My first ticket...

[VTEC_Inside]

Nobody fights $20 parking tickets, but that's your call.

I have for the same reason. Took me 20min and no more fine. I don't recommend going too far out of your way, but if you don't deserve it, fight it.

[CJ]

He deserves it, though.  He clearly did not have his parking permit visible, so he gets a $20 ticket.  You'll spend more money in fees than on the actual ticket itself.

[TheIntrepid]

He deserves it, though.  He clearly did not have his parking permit visible, so he gets a $20 ticket.  You'll spend more money in fees than on the actual ticket itself.

Whether it was up or it wasn't up doesnt' make a difference. The car was too snowed in for them to see inside the window. They usually leave the ticket under the wiper but since it was covered in snow, it was tucked into the top of the door crack.

My point is, I paid in excess of $600 to have 4 cars' license plates registered onto this campus. The parking officers carry PDAs with the database, so if he punched inmy license plate he'd have seen it was registered on the campus.

[The Pirate]

Suck it up and pay it dude.  It's 20 bucks, and the system of appeals is set up so you generally lose.  It sucks, and it's bullshit, but I don't really see you emerging victorious.

Should you not pay it, or appeal, lose and still not pay, they will hold back your grades and ultimately your diploma.  It ain't worth it.

[bing_oh]

This reminds me of a guy I gave a parking ticket to for parking in a yellow zone that contributed to a crash (realize that I normally don't do parking tickets...can't stand em, personally). The ticket was all of $10. He refused to pick it up until I threatened to cite him into court for it. He comes to pick it up, but doesn't pay it. I have to actually cite him into court for a misdemeanor, which I have to send Certified Mail because he won't pick up that ticket either. He ends up wasting an afternoon in court and getting fined $60+ over a simple $10 parking ticket. Why waste all that time, effort, and money over something so petty?

[TheIntrepid]

Suck it up and pay it dude.  It's 20 bucks, and the system of appeals is set up so you generally lose.  It sucks, and it's bullshit, but I don't really see you emerging victorious.

Should you not pay it, or appeal, lose and still not pay, they will hold back your grades and ultimately your diploma.  It ain't worth it.

I have to deal with the City of Mississauga instead of the school. I already went to the school parking office and they gave me a number to call. If I fight and lose, I'll pay. I'm not THAT rebellious.

[MaxPower]

My point is, I paid in excess of $600 to have 4 cars' license plates registered onto this campus. The parking officers carry PDAs with the database, so if he punched in my license plate he'd have seen it was registered on the campus.

Your parents (I assume?) paid $600 for the parking passes so that you could park on campus without getting a ticket.  Sure, it would have been nice for the parking officer to cover for your mistake, but looking out for you isn't his job.  Its a $20 mistake.  Live and learn.  I bet you'll never forget to hang your pass now. 

I imagine you won't have a hard time getting the ticket overturned.  This is such a minor matter and you're a first-time offender.  They'd have to be a little crazy or very strict not to work with you a little.  At my school we'd walk into the public safety office, explain our sorry sob story, and for first-timers they'd tear up the ticket.  If you had a ton of tickets they'd negotiate.  Edit: you posted while I was typing..this is now irrelevant.

On that note, there are better things to do than fight about the worthiness of a parking ticket.    So I'll end by giving you what I think you wanted out of this thread in the first place:  "Wow, you're a badass! Sounds like you're gonna fight it though, right?  Congratulations, welcome to the ticket fraternity!" 

[The Pirate]

This reminds me of a guy I gave a parking ticket to for parking in a yellow zone that contributed to a crash (realize that I normally don't do parking tickets...can't stand em, personally). The ticket was all of $10. He refused to pick it up until I threatened to cite him into court for it. He comes to pick it up, but doesn't pay it. I have to actually cite him into court for a misdemeanor, which I have to send Certified Mail because he won't pick up that ticket either. He ends up wasting an afternoon in court and getting fined $60+ over a simple $10 parking ticket. Why waste all that time, effort, and money over something so petty?

