Torrance Municipal Code Art. 3 Enforcement

The officers of the Police Department or such officers as are assigned by the Chief of Police shall enforce all street traffic laws applicable to street traffic in this City.

Officers of the Police Department, or such officers as are assigned by the Chief of Police, or any other City employee, in the performance of his official duties, are hereby authorized to direct all traffic by voice, hand or signal, in conformance with traffic laws; all other persons are expressly forbidden from such direction.

The City may, by resolution, declare that the provisions of this Chapter and the provisions of the California Vehicle Code apply to private roads; such resolution shall be passed pursuant to and expressly limited by the provisions of California Vehicle Code 21107.5 with respect to roads open to public use or California Vehicle Code 21107.7 with respect to roads not open to public use.

No person shall remove, obliterate or conceal 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.

The provisions of this Chapter regulating the operation, parking and standing of vehicles shall not apply to any vehicle of 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 in the Vehicle Code in response to an emergency call. The foregoing exemptions shall not, however, protect the driver of any such vehicle from the consequences of his willful disregard of the safety of others. 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 by the United States while in use for the collection, transportation or delivery of the United States Mail.

a) The driver of a vehicle or the person in charge of any animal involved in any accident resulting in damage to any property publicly owned or owned by a public utility, including, but not limited to any fire hydrant, ornamental lighting post, telephone pole, electric light or power pole, or resulting in damage to any ornamental shade tree, traffic control device or other property of a like nature located in or along any street, shall, without unnecessary delay, make a written report of such accident to the Police Department of this City.

b) Every such report shall state the time when and the place where the accident took place, the name and address of the person owning and of the person driving or in charge of such vehicle or animal, the license number of every such vehicle, and shall briefly describe the property damaged in such accident.

Except as otherwise provided, the driver of a vehicle shall not drive within any sidewalk area or any parkway.

No person shall ride or drive any animal or any vehicle over or across any newly made pavement or freshly painted marking in any street or sidewalk when a barrier or sign is in place warning persons not to drive over or across such pavement, sidewalk or marking, or when a sign is in place stating that the street or any portion thereof is closed.

No person shall drive a vehicle onto or from any limited access roadway except at such entrances and exits as are established by public authority.

It shall be unlawful for any person to propel or cause to be propelled, any motor or other vehicle within the City which shall have any material attached thereto in such a manner as to allow the same to drag upon the street over which such vehicle passes.

No person shall operate or drive a vehicle in, on or across any private driveway approach or sidewalk area or the driveway itself without the consent of the owner or occupant of the property, provided that where entry is for the purpose of doing business on the premises such consent shall be implied.

(Added by O-1642)

Any member of the Police Department may give flares to any person as replacement for flares used by such person to warn traffic of an accident or any hazardous condition on a highway, provided that such person was not required by law to give such warning. The officer shall not replace such flares unless he is reasonably satisfied that such person in fact placed the flares for which replacement is requested. Replacement of flares shall be in lieu of any other reimbursement for said flares.