Parking Ticket Rage

[Jumpkix]

So I got a parking ticket the other day :mad2: And let me tell you, there's nothing I hate more than throwing away money except for giving it to the government. But first, a little background:

It was late Saturday night, and I took my brother (who was home on leave) downtown for some food and drink. Parking was jammed, except for one small spot between two cars that was vacant. I noticed there was a loading zone sign with an arrow at the rear of the spot, and my car was about 85 percent past the arrow and in the clear I thought. Plus it was about 22:00, so I figured I was safe. But I came back later and was greeted by a nice shiny yellow envelope underneath the windshield wiper blade :mad2:

Yea, I was irritated, but whatever. I'll just go to court with the photos I took to contest. But what really makes me upset about this is that the ticket itself has three options like normal tickets. But they all make you pay the citation first!!! In order to request a court hearing, you have to mail in a check for the fine, along with a written request for the hearing.

What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Has anyone else experienced something like this before? I have no problem paying the citation, but not before I get a court date to present my side of the situation. Maybe I'm off my hinges, but I think this is freaking ridiculous. Again, it's not the dollars, it's the principle of the matter. I don't think I should have to pay the fine until after I've gotten a court date, even if they end up refunding me the money in the end.

 

[Jumpkix]

Here are some of the pics I took with my phone:

 

[SV_Dude]

It's their way of getting their money hassle free. I got a bs ticket about a year ago and went to court to fight it. When I went to court on my assigned court date the clerk told me that if I want to dispute the ticket I will have court costs if I lose which would have cost way more than the ticket itself. Plus the next court date was 2 months down the road and I wouldn't be able to extend that date. I had no choice to pay the ticket due to risks of losing plus I had to be on the east coast for school during the only court date I could get.

The good ol gov will stick it to you every chance they get.

My advice, pay the ticket and move on. In the end, it will be a very expensive headache.

 

[bofa]

Meh, I don't think those photos will do you any good. Looks like you were in the wrong, unfortunately. But yes, they make just paying the ticket the most convenient response. Easy money.

 

[hearno]

I agree that prepaying to contest is ridiculous but looking at those pics, you were clearly in violation.

 

[Jumpkix]

I know I was in the wrong. Like I said, I have no problem paying the citation. It's $80, but life goes on. The reason really upset is because I have to pay first before I get a chance to have a hearing.

Since I spend hardly anytime downtown, I would almost prefer to park in a garage every single time to avoid this. Though it costs a bit more, I would rather my money go to anyone but our jacked up government here in Portland.

 

[hearno]

I know I was in the wrong. Like I said, I have no problem paying the citation. It's $80, but life goes on. The reason really upset is because I have to pay first before I get a chance to have a hearing.

Since I spend hardly anytime downtown, I would almost prefer to park in a garage every single time to avoid this. Though it costs a bit more, I would rather my money go to anyone but our jacked up government here in Portland.

Damnnnnnnn ours are $15-$20

 

[Jumpkix]

Damnnnnnnn ours are $15-$20

What state is that? Because I would much rather live there. Oregon is great, but Multnomah county has pissed me off to the point that I want to live elsewhere.

 

[ndcent]

$80 is waxed. $25-40 around here, little more for blocking a handicap ramp etc.

 

[hearno]

What state is that? Because I would much rather live there. Oregon is great, but Multnomah county has pissed me off to the point that I want to live elsewhere.

VA but it's not a state fee, it's decided by the individual city/county. Ours is probably the lowest in Hampton Roads. VA Beach is probably the highest due to the tourists.

 

[gshadow325]

here is what i did to avoid this rage and frustration. 100% totally legal, i have 3 variations of this on 3 different registered vehicles. also have a trophy wall of tickets NOT for me, since they got the tag wrong

 

[Jumpkix]

Damnnnnnnn ours are $15-$20

$80 is waxed. $25-40 around here, little more for blocking a handicap ramp etc.

That was actually a typo, the ticket is actually $90. Somebody kill me.

here is what i did to avoid this rage and frustration. 100% totally legal, i have 3 variations of this on 3 different registered vehicles. also have a trophy wall of tickets NOT for me, since they got the tag wrong

Nice! I need to see pics of this "trophy wall", or it didn't happen!

Unfortunately, having a fake/decorative license plate here in Oregon I can almost guarantee is illegal. Besides, won't they just cross examine your VIN?

 

[gshadow325]

That was actually a typo, the ticket is actually $90. Somebody kill me.



Nice! I need to see pics of this "trophy wall", or it didn't happen!

Unfortunately, having a fake/decorative license plate here in Oregon I can almost guarantee is illegal. Besides, won't they just cross examine your VIN?

