Code of Massachusetts Regulations
700 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Title 700 CMR 5.000 - Regulation Of Certain Roadways And Bridges
Section 5.502 - Violations

(1) Parking Rules During Snow Accumulation. Notwithstanding any provisions of 700 CMR 5.000 permitting the parking of vehicles, whenever snow or ice accumulates to a depth of two inches or more, no person shall allow, permit or suffer any vehicle registered in their name to stand or to remain upon a Metropolitan way or service way until the Metropolitan way or service way or section thereof used for vehicular travel has been cleared of snow or ice to within 12 inches of the curb or edge of the roadway.

(2) Double Parking is prohibited on the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of a street.

(3) Parking within ten feet of a fire hydrant is prohibited.

(4) Parking within an intersection is prohibited as defined in 700 CMR 5.501.

(5) Parking in any Metropolitan way or service way of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or part thereof where signs have been placed for the purpose of facilitating the plowing or removal of snow, the cleaning of streets or the maintenance of streets is prohibited.

(6) Obstructing Public Transportation is Prohibited. Parking in such a manner as to obstruct the movement of any street car, trackless trolley, bus or railroad train is prohibited.

(7) Fire Station Exit or Entrance. Parking within 20 feet of the driveway entrance or exit of any fire station or on the side of the Metropolitan way opposite the entrance or exit of any fire station, within 75 feet of said entrance or exit as posted is prohibited.

(8) Railroad or Street Railway Crossing. Parking within 20 feet of the nearest rail of any grade crossing is prohibited.

(9) Crosswalk or Sidewalk. Stop, stand or park a vehicle, whether occupied or not, on any crosswalk, except momentarily to pick up or discharge a passenger or passengers, nor upon any sidewalk is prohibited.

(10) Bus or Trackless Trolley Stop. Stop, stand or park a vehicle, other than a bus or trackless trolley, in a bus or trackless trolley stand or stop when such stand or stop has been officially designated by signs, except that the driver of a passenger vehicle may temporarily stop therein for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading passengers when such stopping does not interfere with any bus waiting to enter or about to enter such zone is prohibited.

(11) Parking in the Wrong Direction is Prohibited. Persons shall park in the direction of the flow of traffic pertaining to that side of the street on which the vehicle is parked.

(12) Emergency Areas. The Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee is hereby directed to designate by signs places in which the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles would create an emergency condition or would cause unusual delay to traffic.

(13) Bridge, Viaduct, Underpass, Tunnel. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle upon any bridge or viaduct or in any underpass or tunnel or the approaches thereto or exists therefrom unless signs permitting parking have been installed.

(14) Restricted Area. No person shall allow, permit or suffer any vehicle registered in their name to stand, stop or park at any place where official traffic signs have been placed or erected prohibiting stopping, standing or parking.

(15) Obstructing Driveways is Prohibited. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except momentarily to pick up or discharge a passenger or passengers in front of a public driveway or private driveway or road without the consent of the owner of the driveway.

(16) Obstructing Traffic Control Signals is Prohibited. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle so as to obstruct or hide from view a traffic control signal except in compliance with a traffic signal indication.

(17) Parking in a No Passing Zone is Prohibited. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle upon any Metropolitan way in a rural or sparsely settled district within any area designated either by signs or pavement markings as a "No Passing Zone".

(18) Parking on Metropolitan Way with less than ten feet passing clearance is prohibited.

(19) Angle Parking is permitted only upon Metropolitan ways or service ways of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or parts thereof which have been marked and signed for angle parking, persons parking shall park with one wheel within 12 inches from the curb or edge of the road and within the markings provided.

(20) Parking outside of the marked lines for areas designated angle parking only is prohibited on Metropolitan ways or service ways of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

(21) Parking More Than One Foot Away from the Curb is Prohibited. Except as otherwise provided in 700 CMR 5.501 and 5.502, every person stopping or parking upon a Metropolitan way or service way of the Department of Conservation and Recreation shall so stop or park with both wheels on the side of the vehicle adjacent to the curb or edge of the roadway within 12 inches of the curb or edge of the roadway.

