This Day in Norwood History-February 16, 1945-No Fix Ruling On Parking In Effect

Effective last night, the Norwood Police is enforcing the law against all-night parking of automobiles on the streets of the town. The action instructing the police to start the use of the “three-way, no-fix” parking ticket was taken at the Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday of last week. The move was recommended by Town Manager Smith who pointed out that the courtesy cards which the local police have been serving on violators has not accomplished their purpose of stopping the practice of all-night parking, with the result that the Public Works Department had been hindered in its work of clearing the highways of the town after recent snowstorms.

On the eve of the start of the campaign against all-night parking on town streets, Town Manager Smith announced that snow removal, clearance and sanding operations, through. February 13, last Tuesday, had cost the town of Norwood $21,213, almost one-half again as much as the $14,562 total cost for last winter. Mr. Smith inferred that although the increased cost of snow removal for the current year was due for the most part to the fact that there was a much greater snowfall, the delay caused by the necessity of avoiding parked cars resulted in increased time for the job which meant increased overtime pay for the workers. The blocking of streets also delayed local deliveries of fuel and food of which there Is no way of estimating this unnecessary expense to private businesses.

CITE AUTHORITY

Authority for the action of inaugurating the use of the “three-way, no-fix” parking ticket is contained in Article 5, section 8 of the Traffic Rules and Orders enacted by the Norwood Board of Selectmen in 1939. Section 8 states: “It shall be unlawful for the driver of any vehicle, other than one acting in an emergency, to park said vehicle on any street for a period of time longer than three (3) hours between the hours of 12 p.m and 5 a.m. of any day.

Town Manager Smith proved himself a reliable prophet at the meeting of last week, when he recommended putting teeth in the traffic laws. The conference with the Selectmen preceded by two days the record 14-inch snowfall of last Thursday. Mr. Smith said to the Selectmen, “I believe the lime has come to enforce this regulation during the winter time when we can expect snow and the only way wc can secure a complaint from the Clerk of the District Court, for a violation is to follow the procedure of Section 20-A of Chapter 90 of the General Laws.” Chapter 00. section 20-A of the General Laws of the Commonwealth is the law relating to tickets for traffic violations.

Tickets issued to violators of the traffic laws under the state laws are printed in three sections. One part of the ticket goes to the violator, the second part to the Clerk of the District Court, and the third part is kept in the files of the Police Department making the complaint. With two parts of the ticket on file it becomes practically impossible to “fix” a case, hence the designation “three-way, no fix.”

UNTIL MAR. 1 OR LONGER

The policy of issuing the “three-way. no-fix” tickets will continue until March 1st. if not longer Mr. Smith made it clear that the people of Ihc town were being given notice of the action in plenty of time to make necessary arrangements to find parking space for their cars, off the streets of the town.

Under the new system of dealing with parking violators, the offender will be given a notice to appear before the Clerk of the District Court, said notice to be delivered to the offender at the time and place of the violation if possible and if not, then sent to the offender within forty-eight hours of the offense exclusive of Sundays and holidays. The Clerk of the District Court shall consider the first such notice in any one calendar year as a warning. The second such notice requires the payment of a one-dollar ($1.00) fine to the Clerk of the District Court and the third such notice requires a payment of a fine of two dollars ($2.00) to the Clerk of the District Court. All offenses after the third offense constitute a cause for criminal proceedings.

The failure of a violator to appear as requested, at the office of the Clerk of the District Court, which in the case of Norwood means the Dedham District Court, will mean that the Clerk will notify the Massachusetts Registrar of Motor Vehicles and the Registrar will suspend the license of the violating operator.

SAND AVAILABLE

In a statement this morning to the Messenger, Town Manager Smith again requested those persons who live near a hydrant to clear away the snow from the plug. Under ordinary circumstances, this work is done by the Public Works Department, but this town department is literally “snowed in” with its work of clearing the streets and removing snow from the business section of the town. Mr. Smith pointed out that there was nothin? mandatory about this request, but that it. was made as much for the safety of those persons living near fire hydrants as to help the Public Works Department.

A further suggestion from the office of the Town Manager was that those persons in the town who had very slippery sidewalks and no ashes or sand to spread on them could obtain sand by calling with a bucket, box or another suitable container at the Town Yard where the containers can be filled. This is another safety measure and might be the means of preventing serious accidental falls. The Public Works Department will not be able to sand the streets and sidewalks of the town for several days because of the pressure of the present emergency.