Except in a period of emergency determined by an officer of the Fire or Police Department or in compliance with the directions of an enforcement officer or traffic-controlled sign or signal, when any vehicle shall be parked in any parking space adjacent 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 the proper coin of the United States as is required for the parking meter, and as is designated by the directions on the meter. The operator of the vehicle, after the deposit of the proper coin or coins shall also set in motion the timing mechanism on the meter in accordance with the directions properly appearing thereon, and failure to deposit the coin and to set the timing mechanism which may be required in operation, shall constitute a violation of this subchapter. Upon the deposit of the coin (and the setting in operation when so required), the parking space may be lawfully occupied by the vehicles during the period of time which has been prescribed by resolution on the part of the street in which the parking meter is located, provided that any person placing a vehicle in a parking meter 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 the space does not exceed the indicated unused parking time. If the vehicle shall remain parked in any such parking space, and if the meter shall indicate the illegal parking, then and in that event, the vehicle shall be considered as parking overtime, (and beyond the period of legal parking time), and the parking shall be deemed a violation of this subchapter.
(1975 Code, § 23-205)