Legal Double Parking in School Zones — What Is Joel Rivera Thinking?

City Council Member Joel Rivera is taking some heat for a bill that would, in his words, "allow parents to double park when picking up their kids from school [and] not receive a parking ticket.” It's the latest answer to a question no one asked from a council whose raison d'être seems to be absolving city motorists of as many responsibilities as possible.

Specifically, Intro 997 states:

Can you imagine traffic enforcement agents clocking how long individual motorists are sitting in front of schools? In effect, this bill would make it legal to double park in school zones, period.

As we wrote earlier today, the first known pedestrian fatality of 2013 occurred in Rivera's council district, where roughly 75 percent of households are car-free. This bill isn't doing his constituents, or anyone else, any favors.

Double-parked cars create "blind spots." They lead to jostling and unpredictable vehicle movements as drivers attempt to pass. Does it really need to be said that this is not what you want in areas populated by kids? That kids are small and are often not seen until they are in a driver's path? That kids don't have the same ability to judge speed and distance as do adults?

If there is one place in the city where motorists most deserve tickets for double parking, it's outside a school.