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Mississippi driving lesson · Parking, Night Driving & Seat Belts

Where you can't park

A 3-minute lesson from the Mississippi course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Parking, Night Driving & Seat Belts
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
60

A car parked in the wrong place can block fire crews, hide pedestrians or cause a crash. Learn the exact distances in this lesson; they're favorite test questions.

Know the rule

Parking on a blind curve or in any other potentially dangerous place is illegal. You may be arrested, and your vehicle may be towed.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Know the rule

If your vehicle breaks down, you won't be arrested, but you should move it out of the way as quickly as possible.

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Whenever you park:

  • Put the gear in park (automatic transmission) or low (standard transmission)
  • Set the parking brake firmly
  • Turn off the ignition
Handbook p. 60 ↗

Don't leave your vehicle parked within…

Don't leave your vehicle parked within…
DistanceOf
10 feetA fire hydrant
15 feetThe nearest rail of a railroad crossing
20 feetA crosswalk at an intersection
20 feet (75 feet if posted)The driveway entrance to any fire station
30 feetThe approach to any traffic control device
Handbook p. 60 ↗
75 feet

Distance from a fire station driveway entrance when so posted

Handbook p. 60 ↗

Never park:

  • In front of a public or private driveway
  • On a sidewalk or on a crosswalk
  • Inside an intersection
  • On any bridge or elevated structure
  • In any highway underpass
  • On the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the edge of the road or curb
  • Alongside any obstruction when your parking would add to traffic congestion
  • At any place where traffic signs prohibit stopping
Handbook p. 60 ↗

Put it into practice

You find a spot 12 feet from a hydrant and 25 feet from the crosswalk at the corner. Both distances are legal (at least 10 feet and at least 20 feet), as long as no sign prohibits stopping there. Set the parking brake and turn off the ignition.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

How close to a fire hydrant may you legally park?
  1. No closer than 10 feet
  2. No closer than 5 feet
  3. No closer than 20 feet
  4. No closer than 15 feet

Answer: No closer than 10 feet

You may not park within ten feet of a fire hydrant.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
How close to a fire station driveway may you park if there is no posted sign extending the distance?
  1. No closer than 20 feet
  2. No closer than 10 feet
  3. No closer than 75 feet
  4. No closer than 50 feet

Answer: No closer than 20 feet

You may not park within twenty feet of a fire station driveway, or within seventy-five feet if posted.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
How close to the nearest rail of a railroad crossing may you legally park?
  1. No closer than 50 feet
  2. No closer than 15 feet
  3. No closer than 30 feet
  4. No closer than 10 feet

Answer: No closer than 15 feet

Parking is prohibited within fifteen feet of the nearest rail of a railroad crossing — note this differs from the fifty-to-ten-foot stopping rule for approaching trains.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
How close to a crosswalk at an intersection may you legally park?
  1. No closer than 10 feet
  2. No closer than 5 feet
  3. No closer than 30 feet
  4. No closer than 20 feet

Answer: No closer than 20 feet

You may not park within twenty feet of a crosswalk at an intersection.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
How close to the approach of a traffic control device (such as a signal) may you legally park?
  1. No closer than 30 feet
  2. No closer than 50 feet
  3. No closer than 15 feet
  4. No closer than 20 feet

Answer: No closer than 30 feet

Parking is prohibited within thirty feet of the approach to any traffic control device.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
If your vehicle breaks down in a prohibited parking spot, you will automatically be arrested.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: False

If your vehicle breaks down, you will not be arrested, but you should move it as quickly as possible.

Handbook p. 60 ↗
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