Got a little parking ticket today

[speeder]

And it's bogus. The statement on the ticket isn't true and no infraction occurred.

At least it's not much $$.

[Jestocost]

Tickets can really mess up your day.

I got a ticket last week in Little Tokyo. Yes, the meter had expired.
But, I was at the car 3 minutes after the time on the ticket and in view of the car at least 1.5 minutes before as I crossed the street and there was no sign of any $%&%# parking enforcement officer anywhere on the (long, straight) street.
To add insult to injury, I got a second ticket for not having a front license plate. It had been knocked off a week before and I had not had the time to have it replaced.

Yep, the meter person was correct and I am at fault. Just gotta watch your back here in LA.

Very expensive sushi.

[Bill Douglas]

Argh, you could have had more fun with that sort of money other than giving it to the city

[ckissick]

I once got a ticket for an expired parking meter. But when I got there I still had time left on the meter!

[fred cook]

The "Beat" is number 666, the mark of the beast! You hang out in the wrong part of town! Run, Forest, run!!!

[craigster59]

Look on the bright side, the $$$ will go towards helping to fix our roads.

[masraum]

[bleucamaro]

I have one that's being fought right now.

Sacramento recently changed to "Smart Meters". I parked at a "2hr+" meter at 4:15pm. Put in my card, pushed the plus button to add time. At a 2hr+ meter, the price is a base rate for the first 2 hours. After that, the rate increases. As I added time, the time stopped adding at 6pm. That made me think the time meters were active only till 6. I came back to the car later at night and there was a ticket time stamped at 7:55pm. I walked the whole block and there were no signs stating metered hours.

I contested the ticket online, but they will probably deny it because they have a big fancy arena to pay for.

Makes me want to take a cutting torch to those meters.

[Gogar]

wow that ain't a little anything

[fastfredracing]

I once got a parking ticket in the city of Philadelphia. Funny part was, I had never been to Philly , and it was on a project car that had not left my garage yet. It was up on stands with the motor and trans removed at the time of the infraction.

[McLovin]

Just don't pay it, the owner of the car will get stuck with the bill.

[Rick Lee]

I don't know if this works anymore, but when I worked in DC and had VA plates, after racking up a few parking tickets in DC, I could just buy a new set of plates from DMV for $10. VA ignored communications from DC about parking tickets. So the only way DC could really enforce them on VA cars was to boot a car that had more than three outstanding tickets. They could only search by plate number, so you just had to get new plates after three tickets and not do it too often. Worked lke a charm for me.

[ossiblue]

To the OP, I hope you took pictures of your car and how it was parked.

Here's the text of the CVC you supposedly violated: "22522. No person shall park a vehicle within three feet of any sidewalk access ramp constructed at, or adjacent to, a crosswalk or at any other location on a sidewalk so as to be accessible to and usable by the physically disabled, if the area adjoining the ramp is designated by either a sign or red paint."

Note the underlined portion. Was there a red curb extending from the ramp? Was there signage describing the 3' requirement? If not, you have a case. If there was a red curb but it did not extend 3' and you parked beyond it but still within 3' of the ramp, you're likely stuck. You could argue that you, like any reasonable person, "assumed" the red was the violation limit and you parked beyond it and the judge may agree, especially if it is close to 3' in length. You might even argue that having a shorter than 3' red is a form of entrapment meant to generate revenue rather than protect the rights of the disabled. It's really up to the details. I'd be interested to see a picture of the area or an explanation from you as to the details.

[Joe Bob]

Handicapped access tix aren't cheap....

[Rick Lee]

In college a buddy parked in a handicapped spot that was not marked and got a monster ticket. When he pulled the car out of the spot, the painting of the handicapped symbol was so faint, it was very hard to make out unless you were standing over it. Sign in front was gone. He came back the next day with a camera and it had been freshly repainted and a new sign installed. This was long before smart phones.

I got one in DC a few min. after midnight on Jan. 1. It was for an expired registration decal on my VA plates. I had just returned from a Xmas visit to NJ, had grabbed my mail and then driven to work (restaurant back then). My new reg. decals were in that pile of mail, but it was pouring rain, so I didn't put them on. DC was just waiting for me.

[Joe Bob]

Same thing happened to me. Fortunately I was a photo student and had a camera. The chickenschitz mall cop came by while I was snapping away. Refused to tear up the ticket as did the stupidviser (he had a clipboard). Fought the ticket, neither showed up as witnesses. Kicked me loose.

[Rick Lee]

I started carrying one of those disposable cameras in the glove box before cell phones had cameras. Another time I parked in front of a real estate office and there was a cop sitting in his car across the street. There was a pole near my car with a black arrow pointing back toward my car, but that was it. Came out five min. later and there was a parking ticket. I called the cop's precinct and got him on the phone, asked him why he wrote that ticket when there was no "no parking" sign there. He said that, while the sign with the "P" and circle and slash through it was missing, I should have known from the black arrow that it was a no parking zone. I then asked why he didn't just say something, since he saw me park there and get out of my car. He said that wasn't his job. I said I'd see him in court. I brought photos to court and the cop had the same photos. Judge took one look at the photo and dismissed it without asking me a single question. I think police should be on the hook for tickets they write that get beaten in court.

[JavaBrewer]

Many years ago I parked in a 1 hr parking zone to pickup a food to go order. 10 minutes later I have my food and also have a parking ticket for exceeding the time. No way to fight something like that - it was a $40 fine. Rick, I remember you flaming me about not fighting it, but the few times I have tried to fight a fine/ticket, it resulted in lost time/wages, lots of aggravation, and full fine.

[Rick Lee]

^^^

That sucks. But I have fought every parking ticket and have never lost. One was from Jersey City, where I had never been, and was written on a day I was out of the country and my car garaged. It was a "computer error." Gotta take the incentive out of that for the state.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by speeder

And it's bogus. The statement on the ticket isn't true and no infraction occurred.

At least it's not much $$.

We had Hash Bash on a Saturday here in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago, lots of people from out of town parking illegally.

I walk up to my truck legally parked on the street Sunday morning, a spot I have been parking at for 25 years and there is a parking ticket on the windshield.

One of my neighbors told the cop it was a legal parking space, but he did not listen. My other neighbor saw the cop ticket all three cars in a row. Another two neighbors were out Sunday and saw me walk up to my truck where it had been parked, between my wife and myself that's six witnesses.

I took photos, made a composite image/collage including an Google Earth view of the block will all the legal spots showing/taken.

I went to the "Parking Referee" , showed him my photos and explained the situation.

He would not wave the ticket until he saw the photos the cop was supposed to take. I received official verification that the ticket had been dismissed the next day.

The Parking Referee said the other two cars had paid the ticket and asked me why they would do that. I explained what it took; I had taken time to take photos, compile and edit the photos, pay for color copies, pay for parking down town, talk to witnesses and took an hour or two out of my schedule to meet with him.

I said for most people, especially out of town people fighting the ticket via email would take more time than it was worth.

It's a scam, and they denied it was, but everyone knows the truth.