An early-morning coffee run ended with a steep ticket for one woman after she was caught parking her Tesla on a sidewalk in Burnaby, B.C. RCMP say one of its officers had just started his shift on Aug. 17 when he stumbled upon a Tesla illegally parked outside the Starbucks at Holdom Station around 6:45 a.m. The driver, a 53-year-old woman from Langley, was fined a total of $109 for driving on the sidewalk, and for not having a front licence plate on her vehicle, according to RCMP. “She said she didn’t know she wasn’t allowed to drive and park on the sidewalk and was adamant that she’s going to fight the ticket,” Cpl. Mike Kalanj told CTV News on Tuesday. He adds that she was with another person, and both individuals exited the Starbucks carrying multiple drinks, presumably for a large order. On Tuesday, Burnaby RCMP posted a photo of the parking faux pas on social media. “Is coffee important? Yes, for many. Is coffee ‘parking on the sidewalk important’? No!” Mounties wrote as the caption. Kalanj notes that while the Tesla had an “N” decal on it, he can’t confirm whether the woman was in fact a new driver. He also highlighted the fact that there was a parking lot mere metres from where the Tesla was parked on the sidewalk. “This is definitely out of the ordinary,” Kalanj concluded. “Often, we’ll see cars parked in no parking zones, in bus zones or driving lanes…It’s a whole other step to think you’re entitled to drive on the sidewalk.”
