Parking Ticket - Do I have grounds to fight it?

[IliketoPuck]

All,

Just got my first ticket in the mail from the extremely efficient park plus mobile cars.

Here is the scenario:

My Fiancee came to pick me up from work the other day, and got lost on the way downtown. She pulled over briefly at the corner of 5th Ave and 1st SW to check her GPS. She was pulled over next to a fire hydrant, and of course the Park Plus car goes by as she is pulled over.

The photographs I recieved with the ticket clearly show her in the driver's side of the car. She wasn't there for more than two minutes, and never left the car.

Do you think I have grounds to tell the Parking Authority to shove off?

Thanks and Cheers.

[You Need a Thneed]

I'd tell the parking authority to shove off.

It SHOULDN'T take more than a phone call to get out of that one. Whether it will or not, that's a different story.

She was never "parked" under the definition of parking for the purpose of parking tickets.

[ken0042]

3. (1)
a driver of a vehicle shall not stop or park that vehicle:

(f)within 5 metres of any fire hydrant, or when the hydrant is not located at
the curb, within 5 metres of the point on the curb nearest the hydrant;

She was stopped.

[IliketoPuck]

So I'm hooped?

[ken0042]

I think so. There is a reason there is a distinction between "parked" and "stopped."

And "No stopping" does not mean "very little stopping" or "some stopping; as long as it is quick." Same as a "No Left Turn" doesn't mean "No left turn unless you can do it quickly."

[IliketoPuck]

Fair enough, thanks for the info. I will pay the vultures when I get home.

[dre]

You can write them a cheque on a piece of toilet paper.

[4X4]

Anyone know what would happen under a similar scenario - say I pulled over in a parking permitted zone, just to text or punch in a GPS addy or something, and the parking car goes by? I assume I get a ticket in the mail; can I fight that ticket?

[IliketoPuck]

You could say that it went by before you had a chance to get out and pay for being in the zone. IIRC there was someone here that had something like that happen and they let them off the hook.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

You could say that it went by before you had a chance to get out and pay for being in the zone. IIRC there was someone here that had something like that happen and they let them off the hook.

I don't know this to be true, but I've always assumed that before they send out tickets, they look to see if the license plate indeed purchased time in that zone within a few minutes, to eliminate the scenario you speak of.

What I really want to know is whether I'm actually at risk of getting a ticket for being responsible and pulling the f*** over to text or program my GPS. Or even a fricken bee flys in my truck and I pull over to swat it out. Who knows? If I'm sitting in my truck, pulled over for just a minute or two, can I get a ticket, and will it stick?

[Canada 02]

I've heard of photo-radar, but photo-parking? What if there was an emergency vehicle, police or ambulance, and you are obligated to pull over, stop to create room?

[ken0042]

I'm pretty sure that part of the parking camera thing is they look to see if the driver is sitting in the car still. I would think that is what is meant by stopping as opposed to parking.

[holden]

Man Wipes His Ass With Parking Ticket Sends It Back

Alexander Bailey, a 22-year-old from the Chicagoland area, allegedly also wrote a note on the ticket that he had wiped himself with it, lest there be any doubt.

The city employee who found the crappy ticket informed police who then charged and locked up Bailey, who was later released after posting $500 bail.

http://guyism.com/2010/04/man-charge...ng-ticket.html

[taffeyb]

and there's an Audi that's parked outside the TCPL tower all day for several weeks. Guessing that it's cheaper to pay the tickets or is there some trick? My cynical nature and speaking of Chicago (spent 2 years ex-pat there), if you support the police association there via a donation, they give you a nice little sticker that mentions the support. They make effort to suggest that it may get you off of a parking/speeding ticket if they notice the sticker...

[SilverGS]

Yeah I stopped in a spot thinking of parking there but then changed my mind. Before I could pull out the park plus car went by and I was tagged.

In hind sight I should of just got out and paid .50 or something but stupid me didn't think of it at the time. No way to prove I was only there for 1 min so I just paid the fine

[Raekwon]

I went into Shaw to drop off a rental PVR and instead of paying I put a rag over my plate. I'm sure they would have towed me but I was only running in and out and didn't wanna get screwed.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by taffeyb

and there's an Audi that's parked outside the TCPL tower all day for several weeks. Guessing that it's cheaper to pay the tickets or is there some trick? My cynical nature and speaking of Chicago (spent 2 years ex-pat there), if you support the police association there via a donation, they give you a nice little sticker that mentions the support. They make effort to suggest that it may get you off of a parking/speeding ticket if they notice the sticker...

Montreal had this for awhile but it was for the unofficial police association. Who would have guessed rackets like this from MTL and CHI?

[edn88]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

Do you think I have grounds to tell the Parking Authority to shove off?

I think that I would at least make the attempt - and rather than telling them to shove off, I would be polite and explain the misunderstanding.

If you don't try, then you are going to pay the ticket for sure, and if you do try, the best case is you get off free, worst case is you are still paying the ticket (and wasted ten minutes writing a letter).

[Bill Bumface]

When I was in university and broke i'd park in the overflow at brentwood. One day the spots were full and I had an exam so I parked on a patch of grass in the lot adjacent to a spot and got a ticket. I disputed it online and said the ground was covered in snow so I couldn't see the grass, ticket thrown out.

[Hemi-Cuda]

tell her to pull into an Impark lot next time, those tickets are more worthless than the paper they're printed on