ticketed Plaintiff. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 35); Fla Stat. § 316.1955(l)(b). Based on Plaintiffs own description, Officer Rodriguez had probable cause to believe Plaintiff was violating section 316.1955(1)....
...Upon seeing Plaintiff photographing him, Officer Rodriguez returned to his car and drove over to where Plaintiff was. When Officer Rodriguez arrived at Plaintiffs location, he asked Plaintiff to move his car. (See id. ¶49). Officer Rodriguez then ticketed Plaintiff. (See id.). Florida Statute section
316.1955 prohibits stopping, standing, or parking where “an official traffic control device” prohibits stopping, standing or parking. Fla. Stat. §§
316.1955 (1)(a)(10),
316.1965(1)(b)(7),
316.1955(1)(e)(2)....
...“Official traffic control devices include: “[a]ll signs, signals, markings, and devices, not inconsistent with this chapter, placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic.” Id. §
316.003(23). An exception to the section
316.1955 prohibitions occurs where a person is “momentarily” standing or parking to pick up or discharge passengers. Id. §§
316.1955(1)(b)(7),
316.1955(1)(c)(2)....
...his vehicle to photograph Officer Rodriguez. And he parked, by his own admission, in a no-parking zone. (See Am. Compl. ¶ 49). Once Plaintiff parked in a no-parking zone for a purpose other than picking up his daughter, he violated Florida Statute section 316.1955....
