Socially acceptable way? (dealin w/ICED charge-stations)

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ehunter

Active member
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
43
Location
Pacifica by San Francisco, CA
Years ago, traveling to Venezuela, it was brought to my attention the way the traffic authorities dealt with people from parking in the airport loading zone. The authorities would apply this sticker across your windshield. They did this because the Taxi drivers liked to park in these areas and enter the airport to solicit business from the people and thus blocking the areas with un-manned vehicles. These huge stickers stuck pretty good especially since the avg temp in Caracas is 95 degrees.

Anyway, I walked out with a driver one day, and the windshield was stickered. They even have a message on the stickers to not park in these zones. The driver grumbled, moved his car to a better place with his head hanging out the window to see, and started work to remove the sticker. It took him about 10-15 minutes and I could tell he had a lot of experience doing this. This included sopping hot water out his radiator and onto the sticker. No damage to the car/windshield after the sticker is gone. Those Venezuelans can be pretty clever.

Anyway, do you think it would be socially unacceptable to place a very small-scale sticker having a polite message on it, like maybe 4x6in, either on the sweet-spot of a windshield or even the drivers side window? I imagine if the owner caught you putting a sticker on their car things could get ugly. But what else could be done to get these guys to show some respect to our situation?
 
Not socially acceptable to mess with other people's cars in the USA.

Just leave a polite note.

But if they are inconsiderate enough to ICE a parking spot, be prepared to deal with a rude, irate driver should you encounter them.
 
As always - It depends.
I would be very careful messing with other peoples property - even leaving a note is a stretch in my opinion.
If the charging station is on Private Property, then you are SOL. The signage means nothing unless the owner of said property enforces it. If it is a city or other municipality then call your local "traffic enforcement" agency and let them deal with it. While I am not a lawyer and profess no legal expertise - I think messing with somebody's property might be a really bad idea.
 
dan2112 said:
As always - It depends.
I would be very careful messing with other peoples property - even leaving a note is a stretch in my opinion.
I don't know where you live; but, any time I park in a public location, it is very likely that some form of add, pamphlet or business card, will be left on my car. How is leaving a note any different?
 
pchilds said:
dan2112 said:
As always - It depends.
I would be very careful messing with other peoples property - even leaving a note is a stretch in my opinion.
I don't know where you live; but, any time I park in a public location, it is very likely that some form of add, pamphlet or business card, will be left on my car. How is leaving a note any different?

Some drivers will ICE out of ignorance or lack of observation.

Others do it deliberately, whether out of selfishness or spite. It's these last that can become belligerent when confronted by so much as a polite note. As insane as it seems, they were already mad at you.

You never know for sure which they might be.
 
Can you link to where the topic is?

I recall on one of the plug share apps a guy in a red truck who consistently ICEs the same popular station, and when approached, said his 4x4 was an EV. He thinks the person who pointed it out did not know the difference and he continues to repeat. Bottom line is he just does not care and knows he can get away with it every time.

There are no laws on the books that can be enforced if somebody ICEs a station. At least in San Francisco there are not. Just hope you have the juice to make it to the next station else you are hosed.
 
I simply take the unusable charging cable and carefully loop it around the driver's side rear view mirror. :twisted: Once I even had to do it on a Leaf that was taking advantage of the slot and didn't even try to plug in... Costs nothing, damages nothing, and gets the point across. Does make the person look to be an idiot, however.
 
ehunter said:
There are no laws on the books that can be enforced if somebody ICEs a station. At least in San Francisco there are not. Just hope you have the juice to make it to the next station else you are hosed.
Yeah there is:
CA AB475 requires connection to the EVSE to avoid cite/tow

As long as the parking spot has the appropriate signage, they can be cited. For incosiderate douche bags like the 4x4 driver, citations are the only thing that will keep them out of a convenient parking spot.
 
ehunter said:
Can you link to where the topic is?

There are no laws on the books that can be enforced if somebody ICEs a station. At least in San Francisco there are not. Just hope you have the juice to make it to the next station else you are hosed.

There are a few California Vehicle Codes for this infraction and they can be sited and towed. Look up and read CVC 22511

C V C Section 22511 Off-Street Parking: Electric Vehicles

Off-Street Parking: Electric Vehicles

CVC 22511. (a)A local authority, by ordinance or resolution, and a person in lawful possession of an offstreet parking facility may designate stalls or spaces in an offstreet parking facility owned or operated by that local authority or person for the exclusive purpose of charging and parking a vehicle that is connected for electric charging purposes.

(b) If posted in accordance with subdivision (d) or (e), the owner or person in lawful possession of a privately owned or operated offstreet parking facility, after notifying the police or sheriff’s department, may cause the removal of a vehicle from a stall or space designated pursuant to subdivision (a) in the facility to the nearest public garage if the vehicle is not connected for electric charging purposes.

(c) If posted in accordance with subdivision (d), the local authority owning or operating an offstreet parking facility, after notifying the police or sheriff’s department, may cause the removal of a vehicle from a stall or space designated pursuant to subdivision (a) in the facility to the nearest garage, as defined in Section 340, that is owned, leased, or approved for use by a public agency if the vehicle is not connected for electric charging purposes.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22511.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.oclaw.org/research/code/ca/VEH/22511.8./content.html#.U2s5FpK9KSM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That's just one that covers it but I have read a few other CVC. Once you point that out to the Police the ticket quota will go up.