Upon any parkway or boulevard where snow, ice, debris or other obstruction prevents the parking of a vehicle as specified above, any vehicle parked so as to obstruct the free flow of traffic shall be considered in violation of 700 CMR 5.501 and 5.502.

(22) Parking in a Loading Zone is Prohibited. N o person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle for any purpose or length of time except as provided below, other than for the expeditious unloading and delivery or pick-up and loading of materials in any place marked as a curb loading zone during the hours when the provisions applicable to such zones are in effect.

In no case shall the stop for loading and unloading of materials exceed 30 minutes. The driver of a passenger vehicle may stop temporarily at a place marked as a curb loading zone for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading passengers when such stopping does not interfere with any motor vehicle used for transportation of materials which is waiting to enter or about to enter such zone.

(23) Angle Loading or Unloading Rules. The Commissioner and or the Commissioner's designee is hereby authorized to issue special permits to allow the backing of a vehicle to a curb for the purpose of loading or unloading merchandise or materials subject to the terms, conditions, times and dates of such permits. Such permits may be issued either to the owner or lessee of real property or the owner of the vehicle, and shall grant to such person the privilege as therein stated and authorized herein. It shall be unlawful for any permittee or other person to violate any of the special terms or condition of any such permit.

(24) Snow Emergency Rules. If it is the judgment of the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee that threatening weather conditions may impair the free flow of vehicular traffic or that parked vehicles may impede the clearance of snow, then the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee may declare a state of emergency under the powers vested in him by statutory law.

Whenever such an emergency is declared by the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee, and he shall have caused announcement thereof by the use of available news and other media, the following parking prohibitions shall become effective:

No driver shall stop, stand or park any vehicle within the limits of any designated and posted "Emergency Artery" or upon the odd-numbered side of all other public ways, excepting such public ways which have already been or may be designated as "one side parking only" whether odd or even numbered, provided, however, that 700 CMR 5.501 through 5.505 shall not apply to passenger vehicles stopped temporarily during the actual receiving or discharging of passengers nor to commercial vehicles stopped temporarily during the actual loading or unloading of materials.

(25) Handicap Parking. No person shall stop, stand or park in any area designated by official sign as reserved for disabled persons, unless such vehicle bears HP (handicap parking) plates or a HP placard issued by any state. Placards shall be displayed on the dashboards of vehicles without HP plates, or in certain instances hung from the rear view mirror. There are no exemptions to 700 CMR 5.502(27).

(26) Handicap Ramp. No driver shall stop, stand, or park in front of any pedestrian sidewalk ramp (handicap ramp). No Exemptions (not even HP or DV (Disabled Veteran) plates or placards). For ramps located within 20 feet of an intersection, no signs are required. For ramps located well beyond an intersection, signage is required, unless roadway markings for a crosswalk are present.

(27) Resident Permit Only (Boston and Cambridge). No driver shall stop, stand, or park in an area signed "Resident Permit Parking Only" unless that vehicle bears the appropriate resident parking sticker as issued by the Boston Transportation Department or the City of Cambridge.

An expired sticker is invalid. On each sticker is recorded the plate number of the vehicle to which the sticker was issued. The plate number on the sticker must match the plate number of the vehicle. Any discrepancies between the two or changes to the plate number on the sticker make the sticker invalid.

In Resident Parking Permit areas, an HP/DV reserved spot is available to any vehicle with the appropriate license plate. There is no such thing as a "Resident HP or DV" space.

Government vehicles and commercial vehicles, while doing work in the area, will be exempt from Resident Permit Parking restrictions.

(28) Parkland. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle upon DCR parkland. (See700 CMR 5.40l(4).) (See 700 CMR 5.501: Parkland). No sign is needed to enforce 700 CMR 5.502(28).

(29) Travel Lane. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle within any portion of any DCR parkway, street, or highway. No sign is needed to enforce 700 CMR 5.502(29).