I've been told that putting money into someone else meter was illegal.

There was something on TV about a guy in Michigan putting money in people's meters, the cops gave him a ticket.

They want our money, and anybody getting in their way is going to get it.

I'll beat it.
 

There was no red curb or signage and I was more than 3' away w 2 independent witnesses who were there when I got back to my car. This was in an industrial area of DT on a dead end street where no one need that "ramp".

Strangely enough, I believe that people who really do block access ramps or park in handicap zones should get a fat ticket. But this wasn't it. I'd really like to see them do a sting and put some doctors in jail for writing handicapped parking prescriptions for people who don't really need them here but that's another thread.

My car at the time:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492186731.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492186731.JPG

Is the car actually registered in Minnesota?

It has MN. registration. Why?

MN., (and every other state), doesn't give a schit about collecting fines for other states. This would never hold up my registration. But I'm going to fight it anyways and file a complaint against the corrupt meter maid.

No reason, I know you are from there and visit regularly.Edit: They may have seen the out of state plate and thought it would be an easy ticket.

There's the problem: there is absolutely no downside to writing BS tickets. They could ticket every single car in the city, and a very high percentage will just suck it up and pay it. If someone fights a ticket, and wins - oh well. Cops get overtime (I think) to go to court and testify against you; you have have to defend yourself on your own dime. The same goes for the automated red light tickets. If there in an incentive for the municipality to write BS tickets, they will do so. The only way I can see out of this is to take away their financial incentive: give them a small cut to cover basic costs, and the rest goes to the state general fund.

Happened to me in Philly a few years ago. Blue paint was gone from the curb. There was a sign, but it was 20' away and nailed to a tree 15' above the ground. I didn't see it, of course.

Came back to my car and it was gone. Between towing and the fine, that one cost me around $900. I knew that trying to fight anyone in Philly would be a waste of time.

Sucks, Denis. I hope this doesn't affect your "fun" budget :)

You may have another issue. From your photos, it looks like you are not parked parallel to the curb along side the ramp, but rather parked in front of the ramp, on the street, parallel to a garage(?) opening. Regardless of red curb or signage, you appear to be blocking the ramp. Whether or not the code sited is correct, you may be in violation of something and those pictures before a judge may be more incriminating than not. You are clearly blocking the ramp as your car is not off to the side of the apron. The side of the apron begins where the drain pipe is located and, theoretically, the 3' starts there. I wouldn't fight it if I were you.

Edit: On closer inspection, the background of the picture looks like a utility pole which places the ramp on a corner. There must be a reason why you didn't park parallel to the pole, but instead, headed into the corner. Still, the picture shows your car blocking an access ramp directly, as well as infringing on the 3' buffer on the pole side of the ramp. CVC section 22500 states, "No person shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle whether attended or unattended, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a peace officer or official traffic control device, in any of the following places: (l) In front of or upon that portion of a curb that has been cut down, lowered, or constructed to provide wheelchair accessibility to the sidewalk."[/B]

Looks like you're cooked, unless the judge dismisses due to the technicality that the wrong code was cited on the ticket. If you still decide to fight it, you might take photos of the area without your car in them. If the photos do not show a red curb or signage, then use them to argue you were parked legally and there are no indicators as per CVC 22522. If the officer is not there to point out the true situation, you may skate.

When I lived in an area that had terrible zoning with many more cars than planned off street parking/garages. The norm was parking on curves. Many had access cuts for wheel chairs and such. The city refused to issue tickets as they were "access" cuts and not handicapped access cuts. WTF is the difference? Blue paint......dickless wonders....

Hilarious

If you are living in California, and you are driving a car registered in another state, they are liable to stick it to you for not registering it here.

Nobody needing to use the ramp has nothing to do with it.

It was a jab at that friggin gas tax Moonbeam signed. I thought tix and registration was supposed to take care of it.

Don't have a lot of time for the internet today but;

A) there is absolutely no reason not to fight it. There is no additional penalty if you lose.

B) There is no "judge", per se. You do not go to court over parking tickets in Los Angeles. You fight it by written declaration online and it takes about 10 minutes out of your life. There is no court as you are imagining it where some officer has to show up to "point out" anything.

C) Most of the other assumptions in your post are wrong about the parking situation where this occurred. And the "ramp" was not blocked. A wheelchair the size of a car could still use it.

Someone else in our building got the same ticket in the same spot, (probably from the same eunuch parking loser), and beat it by written declaration. He or she wrote on the ticket that I was 2' from the ramp. That's a lie. That's the basis for the ticket, not blocking the ramp. :rolleyes:

I live in more than one state. Where my cars are registered is where I was when I bought them, generally speaking. I have vehicles in various states and soon in various countries. Thanks for your concern, though. Now get back to work. :rolleyes:

Well, if the system is as you describe, then you do have nothing to lose by fighting it. It still may not be to your benefit to submit the photos with your car in them, but instead do a verbal declaration like your friend. Remember, you are still dealing with a faceless bureaucrat who will decide what constitutes blocking a ramp. Clearly, photos which show no red curbs or signage will probably be good supporting evidence.

Good luck, and let us know the outcome.

Thanks, will do. They encourage you to submit photographic evidence if you have it, she did and beat her ticket. I'll keep this thread in the loop when it's over.

Need to stress again, people who actually block handicap ramps deserve a nice ticket. This is where this occurred, imagine my car in the first space:


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492215247.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492215247.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1492215247.JPG

In theory, they spend the gas tax on road repairs. It gets lost between here and there, most of the time. They put a lot of that stuff in the general fund and spend it on whatever.

Denis, if you don't think the state of California is going to mess with you if you live here and your cars are registered in another state, you are as stupid as you are disagreeable. Good luck with that being an a-hole thing.

You need to drop the, "I only mess with people if they mess with me first lie"

Whaaaa? :confused:

Just go away, dude. I've asked you so many times before. Don't care what you think about various things, I think you're an idiot. I know quite a bit more than you about vehicle registration laws and I'm doing fine w my residency status.

Go. Away.

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I am sorry about your ticket and more then anything else, you are inconvenienced. I am sure you know that the meter maids are working extra hard to ding ya in places like Downtown, China Town, Little Tokyo and Hollywood. There's one for every three blocks. I remember seeing them from 6th and Hill on the corner of a building from the 6th floor just hanging out with my dad at his jewelry shop counting the times they would pass the same block within 30 minutes. The average was 17 times. More on the weekends. This was some 15 years back. No other city can come close to West Hollywood. Those meter maids take their jobs damn serious.