Can you ever get ticketed at a broken meter?

[her209]

I parked my car at a meter the other day. So I proceeded to put in my change ($0.25 for hr) and the first quarted wouln't take. ie, it wouldn't fall so I put in another thinking it would push the first down. Nope. Tried a third one. The first 2 fell but I didn't get any time. WTF!!! On the fourth quarter, it read FAIL on the meter. Grrr. So I figured, ah sh!t, fvck it. So I left. I come back 3 hours later and on the front windshield wiper is a nice ticket (reason EXPIRED METER). :| I checked the meter and the FAIL is not there anymore. WTF!!! The ticket is $30.00....

UPDATE: I drove by the meter the other day and someone else was parked at the meter. I looked at the meter and it didn't seem to be working either. I didn't actually get out, just glanced to see if the darn thing was red, which is was. But the person didn't get a ticket. At least not yet.

What should I do? Obviously fight it... but would they believe me, and could they say I can't park at a FAILed meter? A lot of people do it and have never gotten tickets. So you can see my situation. :frown:

 

[spanky]

<< Can you ever get ticketed at a broken meter? >>



yes, i have in NYC. i just mailed in the ticket and told them it was broken. i guess they investigated the matter and dismissed the ticket.

 

[dakata24]

so it wasnt actually jammed? i hate those new meters that dont require you to turn the knob btw..

i dunno what you shuold do. ive parked at meters (the old ones with the knob) that were jammed and never ran into a problem with getting ticketed.. and if it was jammed and a bag wasnt covering it, id slap one over it..

arent most meters 2 hr limits? maybe the meter maid unjammed it. left, came back, and u were still parked there... i dunno. id find it hard to fight something like that.

 

[The Stigenator]

Since you live in Los Angeles, you can call the Los Angeles Dept of Traffic and Roads or go to a local police station and ask where to file a complaint of a non working meter.
then give them where the meter is. They should refund you if they test the meter has failed. Normally on every meter there should be a sticker that says "If it fails call so an so for repair" and until then you can park for free. This was after it was exposed that half the meters in hollywood and other parts of high traffic areas werent working but people still got tickets.

 

[her209]

This was around the USC area. I got one before this one... same damn thing at a different meter, but I waited too long to contest the ticket. :|

 

[Sandor]

If a meter is broken, you get to park there for free- but you still only get to park for the maximum time alloted, which it will say on the meter. If you were there for 3-hours, you might have stayed past the time allowed (max at a meter is usually 2 hours). If the max is longer than you were there, then you've got a case.

 

[yakko]

They can ticket you here.

 

[her209]

The max is 4 hours.