Where parking is prohibited — Massachusetts Permit Test

You may not park within 20 feet of an intersection.

A car parked at the corner hides the cross traffic from everybody approaching. Twenty feet is what it takes to see around it.

In Massachusetts, you may not park your vehicle in certain places: • In a zone posted with a NO PARKING, NO STANDING, or NO STOPPING sign • In a bicycle lane • In a bus stop (the penalty for parking in a posted bus stop is $100) • In a taxi stand • In a zone and at a time posted for street cleaning • In a posted loading zone • Within 20 feet of an intersection

You may not park within ten feet of a fire hydrant or a fire lane.

A hose has to reach the hydrant, and a fire truck has to reach the hose. Ten feet is the working room.

Within ten feet of a fire hydrant or fire lane

You may not park in a crosswalk, in front of a driveway, or in front of a handicap-access ramp.

Each of those is somebody's only way through. Blocking a ramp puts a wheelchair into the traffic lane.

In Massachusetts, you may not park your vehicle in certain places: • In a zone posted with a NO PARKING, NO STANDING, or NO STOPPING sign • In a bicycle lane • In a bus stop (the penalty for parking in a posted bus stop is $100) • In a taxi stand • In a zone and at a time posted for street cleaning • In a posted loading zone • Within 20 feet of an intersection • In a crosswalk, in front of a driveway, or in front of a handicap-access ramp

The penalty for parking in a posted bus stop is $100.

A bus that cannot reach the curb has to unload its passengers into the traffic lane.

In a bus stop (the penalty for parking in a posted bus stop is $100)

The fine for a first offense of parking in a disabled parking space is $300.

Three hundred dollars is one of the largest parking fines in the manual, and wrongful use of a placard costs more again.

In a zone posted for HP-DV parking only (unless you have disabled person plates or placards, or disabled veteran plates). The fine for a first offense is $300.

You may not park in a bicycle lane, a taxi stand, a posted loading zone, or a zone posted for street cleaning.

A car in a bicycle lane pushes riders into the traffic lane, which is the one place the lane exists to keep them out of.

In Massachusetts, you may not park your vehicle in certain places: • In a zone posted with a NO PARKING, NO STANDING, or NO STOPPING sign • In a bicycle lane

You may not park on a sidewalk, curb, center traffic island, or median.

Every one of those belongs to somebody on foot or keeps traffic apart. A car on any of them is in the wrong place entirely.

On a sidewalk, curb, center traffic island, or median

You may not park facing the wrong way against traffic, or double parked in a traffic lane next to a row of parked vehicles.

Facing the wrong way means pulling out across the road to leave. Double parking takes a whole lane away.

Facing the wrong way against traffic

You may not park on a state or interstate highway unless authorized, and fines on the Massachusetts Turnpike range from $15 to $100.

A parked car on a highway is a stationary object in a lane of traffic doing sixty-five.

On the Massachusetts Turnpike (fines range from $15 - $100)

You may not park during a weather or roadway emergency, or to make nonemergency repairs to your vehicle.

Snow emergencies need the street clear for the plow. Repairs belong somewhere that is not the road.

During a weather or roadway emergency

Unpaid parking tickets can stop you renewing your license or vehicle registration.

A parking ticket never reaches the driving record, and it can still stop a renewal. That is the sting in it.

Unpaid parking tickets can stop you from renewing your license or vehicle registration.

How close to an intersection may a vehicle park?

No closer than 20 feet. A car parked at the corner hides the cross traffic from everybody approaching. Twenty feet is what it takes to see around it. Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.110: “In Massachusetts, you may not park your vehicle in certain places: • In a zone posted with a NO PARKING, NO STANDING, or NO STOPPING sign • In a bicycle lane • In a bus stop (the penalty for parking in a posted bus stop is $100) • In a taxi stand • In a zone and at a time posted for street cleaning • In a posted loading zone • Within 20 feet of an intersection”