Double Parking Tickets Spike For Some L.A. Ice Cream Trucks
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Ice cream truck drivers aren't sure if the ticketing has stopped because LAPD is scared to ticket them now or if it has to do with there being fewer trucks on the streets during the fall. (Paresh Dave / Neon Tommy)
A meeting with Los Angeles Police Department officials more than a month ago appears to have put a lid on a strange -- and expensive -- summer for a portion of L.A.'s ice cream truck fleet.
After years of double parking alongside South L.A. streets as they served their customers, ice cream truck driver after ice cream truck driver started getting dinged for the parking violation this summer.
The dozens of tickets, for coming to a stop in the middle of the street next to a car parked parallel to the sidewalk, were about $65 each. That's big money to the drivers, many of them in a low-profit job of last resort. The tickets came in bundles for some, widening the financial hit.
By early fall, the ticketed drivers had successfully lobbied officials at LAPD's Newton station to meet with them. While their tickets were not waived, they were assured that they weren't being targeted. And since the meeting, the ticketing has largely stopped.
"If any car is caught double parked chances are high that the driver will be cited," Officer Cleon Joseph told Neon Tommy in a statement. "The type of car has nothing to do with the citation. All drivers should be aware of this."
A department spokeswoman said no statistics are kept on the number of double parking citations.
At least one driver still didn't buy it. He said a desire to scare some illegal immigrants out of their jobs and out of the country might be playing a role as well. He shows off his two tickets and explains more in the audio slideshow at the bottom. His expenses are detailed in the interactive graphic below that.
Drivers also say they are not completely out of the water. They worry the ticketing might resume as soon as the new peak selling season arrives in early spring.
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