Is It Really Illegal To Back Into Your Own Driveway In Some Towns?

The government of Jacksonville, Florida would like it very much if you wouldn't park unregistered cars in the city, thank you. The authorities will cite anyone they catch in possession of a vehicle without up-to-date registration and fine them accordingly. But a lot of residents with expired car registrations found a way to avoid getting caught, according to one councilman, who said a former code enforcement officer told people to back their cars into their driveways — because officials can't ticket what they don't see.

You see, Florida only requires that the rear of each vehicle have a license plate. So if you back your car in, the code enforcement officer can't see your plate, as the officers aren't allowed to walk onto private property.

The situation didn't sit well with City Councilman Warren Jones. He said broken-down unregistered cars were increasing "blight" across the city, so he proposed Bill 2015-377, banning residents from backing into their own driveways. It passed through multiple committees, but never became law.

There are plenty of examples of apartment complexes making rules against backing your car into a driveway or parking spot. Homeowners associations have even had cars towed from driveways because of expired tags. But we can't find another example of a local government trying to enact laws to govern which direction their residents park on their own property. Jacksonville would have set quite the precedent had this ordinance passed.

If there's one thing Americans love, it's being told by the government what we can and can't do on our own property. Yeah, no. Though Jones said his proposal was about getting abandoned cars under control, Jacksonville residents reacted about like you'd expect to the bill, which not only would have made it illegal for them back into their driveways, but also ban using car covers unless the license plate was visible. Many residents said the proposal went too far.

"I think it's ridiculous," one homeowner told News 4 Jax. "The main reason I do it is people parallel park on the side of the street, so if you are backing out, you can't see traffic coming."

Online commentators weren't much kinder. Automotive Addicts called the measure "silly". The Car Connection called it "needlessly complicated" and said it should "raise red flags" with residents regarding privacy. That writer wasn't convinced by the bill's claim that not being able to see license plates from the street caused a health and safety hazard. The Car Connection called this line of reasoning "a slippery slope."

In the end, Jacksonville residents made their displeasure known. Now if we could only stop HOAs from telling us what we can park in our own driveways.

While the proposed Jacksonville ordinance against backing into one's own driveway didn't pass, many would argue, as did some Jacksonville residents, that backing into a driveway is safer than backing onto the street, because visibility is much better in every direction. In fact, it's encouraged in the United Kingdom, where the U.K. Highway Code says, "When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can." (Just don't let your Tesla back in by itself.) 

We like parking with our car's nose to the street. It's a lot easier to exit the driveway and cross a bicycle lane and two car lanes when you don't have to do it backward. Sacrificing the safety of that maneuver just to make it easier for some cop or code enforcement officer to tell whether your registration is up to date doesn't seem like a great trade-off.