Parking Ticket Rant

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Before I rant, I'll admit. I'm guilty.

Spot fits 3 cars. This was 8am on a Friday morning. I've parked early at school before and usually Fridays are empty on campus. Well, front car leaves 3+ ft of space. 2nd car leaves too much space too. I hug his bumper but my bumper is probably 6 inches over the red. No time to find a new spot because I already spent 10 min circling. Midterm in 10 minutes. I ran for it. I really hoped they weren't super anal because unless you stared at it in line with the curb, it wasn't very obvious that I was barely over the red. NOT blocking a driveway (yes I know San Franciscans will tow your car if you are even 1 inch over).

Came back to a parking ticket. FML. At least I got an A on my midterm. 39.6/40 = 99%. Whatever. I'll accept this as paying for a midterm, and given its my first citation so far at school, and that this is still less than the $380 in parking permit fees I saved, I'll let it go. $12 in meter fees + a $55 citation is still a bargain.

Today I went to pay my citation online and I see TWO fucking citations for "Red Curb." I picked up only 1 stub on my windshield. Same CVC violation it says online, but nowhere did I get a second citation slip. I'll pay one no questions asked, but can I seriously get 2? I was parked there for ~3 hours, but I wasn't cited til probably 2 hours in (makes sense because they don't really start patrolling til past 9 anyway). Can they legally just write me 2 citations for the same violation in that short period of time? I mean how many citations can they write me? Can they write me one every second I'm in a violation and make me go bankrupt? I find this to be bullshit that I got 2 for the same violation in such a short period of time. I'm ok if I left my car there 2 days and I got one a day...

I should probably contest this second one huh?

And perhaps I should've just contested both instead of paying one off already... but too late.

Edit: Contested the 2nd ticket and got the result today. Taken down to a warning. Woot. $0 due.

 

[Malak]

I'd contest the 2nd one.

Similar subject, let's say you park in a privately owned parking area and the people that own it write a ticket for you. Are you legally bound to pay it? If you don't, what really happens? I assume the people that check parking lots take pictures and info and stuff.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

God the one thing I hated about Berkeley, parking. Some fucker in a Prius decided to use my friends 1 week old Jeeps bumper as a guide to see how much space he had left, then parked it with the front end of the car still smacked up against it?????

Needless to say, my friend got his revenge. lol

 

[guyver01]

Depends on the city & jurisdictions. In New York City.. you can be ticketed for the same violation EVERY MINUTE... so in an hour... you can receive 60 tickets.

In other jurisdictions.. once you have a ticket... you cannot receive another ticket for the same violation that day for that spot.

In other words.... check the local ordinances.

 

[dmcowen674]

Depends on the city & jurisdictions. In New York City.. you can be ticketed for the same violation EVERY MINUTE... so in an hour... you can receive 60 tickets.

Same in Chicago

Even though it says you have three days to resolve issue (in my case tag expired) they put a new $50 ticket on every day. Third ticket they get to tow your vehicle. Its all a scam.

 

[guyver01]

(in my case tag expired) they put a new $50 ticket on every day. Third ticket they get to tow your vehicle. Its all a scam.

yep. scam.

YOU break the law... they remove your illegal vehicle.

scam.


did you have to fill out a form and show id to get your car back?

 

[Vette73]

Contest both to play it safe. That way if there is some weird rule that the one you contested was good and you can't contest the one they admitted was wrong as you already paid etc...

 

[JoeBleed]

I got a parking ticket at an ER. The ER parking lot was full, the second lot was blocked off and filled with construction equipment so i parked in the student's parking area because it was close and i was there to actually make use of the ER.... I come out about 5 hours later to find a ticket. Issued by the local collage.. i wondered if i actually had to pay it as i'm not a student. But i decided i'd go ahead and pay it. But i wrote a message in the comment section on my check. Doubt anyone there noticed or cared.

A friend of mine got one for parking too close to a parking lot entrance. Not blocking it mind you, but apparently you can park too close to them even when the curb isn't marked.

 

[drebo]

I got one for parking in a flower bed once at college. There were no other spots, so I said "fuck it". It was only like $10.

 

[PingSpike]

I once saw a guy that parked his jeep on the street, only the cars in front and behind him were to close together for the jeep to actually fit. So he just drove half his jeep up over the curb onto the lawn and left it like that.

I got a ticket for parking in "Resident only parking"...which means an entire street belongs to the houses there and no one can park on it...and no one does park on it (legally) because anyone that lives on the street has a driveway or garage.

