Parking in Los Angeles is no small headache. With nearly 4 million residents and over 6 million registered vehicles, it’s no surprise the city handed out more than 770,000 parking tickets between January and June this year alone, according to Secret Los Angeles‘ analysis of the official Los Angeles city database.
While tickets pop up all over town, a handful of common mistakes make up the bulk of the violations.
Leading the pack is parking during street cleaning hours, with a whopping 207,000 tickets issued. L.A.’s street sweepers don’t mess around, and if you leave your car in the way, expect a ticket.
Next up are drivers caught parking in red zones, areas clearly marked to keep traffic flowing or reserved for emergencies. Over 105,000 tickets were handed out for this, showing plenty of folks either miss or ignore the signs.
Expired meters are another frequent culprit. Nearly 93,000 tickets went to drivers who forgot to feed the meter or overstayed their time, especially in busy commercial neighborhoods where the clock is always ticking.
Other common slip-ups include parking without the right permits in residential or preferential zones, a strict rule in parts of the city, with over 52,000 tickets issued to offenders. Similarly, drivers without properly displayed license plates got dinged nearly 50,000 times, a reminder that even small details can lead to fines.
Parking in bus-only lanes is also a no-go, with more than 31,000 citations given to those blocking public transit routes. The city also keeps an eye on general no-parking zones and no stopping or standing areas, with roughly 28,000 and 16,000 tickets respectively issued for these violations.
Double-parking and parking or standing in alleys aren’t far behind either, with about 16,000 tickets for each. These infractions cause traffic snarls and block access for residents and emergency vehicles.
Together, the top three offenses (street cleaning, red zones, and expired meters) make up more than half of all parking citations this year. So if you drive in L.A., keeping an eye on street signs, curb colors, and meter times could really save you a chunk of money!