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We were driven to whip out the digital camera when we found this Escalade parked in the compact spaces (note the plural) at the Glendale Galleria this weekend. At 7 feet, 7 inches wide, the behemoth Cadillac SUV is measurably larger than the cars the spaces were made for: it's 11" wider than a new VW Beetle and a full foot fatter than the Mini Cooper and the Honda Insight. Even Shaq wouldn't consider the Escalade small.
In our passive-agressive way, we were kind of hoping that seeing someone take a photo of his moronic parking job would prompt the guy in the car — who was hanging out, windows open — to move to a more appropriate spot. Didn't happen. So we figure, since his $60,000 vehicle gets just 13 miles to the gallon, he had coasted into the compact spot out of gas, and won't be able to budge until he can afford to fill up again.
Hmm, maybe it's time to invent a hybrid tow truck.
Previous LAist Parking and SUV battles:
Asphalt Jungle
You Left a Note on My Car
SUV'ing the landscape
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I drive a compact car and this used to drive me crazy. I would have to squeeze out of my car because they take up so much room. Now I just kick my door into their door and key the car as I leave.
I've long dreamed of getting stickers made that say "Your SUV is not compact" and just sticking them on giant trucks parked in my spaces. I don't have the balls.
To Adam - if you don't have the balls to put stickers on, at least print out some small flyers and put them in the windshield wiper. I think that's a good idea for a designer to come up with something like that.
Does anyone remember that Mickey Mouse flyer that people used to dish out? MM was giving you the finger and said something along the lines of "Thanks for the great parking job. Next time leave a f***ing can opener so I can get out."
Give them a ticket! There's many variations out there, from polite to aggo.
Of course you can always just key your complaint on the car.
http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/campaigns/suv.shtml
The existence of compact spaces is nothing but a fiddle in the first place, a quasi-legal attempt to squeeze the legally required number of parking spaces into a lot clearly not commodious enough to hold them. Nobody who owns a larger car wants to park in one of those minuscule spaces, and most of us will circle the parking lot for several minutes looking for one of the properly sized spaces that the developer has deigned to provide.
But sometimes, the only space left is the only space left. And if I ever catch a punk taking a key to my work truck, he or she will find just how much damage my door can do to a Prius.
A solution to this problem would be to give folks who drive compact cars a windshield sticker. Anyone in a compact space without a sticker gets towed or ticketed, same as a handicapped space. That would probably clear up the situation real fast if the property owner was aggressive, and might contribute to fewer jerks with ridiculously large cars.
I drive a cargo van (for work related purposes), and I think that even the regular spaces are shrinking. Sometimes there is no difference between the compact space & the standard one, they just put in uniform spaces that are smaller than normal or bigger then compact and label the ones close to the business compact.
Palo Alto tried to ticket oversized cars in compact spots a few years back - I don't think it worked.
A similar story - I was at Bristle Farms in Weho and an idiot with a tiny convertable Lexus parks in two spots at once in the closest parking space.
I say hey do you realize you are in two spots. He says no, and keeps walking. I say I guess you don't care, he says you are right I don't care. What a f#cking ass!
I love LA and really hate the many selfish igomaniacs.
I have thought of (and done) many of the above. This even happens in the parking area of my apartment building. Keep those keys sharpened.