Fresno Municipal Code Art. 3 Enforcement and Obedience to Traffic Regulations

Officers of the Police Department and such other persons as are designated by the Chief of Police are hereby authorized to direct all traffic by voice, hand, audible or other signal in conformance with traffic laws, except that in the event of a fire or other emergency or to expedite traffic or to safeguard pedestrians, officers of the Police Department or members of the Fire Department may direct traffic as conditions may require, notwithstanding the provisions to the contrary contained in this Code or the Vehicle Code.

(Orig. Ord. 3811; Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962).

No person other than an officer of the Police Department or members of the Fire Department or a person authorized by the Chief of Police or a person authorized by law shall direct or attempt to direct traffic by voice, hand or other signal, except that persons may operate, when and as herein provided, any mechanical pushbutton signal erected by order of the City Traffic Engineer.

(Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962, based on former Sec. 10-303).

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 1-304(a), violation of any provision of this chapter is an infraction unless otherwise specified.

(Added Ord. 75-44, § 4, eff. 6-2-75; Am. Ord. 76-64, § 2, eff. 7-1-76; Am. Ord. 80-143, § 1, eff. 10-17-80).

No pedestrian, or person driving a vehicle or other conveyance on any street, shall do any act prohibited by, or fail to perform any act required by, any provision of this chapter applicable to such pedestrian or person.

(Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962).

Every person riding a bicycle, a shared mobility device as defined in Section 9-3403 or riding or driving an animal upon a highway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this Chapter, except those provisions which by their very nature can have no application.

(Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962; Am. Ord. 2019-034, § 2, eff. 11-11-19).

No person shall interfere with or obstruct in any way any police officer or other officer or employee of this city in their enforcement of the provisions of this chapter. The removal, obliteration or concealment of any chalk mark or other distinguishing mark used by any police officer or other employee or officer of this city in connection with the enforcement of the parking regulations of this chapter shall, if done for the purpose of evading the provisions of this chapter, constitute such interference or obstruction. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor.

(Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962; Am. Ord. 80-143, § 2, eff. 10-17-80).

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the operator of any vehicle owned by or used in the service of the United States Government, this state, any county or city, and it shall be unlawful for any said operator to violate any of the provisions of this chapter, except as otherwise permitted in this chapter or by the Vehicle Code.

(Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962, based on former Sec. 10-304).

(a) The provisions of this chapter regulating the operation, parking and standing of vehicles shall not apply to vehicles operated by the Police or Fire Department, any public ambulance or any public utility vehicle or any private ambulance, which public utility vehicle or private ambulance has qualified as an authorized emergency vehicle, when any vehicle mentioned in this section is operated in the manner specified by the Vehicle Code in response to an emergency call.

(b) The foregoing exemptions shall not, however, relieve the operator of any such vehicle from obligation to exercise due care for the safety of others or the consequences of his willful disregard of the safety of others.

(c) The provisions of this chapter regulating the parking or standing of vehicles shall not apply to any vehicle of a city department or public utility while necessarily in use for construction or repair work or any vehicle owned or operated by the United States Post Office Department while in use for the collection, transportation or delivery of United States mail.

(d) The provisions of this chapter regulating the parking or standing of vehicles on public streets and highways in metered or nonmetered one-hour or two-hour parking zones shall not apply to the following:

(1) Public utility service vehicles subject to an agreement with the city, in accordance with rules and regulations as may be established from time to time by the Public Works Director governing such agreements. For parking in metered parking zones, such agreements shall provide for a method of payment to the city of not less than those amounts which would otherwise be payable in the metered parking zone.

(Rep. and Added Ord. 6130, 1962, based on former Sec. 10-306; Am. Ord. 71-102, 1971; Am. Ord. 81-131, § 1, eff. 11-6-81; Am. Ord. 2003-83, § 2, eff. 10-21-03; Am. Ord. 2004-116, § 2, 12-5-04; Am. Ord. No. 2008-11, § 1, eff. 4-14-08; Am. Ord. 2008-65, § 1, eff. 12-15-08).

(a) Any regularly employed and salaried officer of the Police Department of the city may remove or cause to be removed:

(1) Any vehicle that has been parked or left standing upon a street or alley for seventy-two or more consecutive hours without having been moved more than one-tenth of a mile.

(2) Any vehicle which is parked or left standing upon a street or alley or city-owned parking lot when such parking or standing is prohibited by ordinance or resolution of this city and signs are posted giving notice of such removal.

(3) Any vehicle which is parked or left standing upon a street or alley where the use of such street or alley or a portion thereof is necessary for the cleaning, repair or construction of the street or alley or for the installation of underground utilities or where the use of the street or alley or any portion thereof is authorized for a purpose other than the normal flow of traffic or where the use of the street or alley or any portion thereof is necessary for the movement of equipment, articles or structures of unusual size, and the parking of such vehicle would prohibit or interfere with such use or movement; provided that signs giving notice that such vehicle may be removed are erected or placed at least twenty-four hours prior to the removal.

(b) In addition to, or as an alternative to removal of vehicles, any regularly employed and salaried officer of the police department of the city or any regularly employed and salaried employee of the city who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations of the city may immobilize any vehicles under the requirements set forth in Section 22651.7 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles with parking violations outstanding, as provided in Section 22651.7. An administrative fee or fees for such immobilization may be established by resolution of the city council. Any vehicle immobilized as set forth herein shall remain immobilized until the conditions set forth in Section 22651.7 are met, and all applicable administrative fees are paid to the city.

(c) If any sentence, clause or phrase of this section is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this section. Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this section and each sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Added Ord. 6130, 1962; Am. Ord. 6546, 1964; Added Ord. 2006-62, § 2, eff. 6-12-06; Am. Ord. 2007-17, § 1, eff. 4-19-07).

The Traffic Engineer is authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(Added Ord. 79-129, § 1, eff. 8-10-79; Am. Ord. 2025-061, § 2, eff. 1-30-26).

Editor's note— Ord. 2025-061, § 1, effective January 30, 2026, repealed § 14-310, which pertained to use of coasters, roller skates, and similar devices restricted and derived from added Ord. 6130, adopted 1962. Ord. 2025-061, § 2, subsequently renumbered the former §§ 14-311, 14-312 as §§ 14-310, 14-311. The historical notation has been retained with the amended provisions for reference purposes.

(a) Operators shall inform users how and where to properly use and park a shared mobility device.

(b) A shared mobility device parked in violation of this Article, or the permit and franchise agreement authorizing its use in the City, may be removed by the City and taken to a facility designated by the City for storage at the expense of the operator if the operator has not retrieved its shared mobility device that has been marked as inoperable or parked in violation of this code or California Vehicle Code within two hours of receiving notice from the City.

(c) Shared mobility device users shall comply with all applicable provisions of the California Vehicle Code, including without limitation the prohibition on riding a shared mobility device on any sidewalk.

(Added Ord. 2019-034, § 3, eff. 11-11-19; Am. Ord. 2025-061, § 2, eff. 1-30-26).

Editor's note— See Editor's Note attached to § 14-310.