 

[911paramedic]

I got a parking ticket at an ER. The ER parking lot was full, the second lot was blocked off and filled with construction equipment so i parked in the student's parking area because it was close and i was there to actually make use of the ER.... I come out about 5 hours later to find a ticket. Issued by the local collage.. i wondered if i actually had to pay it as i'm not a student. But i decided i'd go ahead and pay it. But i wrote a message in the comment section on my check. Doubt anyone there noticed or cared.

A friend of mine got one for parking too close to a parking lot entrance. Not blocking it mind you, but apparently you can park too close to them even when the curb isn't marked.

collage.. lol

 

[dmcowen674]

yep. scam.

YOU break the law... they remove your illegal vehicle.

scam.


did you have to fill out a form and show id to get your car back?

Yes as a matter of fact because I am an out of towner.

 

[alfa147x]

It sounds like a campus parking ticket. I'v gotten 2 tickets dropped. One was clearly my fault but sweet talked the lady at the desk to excuse it. It worked.

The second I had a parking pass for lot B so I parked as close to lot A as possible. Between a 3 day span they changed the way the lots were laid out. I wrote a polite but clear letter contesting the 2nd ticket. 2 months later I get a letter in the mail saying they dropped it.

 

[Malak]

It sounds like a campus parking ticket. I'v gotten 2 tickets dropped.

My question is that if it isn't a government issued ticket, is it legal? Do you have to pay it? What are the consequences if you don't? If you aren't parked there any more, they aren't towing anyone, so aside from being sad campers can they do anything if you never pay it?

 

[JoeBleed]

This is what i was wondering about mine. I can see it being a problem for an actual student for the school; but for me, not being in school anymore and never went to that college. It would be nice to know if they have any authority to pass it along to the city.

 

[JoeBleed]

collage.. lol

Yea, i often end up typing that wrong.

 

[alfa147x]

My question is that if it isn't a government issued ticket, is it legal? Do you have to pay it? What are the consequences if you don't? If you aren't parked there any more, they aren't towing anyone, so aside from being sad campers can they do anything if you never pay it?

I have my doubts they are gov issued tickets. They do boot a lot of cars and then tow them. I think it's if you have 5 tickets your gets booted then if you don't pay up it gets towed.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

University of California PD issues the tickets here. They are actual police with actual squad cars and guns. I had one ticket before and they gave me a "courtesy" waive.

 

[D1gger]

At the university I attended (many decades ago), the only enforcement for the ticket was to refuse to release your grades or transcripts, so you couldn't graduate if you had outstanding tickets.

Not an issue if you weren't a student, but most people paid their tickets anyway.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Well the other thing is what if you get a parking ticket but the stub is nowhere to be found?

In this case, I got 1 stub, but not the 2nd one....

I've also been issued a parking violation in Berkeley once because I was waiting for a parking spot (street parking) to open up. Meter maid pulled up behind me in an angry fashion since I was blocking the lane for 30 seconds and then the spot opened up, so I pulled in. She gave me an angry look like I blocked her way and I left.

Two weeks later I get a fucking violation in the mail for blocking or something. I was so lazy I paid it without contesting. Never got a slip, but that's the date and time corresponded to that incident.

 

[alfa147x]

University of California PD issues the tickets here. They are actual police with actual squad cars and guns. I had one ticket before and they gave me a "courtesy" waive.

We have campus PD but they don't normally write parking citations. They hire students to do that.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I paid the first ticket, but contested the second one. I could've been more aggressive and just contested both, but oh well.

I got my result for the 2nd ticket and they changed it to a warning. Whew. At least they aren't such assholes like the one time my car got broken into in Berkeley and I went to search for a phone and they ticketed me while I was gone for 10 minutes... Bastards. Didn't take my appeal that time either... lol.

 

[zerocool84]

A street sweeping ticket costs $60 here. Too damn much just for street sweeping.

 

[Bignate603]

A street sweeping ticket costs $60 here. Too damn much just for street sweeping.

You're lucky they don't tow your vehicle on street sweeping day and your car is on the wrong side of the road, I've had that happen before. It wasn't fun.

 

[silverpig]

You're lucky they don't tow your vehicle on street sweeping day and your car is on the wrong side of the road, I've had that happen before. It wasn't fun.

I messed up and left my car in street cleaning zone in front of my apartment once. I was annoyed because they put up the signs for a week and I got tired of parking 4 blocks away and walking. In the middle of the second week people just started parking again, ignoring the signs and I was one of them.

I came home to find my car towed. Called the towing company, they didn't have it. Called the impound lot, they didn't have it. Called the city, they didn't have it.

I called to cancel my insurance (the car was a POS that I didn't really want anymore anyways), and the insurance company wouldn't let me do it unless I returned the plates. As I didn't know where my car was, I had to file a stolen car report with the cops. Just as I was about to do that, I was walking to the store and found that they had towed my car and just moved it 3 blocks from my place.