Except in a period of emergency determined by an officer
of the Fire or Police Department or in compliance with the directions
of a police officer or traffic control device or signal, when any
vehicle shall be parked in any parking space alongside or next to
which a parking meter is located, the operator of such vehicle shall,
upon entering said parking meter space, immediately deposit or cause
to be deposited in said meter such proper coin of the United States
of America as is required for such parking meter and as is designated
by the proper direction on the meter; and when required by the directions
on the meter, the operator of such vehicle, after the deposit of the
proper coin or coins, shall also set in operation the timing mechanism
of such meter, in accordance with directions properly appearing therein;
and failure to deposit such proper coin and to set the timing mechanism
in operation when so required shall constitute a violation of this
article. Upon the deposit of such coin and the setting of the time
mechanism in operation when so required, the parking space may be
lawfully occupied by such vehicle during the period of time which
has been prescribed as indicated on said meter in which the parking
space is located. Any person placing a vehicle in a parking meter
space adjacent to a meter which indicates that unused time has been
left in the meter by the previous occupant of the space shall not
be required to deposit a coin, so long as his occupancy of said space
does not exceed the indicated unused parking time. If said vehicle
shall remain parked in any such parking space beyond the parking time
limit set for the parking space and if the meter shall indicate such
illegal parking, then, and in that event, such vehicle shall be considered
as parking overtime and beyond the period of legal parking time, and
such parking shall be deemed a violation of this article.