Under California Vehicle Code section 22511, non-electric vehicles parked in spaces reserved for electric vehicles are subject to fines up to $100 and may be towed away at the owner's expense.
Zero-Emission Vehicles: Display of Decal

22511.1. (a) A person may not park or leave standing any vehicle in a stall or space designated pursuant to Section 22511 unless a valid zero-emission vehicle decal identification issued pursuant to Section 22511 is displayed on that vehicle.

(b) A person may not obstruct, block, or otherwise bar access to parking stalls or spaces described in subdivision (a) except as provided in subdivision (a).

(c) A person shall not display a decal issued pursuant to Section 22511 on a vehicle that does not use electricity as the motive power.

Added Sec. 3, Ch. 640, Stats. 2002. Effective January 1, 2003.



Fred
 
Good Flyer you can print out and leave on their windshield wiper

http://www.evnut.com/docs/flyers/ev_parking_only.doc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This one is for California but I'm sure there are Vehicle Codes for your state.
 
Wennfred said:
22511.1. (a) A person may not park or leave standing any vehicle in a stall or space designated pursuant to Section 22511 unless a valid zero-emission vehicle decal identification issued pursuant to Section 22511 is displayed on that vehicle.

OK, I'm going to drive my Model S to California this Summer. Without any passengers, I will not have the right to drive in HOV lanes because I don't have the California sticker, I get that.

Does this also mean I can't technically use public charging stations?
 
They stopped issuing the ZEV stickers a while back (when they came out with the "GM law") so I assume that statute is no longer enforced.

Berlino said:
Wennfred said:
22511.1. (a) A person may not park or leave standing any vehicle in a stall or space designated pursuant to Section 22511 unless a valid zero-emission vehicle decal identification issued pursuant to Section 22511 is displayed on that vehicle.
OK, I'm going to drive my Model S to California this Summer. Without any passengers, I will not have the right to drive in HOV lanes because I don't have the California sticker, I get that. Does this also mean I can't technically use public charging stations?
 
The first CP station is ICED by two cars though you can not see it from the photo ( at a park in Larkspur).

Just after I plugged (at the second station) in a cop came rolling down the lot and I raised my hand to get his attention. I walked up to his open window and said, There are two cars here parked illegally according to the Calif Vehicle Code. These are NON-electric cars and they are blocking the dedicated charge station AND the spaces are well marked.

I gave the cop CVC-22511, he looked it up, said thank you very much.

He pulled up in back of the two cars, took 15 min to write out the tickets, then said than you very much again before he took off.

You can see the cop car in the photo doing his job. I was told that in the future, all you have to do is call traffic enforcement and somebody would be right there and write out tickets if appropriate.

yeah... so I was a jerk and got these people tickets. I hope it makes them think next time.

87xv6.jpg
 
ehunter said:
The first CP station is ICED by two cars though you can not see it from the photo ( at a park in Larkspur).

Just after I plugged (at the second station) in a cop came rolling down the lot and I raised my hand to get his attention. I walked up to his open window and said, There are two cars here parked illegally according to the Calif Vehicle Code. These are NON-electric cars and they are blocking the dedicated charge station AND the spaces are well marked.

I gave the cop CVC-22511, he looked it up, said thank you very much.

He pulled up in back of the two cars, took 15 min to write out the tickets, then said than you very much again before he took off.

You can see the cop car in the photo doing his job. I was told that in the future, all you have to do is call traffic enforcement and somebody would be right there and write out tickets if appropriate.

yeah... so I was a jerk and got these people tickets. I hope it makes them think next time.


Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I take it the signage there is legal with respect to the CVC?
 
I *attempted* to use the sole Chargepoint in the crowded Main St. lot in Seal Beach on Saturday morning, and was denied by a NEV!!

Now clearly one could argue that he/she actually meets the requirement of the signage (ELECTRIC VEHICLE PARKING ONLY). But certainly no charging was going on.

When my family and I came back from a restaurant, I saw a Tesla Model S and breathed a sigh of relief. "At least a BEV is parked there now and using it". Except upon closer inspection, they weren't. The cable was neatly locked away on the Chargepoint, with the display on.

Now come on folks. Some people count on this infrastructure to get home, and both cars simply used the spot for FREE PARKING. You'd think that someone that owns SB property and a Tesla owner could spare the pocket change necessary for a standard stall. Nope, just inconsiderate bastards.
 
My idea:

icehole.jpg


Put that business card on their dashboard, take a picture of the car and license plate, upload it to youicehole.com and enter the unique number on the business card (example, 5437), and the site creates a unique page featuring their car and license plate.

Then the icehole gets back to his car and sees the note, goes to the site, and OMG- YOU BASTAGES!!! Then the icehole can pass some EVSE etiquette exam, or donate $2 to some EVSE fund or something to get the listing scrubbed.

I never registered the domain or started on the project because I knew I would get about 30% done and then run out of motivation to complete it like every other project I have ever started in my life. :lol:
 
It makes you seem like a bit of a nut, especially since "ice" is an acronym and should be capitalized. I.E. "ICE" or "ICE-hole." It's very tempting to do this sort of thing, but what exactly is proven when the 'victim' acts just as badly as the 'perp'...? The card is fine - except for the (uncapitalized) header, which could just be removed or covered with a sticker, hopefully.
 
Back
Top