Double parking

[1] This often prevents some of the vehicles in the first row from departing and always obstructs a traffic lane or bike lane (to the extent of often making the street impassable in one-way single-lane situations).

Double parking in this fashion, where illegal, is often punished by ticketing or towing the offending vehicle.

In some urban areas where parking is extremely hard to obtain, courier and delivery services will instruct their drivers that if necessary they may double park anyway, and if ticketed to simply turn it in at the end of their shift.

The practice is so common that Washington, D.C. permits companies to establish a monthly billing account for all of their vehicles that receive any parking tickets.

This practice is especially common for valet car parks, in which attendants have the keys to all vehicles.