When reparking your car, how far must it move?

Q: Just a few weeks ago, Seattle announced that it would become the first in the state — following the lead of several big cities elsewhere — to roll out a new tool for finding overtime parking violators: high-tech cars packed with special software and equipment to take pictures of license plates and the position of tires.

That piqued the curiosity of Don Iverson, of Redmond, who wonders just how far a car has to be moved when the parking time is up. Can you reposition the vehicle in the same space? Can you move one space up, or back? What about reparking across the street?

"What if you move your car and, after circling the block, the only space available is the one you just vacated?" he asked. "As someone who has to come to Seattle frequently, I would like to make sure I understand the rules."

A: The city's municipal code says it's unlawful to exceed the posted time limit, and also illegal to move and repark a vehicle on either side of a street within the same block in order to avoid a parking time limit specified for either side of the street in that particular block.

"The safe bet," says Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, "is to move your car and search for other parking spaces."

The city's use of high-tech cars hasn't changed the code. Whitcomb notes that once you've searched for other parking without luck, if the original space is still available, it's tempting to consider it fair game.

But Detective Mark Jamieson, another Seattle police spokesman, says he wouldn't take the chance. "When your time is up, move your vehicle to a different block. If you circle back and the only space vacated is the one you just vacated, you shouldn't repark there," he said. "Find another space."

Remember: With those high-tech cars and cameras, photos don't lie. The city's money is on new technology making it harder for violators to fight a ticket in court.

Q: In North Seattle, Northeast 130th Street crosses over Interstate 5 and intersects with Fifth Avenue Northeast. DeniseLinda Williams wonders if the city has given any consideration to restricting left turns for eastbound traffic to northbound on Fifth Northeast.

"Cars trying to make the left turn cause gridlock in this busy intersection during rush hour," she said.

What would it take to get left-turn arrows at the intersection, similar to Fifth Avenue Northeast and Northeast 145th Street?

A: That kind of request requires the attention of city transportation traffic engineers, says Eric Widstrand, the department's city traffic engineer. He says his crew will monitor the intersection during the afternoon rush and conduct a traffic analysis to determine the effects of prohibiting the turn during the afternoon peak.