Bessemer, AL Parking Rules: Street Parking Limits (2026)

Under Bessemer Code of Ordinances Sec. 106-97, a vehicle left standing on a public street must be placed parallel to the curb, with its wheels no more than 18 inches from the curbline, on the right-hand side reckoned from the direction the front of the vehicle is headed. Because the measurement runs from the direction the vehicle is facing, a car nosed into a spot against the flow of travel cannot simultaneously have its right-side wheels against the curb, so parking against traffic is itself a violation.

Inside the city's designated fire limits the rule tightens further: no vehicle may stop with its left side to the curb at all, regardless of direction of travel, because that leaves the body of the car extended into the traffic lane. The traffic schedule referenced throughout this article, maintained by the city, further lets officials designate specific streets where parking is banned outright at all times (Sec. 106-98) or capped to a posted time limit except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (Sec. 106-99). Enforcement is backed by a presumption in Sec.

106-96: an unattended vehicle found violating any parking ordinance raises a prima facie presumption that its registered owner committed or authorized the violation, shifting the burden to the owner to prove otherwise. Section 106-100 separately bars parking in any public alley outright, and Sec. 106-101 requires parking lights on any vehicle longer than 20 feet or taller than seven feet left on a street at night. Ambulances, police vehicles and firefighting equipment on duty are exempted under Sec. 106-102. A vehicle parked in violation of any of these sections is declared an obstruction and public nuisance under Sec. 106-290 and is subject to police removal and impoundment.