REGINA – Two Regina men are putting bad parking in the viral spotlight with a new Facebook page.
“It kind of purges a little bit of aggression, a little frustration and makes you feel a little bit better that it’s up there for people to comment on and poke fun at,” said Jordan Emmons, co-founder of Regina Parking Shaming.
The page features user-submitted photos of cars parked in multiple lanes, and the like, showcasing the best of the city’s worst.
“Anybody that’s ever driven – male, female, young or old – it’s something everybody sees, and it seems to aggravate everybody,” said Cody Maurer, the other co-founder of the page. “It started as a joke.”
And many Facebook users are in on it; the page amassed about 6,000 likes by Friday evening.
While the page is just for fun, Maurer said he hopes it does inspire people to park better.
Many of the pictures are from mall/store parking lots. The city warned that there are consequences, even on private property.
“A disabled spot (on private property) is actually covered by our city traffic bylaw, which has parking regulations in it, and it can be enforced by a private ticket issuer licensed by either the city or by ourselves,” said Kelly Scherr, director of construction and compliance at the City of Regina.
Even if someone’s poor parking means forces others to have to park poorly, too, that’s not an excuse.
“Often, the first parked vehicle may have moved by that point, and we only see the second one who’s parked illegally, so we ask that people make sure you’re parked properly, even if maybe another driver is not,” said Scherr.
Despite the page’s popularity, not all are as quick to judge.
“I stay away from there because, sooner or later, I’m going to see my car on that page, so I’m not going to shame anybody else,” said Annette Cyr with a laugh.
The City of Regina has a full list of traffic bylaws on its website (PDF).
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