The five worst parking offenses drivers commit every damn day

A giant heap of mail from Essential Californians suggests that not even our noxious politics or stubborn inflation set readers into a dither quite like the consternation you suffer when you’re ready to get out of your cars.

Because you have to park. And you either can’t find parking. Or find it far too expensive. Or you got bamboozled by four competing street parking signs. Or you couldn’t leave your space because that dunderhead in the Tesla decided to park within a hair’s breadth of your rear bumper.

Grrrrrrrr. Today’s Essential California plumbs the vast shallows of your peeves about parking. And doubtless invites more complaints. Which we can dive into another day, if need be.

The thing about parking in California is that, by definition, we’re all doing it while running 15 minutes late, after getting caught up in a SigAlert or an inexplicable Caltrans rush-hour lane beautification. We come to the hunt for an open space already frazzled.

The five worst parking offenses

If it’s street parking we need, too often we find that the space that clearly has Our Name On It has been rendered useless because some bozo chose to park their Range Rover in the middle of TWO spaces. They did this to protect their precious vehicle’s paint job. Or to save a space for their lover. Or because they parked without giving a thought to the rest of humankind. AKA, they’re human, but they’ve also ruined everything and now we are left to circle.

Reader Denise Wasko Peña denounced the “idiots” who create these “dead spaces” and admonished: “It doesn’t take much” to park correctly, “just a little spatial awareness.” Seconded, Ms. Peña, by me and many other readers.

Others complained about those vexing parking signs. You know the ones: stacked three or four high, each with various days/hours/conditions in which parking isn’t allowed. Wrote Judy Lan: “You miss one detail, you get the ticket right away!”

And what about those with the misfortune of living near a hot club or bistro? Valet parking companies “took local street parking, that we paid for with our taxes, and turned it into paid restaurant parking,” complained Michael Antonopolis..

Parking lots solve all these problems, with their clear rules and order, right? Oh heck no!

Readers have myriad complaints about both surface lots and garages. Among them: Lots that have waaay too many “compact” spaces, when it seems everyone drives a big, fat SUV. Also aggravating is when said Fat SUVs, or even Mini Coopers, defy the clearly marked boundaries and occupy two spaces.

Then there are those handy parking apps that make it sooooo easy to pay for your space. I’ve got four of those parking apps on my phone. Yet it seems each city or private parking lot asks that we sign up the app we don’t have. Thanks so much!

Inner peace through public transit?

Another solution to all this festering discontent? Higher-minded readers suggested that the fault lies not in our parking, but in ourselves. They urged more Californians to leave their sacred automobiles in favor of public transportation.

Julia Kovisars called for “mandatory, universal pricing” for parking on public streets, to reduce the use of private vehicles and encourage public transit. A woman named Angelia seemed to agree, though she admonished government officials to make communal transportation more ubiquitous and affordable. Said Angelia: “Lack of safe, reliable public transportation and affordable rent close to living-wage jobs seem like the actual obstacles.”

What did I miss? Email more of your parking complaints to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

Today’s top stories

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman walks back to the dugout after striking out in the seventh inning of a 6-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday night in the final game of the season at Dodger Stadium.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

The Blue Jays beat the Dodgers (again)

• The Dodgers’ offensive woes sent them into a World Series tailspin with the Game 5 loss.
• The Dodgers’ faulty bullpen construction will cost them the 2025 World Series title, columnist Dylan Hernández writes.
• The disappearing Dodgers were backed to the brink of disaster after the World Series Game 5 loss, writes columnist Bill Plaschke.
• The Dodgers’ defensive mistakes proved costly in the World Series Game 5 loss to Blue Jays, writes columnist Bill Shaikin.

Massive layoffs at Paramount

• Paramount began laying off 1,000 workers this week with another 1,000 planned later on as new owners pursue $2 billion in expense cuts across the company.
• “CBS Saturday Morning” co-hosts Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson are among the nearly 100 news division employees cut.
• The media company is also parting ways with “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan, who is moving his overall deal to rival NBCUniversal in 2029.
• Despite recent layoffs, Paramount has offered to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $58 billion, but CEO David Zaslav isn’t ready to give up the reins.

