PTravel wrote:
>
> > On the other hand, rental cars are clearly marked. There is always room
> > for
> > discretion, and special zones should be clearly identified as such. It
> > is not
> > as if it were out of character for an American cop to ticket an foreigner.
> >
>
> First, rental cars are not clearly marked -- that's intentional, so that
> they won't be targeted by theives.
>
First,, it seems that there some states that prohibit labelling cars with
stickers that identify them as rentals. Not all states do that. It is certainly
not international.
> Second, bus zones are always clearly marked -- I've never seen one that
> wasn't.
Second, you have seen clearly marked bus zones. That doesn't mean that there are
improperly marked bus parking zones. The OP said he either didn't see the sign
or didn't recognize it. If there is a bus loading zone it's a pretty safe bet
that it is a tourist area and, hopefully, there are a lot of tourists.
> Finally, why should a rental car get a pass on laws that everyone else is
> required to observe? Rental cars are rented primarily to U.S. citizens in
> the U.S. -- only a small fraction are rented to foreign visitors.
It is called good will, something there used to be a lot more of.
>
> Nonetheless, when I rent a car in another country, I am expected to follow
> the laws, and I do. I expect no less from foreign visitors who come here.
Me too. Five years ago I was in the Netherlands and driving along on a 80 kph
road, stopped in a small town to look for a hotel room, came back out onto the
highway I had been on and proceeded in the original direction. As I was
accelerating back up to 80 kph I spotted a sign indicating there as photo radar
and that the speed limit was only 50 kph. I have no idea why the speed limit
suddenly dropped. It was a country road, just like it had been north of that
town, and no houses or anything around. Never the less, I slowed down to comply
with the speed limit, but too late. Five months later I got a speeding ticket in
the mail for doing 54 kph in a 50 kph zone. That is 2.5 mph over the speed
limit.
I paid it. It wasn't worth the hassle if I ever had to go back there, since
many European flights go through Schipol and I didn't want to get arrested for a
$30 ticket. But I can tell you that they being so sticky about that measly 4
kph means that I won't be planning on spending any time or money there.
Similarly, I once ran into a store to pick up something. There were lots of
empty parking spaces on the street because no one shops downtown there. I had
no change for the meter, but was only going to be a few minutes. I came out and
found a $7 parking ticket on my windshield. I paid it, but I don't shop
downtown there. The city is always trying to rejuvenate their decrepit downtown
area, and then they hire all those parking enforcement people to pounce on the
few people who do come.
Sure. I was wrong. I didn't pay them their 5 cents for parking for 5 minutes.
Big deal. It is not like parking is a problem there. Lack of customers is their
problem, and their zero tolerance for parking violations is a prime example.
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