2011 Connecticut Code
Title 14 Motor Vehicles. Use of the Highway By Vehicles. Gasoline
Chapter 248 Vehicle Highway Use
Sec. 14-251. Parking vehicles.

      Sec. 14-251. Parking vehicles. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary within ten feet of any fire hydrant, or upon the traveled portion of any highway except upon the right-hand side of such highway in the direction in which such vehicle is headed; and, if such highway is curbed, such vehicle shall be so placed that its right-hand wheels, when stationary, shall, when safety will permit, be within a distance of twelve inches from the curb. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain parked within twenty-five feet of an intersection or a marked crosswalk thereat, or within twenty-five feet of a stop sign caused to be erected by the traffic authority in accordance with the provisions of section 14-301. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary upon the traveled portion of any highway at any curve or turn or at the top of any grade where a clear view of such vehicle may not be had from a distance of at least one hundred and fifty feet in either direction. The Commissioner of Transportation may post signs upon any highway at any place where the keeping of a vehicle stationary is dangerous to traffic, and the keeping of any vehicle stationary contrary to the directions of such signs shall be a violation of this section. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary upon the traveled portion of any highway within fifty feet of the point where another vehicle, which had previously stopped, continues to remain stationary on the opposite side of the traveled portion of the same highway. No vehicle shall be permitted to remain stationary within the limits of a public highway in such a manner as to constitute a traffic hazard or obstruct the free movement of traffic thereon, provided a vehicle which has become disabled to such an extent that it is impossible or impracticable to remove it may be permitted to so remain for a reasonable time for the purpose of making repairs thereto or of obtaining sufficient assistance to remove it. Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to emergency vehicles and to maintenance vehicles displaying flashing lights or to prohibit a vehicle from stopping, or being held stationary by any officer, in an emergency to avoid accident or to give a right-of-way to any vehicle or pedestrian as provided in this chapter, or from stopping on any highway within the limits of an incorporated city, town or borough where the parking of vehicles is regulated by local ordinances. Violation of any provision of this section shall be an infraction.

      (1949 Rev., S. 2509; 1959, P.A. 283, S. 3; 1969, P.A. 768, S. 142; P.A. 75-577, S. 96, 126.)

      History: 1959 act excepted emergency vehicles and maintenance vehicles displaying flashing lights from provisions of section; 1969 act replaced highway commissioner with commissioner of transportation; P.A. 75-577 made violation of provisions an infraction.

      See Sec. 14-107 re liability of owner, operator or lessee of vehicle.

      See Sec. 14-307 re parking restrictions.

      See 108 C. 197. Shoulder is not part of "traveled portion" of highway. 114 C. 336; Id., 651; 127 C. 340. Statute does not authorize parking on traveled portion without other precautions, if necessary, than those expressly required by it. 116 C. 574. Cited. 121 C. 439. What constitutes traveled portion is question of fact. 127 C. 341. Is not repealed by definition of "parked vehicle" in section 14-1 but is intended to be read with it. 142 C. 592. Violation of this section constitutes negligence as a matter of law; but for such negligence to be actionable, it must be proven to have been a proximate cause of decedent's injury. 153 C. 64. Cited. 162 C. 462. Cited. 170 C. 74. Cited. 174 C. 275.

      Cited. 17 CA 697. Statute supersedes local parking ordinance that does not address specific provisions of statute. 59 CA 434. City cannot enact ordinance prohibiting diagonal parking outside its limits on the public highway because of section; it can only enact legislation with respect to property within its legitimate control. 76 CA 222.

      Cited. 23 CS 211. Use of word "impracticable" as well as "impossible" in this section implies other factors besides mechanical condition of car are involved in deciding whether disabled car exception in this section applies. The word "disabled" in this section which prohibits stationary vehicles on highways except those which are disabled must be construed as applying not only to vehicles which cannot be moved under their own power but also to those which cannot be removed with reasonable safety and without creating danger greater than that which exists from their being stationary. 33 CS 49. Cited. Id., 49. Court must find facts sufficient to support conclusion that plaintiff negligent because of his violation of the statute including facts negating the application of any statutory exceptions. 37 CS 574.

      Cited. 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 217.