A judge rules Trump’s top federal prosecutor in L.A. is ‘unlawfully serving’

• It’s the latest rebuke of the Trump administration’s unusual maneuvers to keep political allies in power as chief federal prosecutors across the country.
• The Trump administration has circumvented the Senate confirmation process to install Essayli and other loyalists as top federal prosecutors without them having to face a vote.
• Although the ruling disqualifies Essayli from continuing in the role of “acting” U.S. attorney, the judge said he can remain in charge of the office under another title.

What else is going on

• A wave of RSV, particularly dangerous for babies, is washing over the U.S.; doctors urge vaccination.
• Why Californians should enroll in 2026 health insurance before the December deadline.
• Voters in a poll side with Newsom and the Democrats on Prop. 50 — a potential blow to Trump and the GOP.
• A Hollywood producer received nearly 150 years in prison for two murders and multiple rapes.
• The Rose Bowl is accusing UCLA of trying to move football games to SoFi Stadium in a lawsuit.
• Disney folded Hulu + Live TV into Fubo, creating the nation’s sixth-largest pay-TV service with nearly 6 million domestic subscribers.

Commentary and opinions

• Bodies are stacking up in Trump’s deportation deluge. It’s going to get worse, argues columnist Gustavo Arellano.
• These are thirsty times. No wonder Kamala Harris’ book tour is a fan fest, writes news and culture critic Lorraine Ali.
• The Argentina bailout shows that Trump’s Cabinet has no adults in the room, columnist Jackie Calmes writes.

This morning’s must read

California

Days before Palisades inferno, firefighters were ordered to leave smoldering burn site

Texts between three firefighters and a third party reveal previously undisclosed details about the Los Angeles Fire Department’s handling of a Pacific Palisades burn site.

Oct. 30, 2025

Other must reads

• L.A. is haunted by Dodgers rituals and superstitions this week. What is yours?
• Most of California’s public K-12 students go to school on campuses with virtually no shade.
• Humanity is on a path toward ‘climate chaos,’ scientists warn.

For your downtime

Treebones Resort just off Highway 1 in the South Coast area of Big Sur.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• Travel: The time is now for a Highway 1 road trip: ‘It’s so rare to experience Big Sur like this.’
• Haunted House: L.A.’s most epic family-run haunted house might just be in Van Nuys.
• Theater: This child prodigy published her first novel at 12. She disappeared forever at 25. Her story is a new musical, opening Saturday at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood.
• Dining: One of L.A.’s most iconic Chinese American restaurants has reopened in a new space down the street from the original on Fairfax.

Staying in

• Music: What we know about ‘West End Girl,’ Lily Allen’s intimate and autofictional new breakup album.
• Television: We all know about “Severance,” “The Morning Show” and “Ted Lasso,” but here are 14 of the best hidden gems on Apple TV.
• Recipe: Here’s a recipe for homemade peanut butter cups.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.

A question for you: What are your go-to easy Halloween costumes?

Sue writes: “As a lifelong Democrat, I used to wear a ‘Nixon’s The One’ button and go as a Republican. Trouble was, no one got the joke if they didn’t know me!”

Pam writes: “For the last costume party my husband and I attended, I went as a ‘famous author,’ carrying a hardback book covered with a dust jacket I’d created for the occasion — complete with my name on the front and fictionalized bio and blurbs from critics and authors on the back. My husband went as a ‘serial killer,’ because they ‘look like everyone else.’ He gave a bit of a nod to Dexter, wearing cargo pants, a waffle knit Henley, knitted cap, gloves, and carrying a small canvas tool bag.”

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... from our archives

Boxing greats Muhammad Ali, left, and George Foreman arrive at a Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood on March 24, 1997.

(E.J. Flynn / Associated Press)

On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle,” regaining the world heavyweight boxing title.

For the fight’s 40th anniversary in 2014, former Times sports writer and editor Bill Dwyre wrote about the rumble and the two boxing giants who were at the center of the sporting universe.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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