KAILUA-KONA — Those white lines are on the road for a reason.
On Saturday, more than three dozen drivers learned that lesson the hard way when they returned to find a citation affixed to their vehicle or worse yet, no sign of their ride.
The Hawaii Police Department said Monday officers cited approximately 40 parked vehicles for obstructing Palani Road during the Ironman World Championship triathlon on Saturday. Ultimately, 10 vehicles ended up having to be towed, police said.
Photos and video of the vehicles showed some with front wheels sticking out a more than a foot into traffic while others had just a foot of the vehicle off the roadway. The illegal parking occurred on both sides of Palani Road and extended mauka from Henry Street.
“The reason for the citations and vehicles being towed was a safety factor for the general public, as vehicles driving on the roadway reportedly had to steer into oncoming traffic just to get around the parked vehicles,” Sgt. David Araki with the Kona Patrol Unit said.