Please tell me you got some satisfaction out of that end result?  I would have.

[sandertheshark]

When I lived in Hoboken I averaged about twenty parking tickets a year.  I looked at it as just sixty bucks I paid for a great parking spot.

[bing_oh]

Please tell me you got some satisfaction out of that end result?  I would have.

You have NO idea how amused I was to find that disposition from the court in my mailbox when I came into work that afternoon. I've never laughed so hard over some schmuck getting a $60 fine in my life.

[dazzleman]

Trep, I saw the title and thought I was going to read about a nice fat speeding ticket, and I see this..... it's a bit of a letdown, man....   A speeding ticket would have been so much more fun....

Seriously though, if you think this ticket is a big deal, then you haven't been in nearly enough trouble.  This is nothing.  This proves that you really NEED a speeding ticket to give you a sense of perspective.

Your mom sounds like how my mom was when I was that age.  I learned quickly not to tell her that type of stuff.  It made life a lot easier.

I got a ticket like this a couple of years ago.  I had forgotten to put my new parking permit in my windshield, in place of the expired permit, so I got written up for parking with an expired permit.  I just made a copy of the new permit and sent it in with the ticket, accompanied by a brief letter explaining that I had a permit.  The ticket was dismissed.  I suggest you do the same.

[dazzleman]

Whether it was up or it wasn't up doesnt' make a difference. The car was too snowed in for them to see inside the window. They usually leave the ticket under the wiper but since it was covered in snow, it was tucked into the top of the door crack.

My point is, I paid in excess of $600 to have 4 cars' license plates registered onto this campus. The parking officers carry PDAs with the database, so if he punched inmy license plate he'd have seen it was registered on the campus.

It's not the officer's job to cover your mistake by checking your plate number if your permit isn't displayed.  It's up to you to have the permit displayed.  End of story.

Still, you can probably stand a good chance of getting the ticket thrown out if you just provide a copy of the permit, to show you were actually parking legally.

[dazzleman]

When I lived in Hoboken I averaged about twenty parking tickets a year.  I looked at it as just sixty bucks I paid for a great parking spot.

That's all?  The parking in Hoboken is so bad that I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you got 200 tickets a year.

[sandertheshark]

That's all?  The parking in Hoboken is so bad that I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you got 200 tickets a year.

I'm not that much of a scofflaw.

[dazzleman]

Suck it up and pay it dude.  It's 20 bucks, and the system of appeals is set up so you generally lose.  It sucks, and it's bullshit, but I don't really see you emerging victorious.

Should you not pay it, or appeal, lose and still not pay, they will hold back your grades and ultimately your diploma.  It ain't worth it.

I've done well with parking tickets lately.

I rarely get one, but I've had 3 in the last couple of years.  The first one, as I mentioned, was for failing to display my permit at the train station.  I left the expired one on my windshield.  I just copied the new one and sent it in to them, and the ticket was dismissed.

I also got one in Boston for allegedly parking in a resident-only zone with no permit.  There were no signs indicating that it was a resident only zone, and I sent a letter to the city indicating that.  They dismissed the ticket without admitting it had been issued improperly (which it clearly was).

The last one was for parking in a permit zone without a permit.  I was completely guilty of this.  I thought I could get away with it, and I got zapped.  I paid that ticket.  It was nothing.

[MX793]

Parking tickets aren't real tickets.  They aren't a moving violation, you don't get any points on your license.  $20 isn't even a particularly pricy parking penalty.  Hell, they could have towed your car and made you not only pay for the ticket, but for towing and impound (they used to have random towing days when I was in college where anybody parked without a permit got towed without warning).  Just mail your $20 and move on.

[SaltyDog]

I'm not that much of a scofflaw.

