A MAJOR US tourist city issued a surprising number of tickets to food truck owners using a popular method to save parking spaces.
The District of Columbia has been handing out thousands of dollars in parking tickets to business owners who feed tourists who travel around the world to see the Washington Monument.
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Many food truck owners have used garbage cars to save prime street spots in front of the National Mall for years, local ABC News affiliate WJLA reported.
The long-standing practice of the parking space saving technique means that business owners knowingly accumulate serious parking tickets.
A look at the DC DMV Pay Tickets website shows the number of parking tickets issued to vehicles parked along 14th Street Northwest, right in front of the monument.
Most of the cars parked on that street were ticketed and some had multiple tickets for sitting there for days, according to WJLA’s Scott Taylor.
All citations were for the same safety violation – blocking traffic.
Because of the cars, two lanes of traffic end up blocked on both sides of the street.
There are cars with huge fees on the road, including one vehicle with almost $6,000 in fines.
Just before lunchtime, food truck vendors arrive in the area and exchange illegally parked cars for food trucks.
One of the food truck operators approached the WJLA news team and asked if they had any “issues.”
After Taylor introduced himself and his team, the same salesperson insisted that he not be photographed – emphasizing that they could not take his photo.
Some businesspeople did not agree with the reporting team recording their daily lives, which is illegal in the state.
Taylor asked one of the food truck owners, “Why do you guys release cars that sit around forever and ever?”
“Not forever and ever,” the food truck operator responded.
“I get tickets. I pay for tickets. I take tickets out of my car. You know that. I pay for my tickets.”
Everything you need to know about parking
- Can I get two parking tickets in one day?
- Do I have to pay a private parking fine?
- Can I be fined if my parking ticket falls off the dashboard?
- Is double parking illegal?
- How can I appeal a parking fine?
- Can you park on double yellow lines on Sundays?
- How can I report illegal parking?
- Can I reserve the parking space outside my house?
- How far can I park from a fallen curb?
- Is parking free on holidays?
- Can I park on a single yellow line?
- Can I be fined for parking in two spaces?
- Can I use someone else’s parking ticket in a car park?
- Who can park in my garage?
- Where can I park with a blue badge?
- Can I be fined if the ticket machine doesn’t work?
- How far can I park from an intersection?
- Can I park on grass verges?
Another vendor who did not want to be named admitted he has to park illegally or risk losing business.
‘IT WAS ADORABLE’
Travelers from all over the world enjoy food truck cuisine while visiting the National Mall.
“It’s not easy to find food at the mall,” said a Phoenix, Arizona, resident who was part of a large group of tourists.
“So it was great that we could all come and decide what kind of cuisine we were interested in.”
The wide variety of delicious food options for those strolling by comes from the trucks parked on the street in front of the Washington Monument.
The District of Columbia did not immediately respond to The US Sun’s request for comment.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
