I have been running under this asusmption and wanted some verification on it since I do it quite frequently.

I was told that town/city/county/state PD/LEO cannot enforce traffic signs on private property. So, if I were driving through the road/parking lot of a local strip mall or shopping center and didn't feel like stopping every 10 feet per the stop signs that are liberal posted at every crosswalk (which is a serious act of redundancy considering the right of way law on crosswalks in the state to begin with), does a cop have the right to pull me over and/or ticket me?

I am acting under the assumption that street signs are county/state mandated and that signs in a parking lot like the one I described are simply stuck in the ground by the owners of the center in order to cover their asses 10x over.

On a side note, what about reserved parking spots for "Employee of Month", "15 Minute Parking", etc? Can I be ticketed if I decide to park in one of those spots? I have been under the impression that the only legal reserved parking spaces are handicap ones.

The only ones we could ticket was handicap spaces. But they had to pass a special ordinance to be able to do it.

Quoted: IOn a side note, what about reserved parking spots for "Employee of Month", "15 Minute Parking", etc? Can I be ticketed if I decide to park in one of those spots? I have been under the impression that the only legal reserved parking spaces are handicap ones.

Don't know about your first question - but if the parking lot is privately owned, the owners can have you towed for fialing to follow their rules.  I don't think they can give you a ticket, but IMO being towed is worse than a ticket.

Quoted: The only ones we could ticket was handicap spaces. But they had to pass a special ordinance to be able to do it.

Who had to pass a special ordinance? The county? Or the owner of the parking spots?

Quoted: Quoted: The only ones we could ticket was handicap spaces. But they had to pass a special ordinance to be able to do it. Who had to pass a special ordinance? The county? Or the owner of the parking spots?

The city. There was not a code in the state books. And it was worded differently because it is private property as compared to public streets.

Quoted: Don't know about your first question - but if the parking lot is privately owned, the owners can have you towed for fialing to follow their rules.  I don't think they can give you a ticket, but IMO being towed is worse than a ticket.

When a tow truck is called for this sort of thing does the owner or someone have to be present when the tow truck arrives? The direction I'm going here is what's stopping me from calling a tow truck to tow away anyone I want at random?

Kind of off subject... once that's answered we can get back on track...

Quoted: The city. There was not a code in the state books. And it was worded differently because it is private property as compared to public streets.

So can the same sort of ordinance be passed to allow cops to enforce the traffic signs? Or does this go beyond the jurisdiction of the cops as it would essentially increase their areas of responsibility? Would the owner of the place have to higher their owner security/parking lot mall ninja's, and if so what can they do to you? They don't have any legal authority to stop you or impound your car, do they?

Quoted: Quoted: The city. There was not a code in the state books. And it was worded differently because it is private property as compared to public streets. So can the same sort of ordinance be passed to allow cops to enforce the traffic signs? Or does this go beyond the jurisdiction of the cops as it would essentially increase their areas of responsibility? Would the owner of the place have to higher their owner security/parking lot mall ninja's, and if so what can they do to you? They don't have any legal authority to stop you or impound your car, do they?

I'm sure they could pass another ordinance but most cities would stay away from parking lot traffic enforcement. The only reason why the handicap ones got passed was to satisfy those who were complaining about non-handicaps parking in handicap spaces.

Don't think the mall security can stop you or impound your car. Unless you are blocking something like a loading dock, entrance or impedeing traffic. I have seen those types towed.

I'm admittedly out of date now, but some private lots [malls] here in Illinois can come under the vehicle code sections that normally specify that they apply only on the roadway and not private property.

I can't quote the statute, but the major traffic lanes of the parking lot can be considered the same as a street.

I also think it's possible in some jurisdictions for private property owners to contract for enforcement with the political subdivision/police department.

As always with this type of question, it depends on the law in the state in question.

Depends on the state...in Virginia, parking lots that are publicly accessible are considered part of the public roadway system, so all traffic laws still apply.  Cops can and will give you a ticket for breaking traffic laws in a public parking lot.  Don't know about other states.

YMMV...

In Colo., only certian traffic laws apply to private property, and they are worded as such.  The 4 main ones are Reckless Driving, Careless Driving, Unsafe Backing and DUI.  So if you run a stop sign in a parking lot, there is no stop sign violation, but maybe Carless Driving would still fly.