How Far Can You Park from the Curb? Distances, Zones, and Fines

In Arizona, you can park up to eighteen inches from the curb, and no farther. State law requires the right-hand wheels of your vehicle to sit parallel to and within eighteen inches of the right-hand curb.¹ That figure is a legal maximum, not a suggestion. The closer you tuck in, the less of your vehicle protrudes into the travel lane.

Which Side, Which Direction

The eighteen-inch rule is written around your right wheels for a reason. Arizona expects you to park on the right side of the road, facing the flow of traffic. Pull up to a curb on the left side and your left wheels end up near the curb while your right wheels face oncoming cars, which puts you in violation. An officer who measures your right wheels at more than eighteen inches from the curb, or finds you parked against traffic, can write a citation on either ground.

The One-Way Street Exception

One-way streets are the single exception. A city or town can pass a local ordinance that lets drivers park with their left wheels within eighteen inches of the left curb on a one-way roadway.¹ Where that ordinance is in place, both curbs become legal parking.

The catch is that the exception has to be adopted locally. Until your municipality passes the ordinance, the default right-side rule applies even on a one-way street. Look for signs or check the local traffic code before you park on the left.

Where You Can’t Park at All

Getting your wheels within eighteen inches doesn’t help if the spot itself is off-limits. ARS 28-873 bans stopping, standing, or parking in more than a dozen specific places, with narrow exceptions for avoiding a traffic conflict or following an officer’s directions.²

The prohibited locations include:

On a sidewalk, or in a way that blocks pedestrian access across a driveway sidewalk area (brief loading is allowed).
In front of any public or private driveway. A narrow exception covers USPS carriers who stay in the vehicle and stop only momentarily.
Within an intersection.
Within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant.
On a crosswalk, or within twenty feet of a crosswalk at an intersection.
Within thirty feet of a flashing beacon, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic signal on the approach side.
Between a safety zone and the adjacent curb, or within thirty feet of either end of the zone, unless signs say otherwise.
Within fifty feet of the nearest rail at a railroad crossing.
Within twenty feet of a fire station driveway entrance, or within seventy-five feet of the entrance on the opposite side of the street when signs are posted.
On the roadway side of a vehicle already parked at the curb (double parking).
Alongside or opposite a street excavation or obstruction if it would block traffic.
On a bridge, elevated highway structure, or inside a highway tunnel.
Anywhere posted signs prohibit stopping or standing.
On a controlled-access highway, except for emergencies or in designated areas like rest stops.²

The distance rules are what catch most drivers. Fifteen feet from a hydrant is roughly one car length. Twenty feet from a crosswalk is about a car and a half. Thirty feet from a stop sign is nearly two car lengths. Officers measure from the nearest point of your vehicle, not from the middle, so leave more room than you think you need.

Arizona’s controlled-access highway ban applies automatically without any signs. On other state highways, the director of transportation can post signs prohibiting parking wherever parked vehicles would create a hazard or block traffic, and once those signs go up they carry the force of law.¹ If you break down on a road where parking is posted as prohibited, get off the roadway if you can and use your hazard lights.

Angle Parking

Angle parking is the one setting where the parallel eighteen-inch rule doesn’t govern. Local governments can authorize diagonal parking on any roadway by ordinance. The one restriction is that angle parking is not allowed on a federal-aid highway or a state highway unless the director of transportation has determined the road is wide enough to handle it without disrupting traffic.¹

On a city street outside the state highway system, the local government decides. On a state or federally funded highway, the director must approve angle parking through a formal resolution or order. You will mostly see it on wider downtown streets and commercial corridors in smaller towns rather than along busy state routes. Where angle parking is marked, follow the painted lines and signage exactly; parking outside the lines or at the wrong angle can earn a ticket and creates a hazard when other drivers back out.

Disabled Parking: A Quick Boundary

The eighteen-inch curb rule is a general driving rule. It doesn’t override the separate rules for designated accessible spaces. You can only park in a marked accessible space if the vehicle is transporting someone with a valid disability placard or international-symbol-of-access plates, and the placard or plates must be visibly displayed. The striped access aisle next to that space is off-limits to every vehicle, placard or not.³ A brief stop to load or unload a passenger with a physical disability is the only exception, and only if the stop is momentary.

What a Parking Ticket Costs

Most Arizona parking violations are civil traffic violations rather than criminal offenses. The maximum civil penalty under ARS 28-1598 for a standard civil traffic violation is $250. That ceiling covers the eighteen-inch curb rule, the prohibited-location rules, and highway parking restrictions.

Disabled-parking violations run higher. Parking in an accessible space without proper authorization, or parking in the access aisle, carries a civil penalty between $250 and $500 under ARS 28-885. Repeat offenders who misused someone else’s placard or plates can also have those credentials recalled.

The fine is only part of the exposure. A vehicle blocking a fire lane, hydrant, driveway, or accessible space can be towed. Tow and daily storage fees in Arizona vary by company and location but can add $150 to $200 or more on top of the ticket, and you generally have to clear outstanding fines before the vehicle is released. A $100 ticket left alone can quickly turn into several hundred dollars.

1
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-874 – Additional Parking Rules
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-873 – Stopping, Standing or Parking Prohibitions; Exceptions
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 28-884 – Parking Space for Persons With Physical Disabilities