COP: Mr Kramer, let me tell you a story. In nineteen-seventy-nine I ticketed a brown Dodge Diplomat for parking in a Church zone. That fine was never paid, and since then that scofflaw has piled up more parking tickets than anyone in New York City. For sixteen years I pursued him, only to see him give me the slip time and time again. I never got a clean look at his face, but he's become my 'white whale'. Mr Kramer, that day was yesterday! But thanks to you, I don't know if I'll ever get that chance again!

KRAMER: I like that eye patch.

[dazzleman]

I'm not that much of a scofflaw.

I always thought a scofflaw was a person who didn't pay his parking tickets.  I don't think simply getting parking tickets makes you a scofflaw.

[SVT_Power]

I just paid my parking ticket without telling my parents when i got it few weeks ago

[Rupert]

I've had four parking tickets, and all of them were bullshit on one level or another. The first two happened on the same morning while parked in the same spot. My car didn't want to start the previous night and I was in a no parking during the day zone. I sent in a letter explaining the circumstances and still had to pay.

I got one for parking in a pay lot right next to and not separated from a free lot. There weren't any visible signs, and I was gonna take some photos to send in, but then I realized that the ticket was from some private company, and it was in a city I probably wouldn't be back to frequently, so I never bothered to pay. I also sold that car a month or so later.

The last one I got was for parking in a spot that was adjacent and not clearly separated from a lot I had a permit for. I took a photo, took it to the court, and they cut it down by half. The judge (actually, a county commissioner) even commented that a lot of people got tickets in that spot a lot. That kind of angered me, because clearly there was insufficient signage, and they knew about it, but did nothing.

Yeah, me and Trep are hella hard core. 0_o

[TheIntrepid]

Yeah, me and Trep are hella hard core. 0_o

You also get twenty points for using the word "hella"

[etypejohn]

Ends up being one for parking. Apparently my rear-view mirror parking permit wasn't displayed. It was indeed in my centre console from when I got my windshield replaced yesterday.

I'm still going to fight it because the parking ticket clearly says 1:13PM, and at 1:05 when I went to grab something from the trunk it was completely snowed in and you couldn't see if there was a permit or there wasn't without brushing snow off the windshield.

I went back out at 1:30 and saw the ticket and the windshield hadn't been touched, save for the envelope for the ticket stuck in the doorframe.

It's $20.



I'm pissed, I've never gotten a ticket before.

First you're pissed and then kind of proud?  Which is it.   

Anyway, in the world of driving related citations parking tickets are pretty low on the totem pole.  Parking tickets are like training bras.  Yeah, it's a real bra but there really isn't much in it.  pay it and come back when you get a real ticket.   

[Rupert]

You also get twenty points for using the word "hella"

Sarcasm detector on the fritz?

[CALL_911]

I'm all for saving money, but not at the expense of wasting that kinda time.

[Rupert]

Well, lesse... Trep's 18 or 19, yeah? So, he's worth about $8/hr. As long as the whole thing takes less than two and a half hours, and the ticket gets totally thrown out, he's ahead.

[TheIntrepid]

Well, lesse... Trep's 18 or 19, yeah? So, he's worth about $8/hr. As long as the whole thing takes less than two and a half hours, and the ticket gets totally thrown out, he's ahead.

I used to make over $40 an hour. So what? That doesn't justify what I'm worth as an employee.

[sandertheshark]

I always thought a scofflaw was a person who didn't pay his parking tickets.  I don't think simply getting parking tickets makes you a scofflaw.

Parking illegally upwards of 200 times a year would fit my definition.

[Rupert]

I used to make over $40 an hour. So what? That doesn't justify what I'm worth as an employee.

Go find a job in a grocery store, as a landscaper, or as some kind of office assistant. If you get offered more than US$8/hour, I'll eat my hat. (Unless yer minimum wage is higher than that...).

[SVT_Power]

I got another parking ticket today. what the fuck.

[dazzleman]

Parking illegally upwards of 200 times a year would fit my definition.

I guess you're right.  Though in a place like Hoboken, if you don't have off-street parking, there are often few options to park legally if you don't want to circle the block all night....