Except in a period of emergency determined by an officer of the Fire or Police Department, or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal, when any vehicle shall be parked in any parking space alongside or next to which a parking meter is located, the operator of the vehicle shall, upon entering the parking meter space, immediately deposit or cause to be deposited in the meter such proper coin of this country as is required for that parking meter and as is designated by proper directions on the meter, and when required by the directions on the meter, the operator of the vehicle, after the deposit of the proper coin or coins, shall also set in operation the timing mechanism on the meter in accordance with directions properly appearing thereon; and failure to deposit the proper coin, and to set the timing mechanism in operation when so required, shall constitute a violation of this subchapter. Upon the deposit of the coin (and the setting of the timing mechanism in operation when so required), the parking space may be lawfully occupied by the vehicle during the period of time which has been prescribed for the part of the street in which that parking space is located, provided that any person placing a vehicle in a parking space adjacent to a meter which indicates that unused time has been left in the meter by the previous occupant of the space shall not be required to deposit a coin so long as his or her occupancy of that space does not exceed the indicated unused parking time. If the vehicle shall remain parked in any such parking space beyond the parking time limit set for that parking space, and if the meter shall indicate illegal parking, then, and in that event, the vehicle shall be considered as parking overtime and beyond the period of legal parking time, and this parking shall be deemed a violation of this subchapter.
(1969 Code, § 16-208) (Ord. 1973-21, passed 11-13-1973) Penalty, see § 72.999