The risk of being hit by another vehicle
Legal trouble
Wrapping up
The risk of being hit by another vehicle
Double parking anywhere is never a good idea. This is particularly true in Puerto Rico where traffic can be dense, aggressive and very unpredictable. When you double park, you increase your odds of being hit by another vehicle tremendously. Even if you just double park for five minutes, it is a completely unnecessary risk that you should never take.
The most obvious danger when you double park is that an approaching driver might not see you and can easily rear-end your vehicle. However, when you double park you can also cause traffic to spill over into adjacent oncoming lanes which can easily lead to a head-on collision. It can also cause traffic to move onto sidewalks or other pedestrian areas which can lead to serious injury for pedestrians or cyclists.
Legal trouble
On top of the potential risk of causing an accident, you are also greatly impeding traffic when you double park in Puerto Rico. This is obviously very selfish, but it is also illegal. Even though police enforcement of traffic laws is a bit more lax in Puerto Rico, you still might get a ticket with a hefty fine.
In Puerto Rico, if you are caught double-parking which will likely be seen and written up as impeding traffic, you will likely face a face of a hundred or more dollars. In addition, your insurance rates can also be increased depending on if you have any previous moving violations on your driving record. The increase to your insurance can end up costing you a few hundred dollars a year for multiple years, depending on your coverage.
Possibly worst of all, when you are rear-ended when double parked, the typical insurance liability that falls on the driver who hit you from behind, does not apply. So, not only will their insurance not cover your vehicle’s damages, but you might also have to cover their car’s damages.
Wrapping up
Double parking is always a selfish and flat-out dumb thing to do, even when it is just for a few minutes. In Puerto Rico, it is even worse due to the high volume of traffic as well as the more haphazard way many people tend to drive. When you double park you are at a much higher risk of getting hit by another car and/or causing an accident. You also might get a costly ticket for impeding traffic which can cause your car insurance rates to increase as well for quite a while.
