Ask the Appeal: SF Parking Tips for Tourists

The whole point of curbing your wheels is if the parking brake fails, your car will simply roll into the curb which stops its movement. When you park downhill, if the vehicle loses its parking brakes, gravity will pull the car forward; that's why you turn the wheels to the right.

Curbing your wheels isn't an SF-specific regulation; it's part of the California Vehicle Code. Similar laws are in the books of every state no matter how flat it is. It's about public safety and liability.

Not only must you curb your wheels, you must also be less than 18 inches from the curb. So curb your wheels in whatever direction you need to until you HIT the curb, that way you will know that you are not more than 18 inches from it. (I once got a ticket for being more than 18 inches from the curb and facing the wrong direction on the street...I was feeling reckless that day).

Oh, definitely. I am not anti-curbing my wheels. I am just anti-parking ticket. Which is why I say curb your wheels at all times!

I'm not saying this to your shill, Katie, but I always forget to curb my tires, mainly because I so rarely drive and our car does not have power steering. This makes parallel parking a serious bitch, especially for my weak and atrophied pajamablogger arms.

Then I remember your column on it and get back in and dislocate both my shoulders curbing. Ask The Appeal is saving me from tickets galore, and SF from a runaway Civic. So thank you!

I'm glad my 200+ penance for failing to curb my wheels has a silver lining

Yes, you read it wrong. It's 8 AM - 6 PM. I could be mistaken, but I believe that all residential parking permit areas are during daytime hours only.

Katie, I feel your pain. You probably could have put those two hundred bucks to better use, however you need to accept it and move on. Ultimately, it was not an exorbitant price to pay for a very serious lesson.

I don't think any less of you; I've made my share of dumb mistakes and we didn't end up hurting anyone/anything except our pride (and our wallets). That's the most important thing.

I don't tell my own embarrassing anecdotes for educational purposes, thinking that perhaps one person might learn something from my mistakes. At least in this regard, you are a far more wise and generous person than I am.

Have a great weekend!

"So, CURB YOUR WHEELS! When facing uphill on a street with a curb, turn your wheels to the left. When facing uphill on a street with no curb, turn your wheels to the right. Or, just look at the wheels of the cars around you."

I'm a longtime resident of San Francisco and I always inform friends and family visiting San Francisco that parking and driving in SF is a lifetime challenge and, if nothing else, tests your ability to drive and park defensively.

A BIG TIP: If you've found a 'perfect parking spot' on a weekday in downtown San Francisco, you're probably not reading the parking signs correctly. Look up, look down, walk a few feet and read similar signs, look for temporary signs and signposts, and ask nearby vendors if there are additional restrictions. Its not worth having your car towed - very expensive, time-consuming, and frustrating. My recommendation: during weekday business hours, use public transportation!

ps. I've gotten a ticket for not curbing my wheels on perfectly 'flat' and horizontal street. I took a photo of the site where I was parked, appealed the ticket, and I still had to pay the fee. Oh, man!!!

This is why I strongly suggest to visitors that they not try to park in the Northeast corner of our city. The area is rich with public transit and the parking regulations are byzantine.

Believe it or not, I beat a curbing ticket, but I beat it in a totally shady and underhanded way. It was one of those tickets written by hand (by a cop, I assume), not the computerized DPT thing, and it didn't have the code section on it. A parking ticket has to have the code section you violated on it. POOF! No more ticket.

I protest pretty much all my tickets, though, b/c it buys you a free 6 month delay in paying it.