They can write the VIN down but when they think they wrote the correct tag down, why would they? Besides i conveniently have a old parking stub dropped down covering up the vin number.OOPS. Dont forget, these are real deal DMV issued tags. Lucky here in PA we dont have bar codes to scan like NY state does!

Been a while since i got parking tickets but here is a quick picture i just took.

 

[hearno]

Unfortunately, having a fake/decorative license plate here in Oregon I can almost guarantee is illegal. Besides, won't they just cross examine your VIN?

His plate is legal, it's just hard to tell what is a "0" and what is an "O" so the when the ticket is written, it has a good chance of going against the wrong plate and he doesn't have to worry about it. Nothing illegal about that. If the police are issuing the ticket, they might verify it returns on what's in front of them, if it's a "meter maid," they just put pen to paper and won't verify anything. Our parking enforcement doesn't have the ability to do that anyways. I always check when I write a parking ticket but that's because I might write one a year and I know people try things like that but it's all part of the game.

 

[gshadow325]

His plate is legal, it's just hard to tell what is a "0" and what is an "O" so the when the ticket is written, it has a good chance of going against the wrong plate and he doesn't have to worry about it. Nothing illegal about that. If the police are issuing the ticket, they might verify it returns on what's in front of them, if it's a "meter maid," they just put pen to paper and won't verify anything. Our parking enforcement doesn't have the ability to do that anyways. I always check when I write a parking ticket but that's because I might write one a year and I know people try things like that but it's all part of the game.

LoL, it did back fire on me once. Pissed me the hell off. cocky state trooper with the new plate recognition system. @ss drives by my truck that is parked in front of my store. goes down the block, makes a U-turn comes back. gets behind my truck. sits there for a while, blocking traffic and holding up the trolley that is now 3 cars deep since he is there for 15 minutes now. gets out, i see him go into the shop next door then comes into my shop and asks who's car that is. i admit to it. asks me for my licence and registration. i ask why? he says my tint is too dark. 5% btw, hell in PA i'll get a ticket for 35% so why not go darkest. i give it to him. he checks it out comes back in and tells me to fix it or he will issue a ticket. i told him i can remove it now. i drive it in to my shop and remove it. meanwhile he still has my papers. sits in front of my store for another 15 minutes. i bring my truck back around to show him its off. when i get out he drives off with my stuff.

instead of getting aggravated and going to the barracks to complain. i just ordered new paperwork for $15 and retinted my windows 30 minutes later LoL

 

[hearno]

that's a bold move on his part over a tint violation... I actually like writing tint tickets but only because of the threat it poses to our safety. I'll probably get flamed for it but when it comes to my safety on the job, I could care less about someone's feelings. we don't have "fix-it" tickets in Va. Every summons is just that, a summons to court. You sometimes have the option to prepay depending on the violation or you can remedy the violation and bring proof to court and hope the judge takes that into account but that's it.

 

[gshadow325]

that's a bold move on his part over a tint violation... I actually like writing tint tickets but only because of the threat it poses to our safety. I'll probably get flamed for it but when it comes to my safety on the job, I could care less about someone's feelings. we don't have "fix-it" tickets in Va. Every summons is just that, a summons to court. You sometimes have the option to prepay depending on the violation or you can remedy the violation and bring proof to court and hope the judge takes that into account but that's it.

i think, and you can confirm if you ever ran one of those machines i was talking about....the recognition software did not recognize it correctly and it came back to a stolen/scofflaw ect vehicle. warranting the drive back. since the punk didnt want to admit that, and he had a live hit on his screen, he had to do something. in PA state police think they are better than every other municipality. probably because they require 4 year degree or past military experience. so they have smart but no common sense troopers

 

[hearno]

Yeah we have ALPRs. They're good but not perfect. They will give soft hits that the officer needs to verify with his eyes. The software can't differentiate between states so if your plate is "ABCDE" out of PA and there is a stolen plate out of NJ which is also "ABCDE," the system will alert to a potential stolen plate. Once the officers puts eyes on it he can see what state it is etc and go from there.

 

[SV_Dude]

I'll probably get flamed for it but when it comes to my safety on the job, I could care less about someone's feelings.

I can see your side of this. If I were behind a car getting ready to walk up to it I would be very nervous if I couldn't see what/who is in the car. On the flip side, it really irritates me when those who obey the law are told that they cannot do certain things because criminals ruin it for them.

 

[hearno]

Yup, leave it to the few to spoil things for the many. I was at the tint shop the other day and REALLY wanted 15% up front but went with VA legal 50% which was basically a waste of $$ cause it didn't do anything.