How to Fight a Parking Ticket
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
There are many ways for fighting a parking ticket. In New York it can be slightly easier.
Steps
- Review your ticket carefully for mistakes.
- Look for a mistake of fact on the ticket. If you can provide evidence to prove a mistake, this may be enough to have the ticket or your court case dropped.
- If you contest your ticket, try to get a court date that interferes with the police officer's schedule (find out when his shifts are, etc.) In most places, if the officer who issued the ticket does not show up in court, the ticket will be thrown out.
- Adopt an attitude of contrition when you go before the judge for your hearing. Say you know you were wrong and that you have learned from your mistake. The judge is more likely to be lenient with you if he or she knows you are going to try to do better in the future.
- Provide defending evidence. If the wording is unclear about a parking area, or paint is too faded to generally recognize, a photo of the area can provide the judge with more information about the situation.
- Try using one of the following tricks to avoid getting a parking ticket all together (these methods are not guaranteed to work and you are likely better off paying the meter fee or abiding by the parking restriction rules):
- Leave a hand written dated note on your dash stating that you put money in the meter and it did not account for it. Technically you are entitled to the maximum time allowed by the meter. You're car will be marked and the time noted by passing bylaw enforcement officers as is done if the parking zone was a timed zone. This may not work if the bylaw officer does not notice the note on the dash so be sure to make it as visible as possible.
- Pop the hood of your vehicle and apply your emergency blinkers; this classifies you as an abandoned vehicle on a highway and you are less likely to receive a ticket as it requires different paperwork by the officer.
- Park on private property instead of city property. Restricting the use of private property for the purposes of parking requires that the owner of the land erects proper signage indicating that you are not allowed to park there and the signage MUST include the bylaw number and the specific wording accepted by that city as suitable no parking wording (for example simply saying "no parking" is not enforceable as there is no consequence indicated so one could say that he/she didn't know that they would receive a ticket if parking there). The best most cities can do is give you a citation indicating that you have 72 hours to remove your vehicle from the location. Be careful with this option though, as the owner of the land can have you towed by a private towing company and you will be liable for the expense. Your vehicle may also be subject to vandalism by the property owner as a subtle warning to never park there again. By using this option you are likely inconveniencing the property owner and you shouldn't do something to someone else that you wouldn't want done to you.
- Park in a space that's already been paid for and has room for two. If you drive a very small vehicle (such as a hatchback, motorcycle or scooter) and you discover an unusually large parking space, or one where another small vehicle has parked, you can get away with parking your vehicle in the same spot. Putting money in a parking meter is the equivalent of leasing that space from the city for the indicated time on the meter. Most jurisdictions don't outline any restrictions as to how many vehicles can be parked in the designated area for the time leased. Be sure your vehicle does not hang over the designated parking area lines or you may be ticketed and towed. Also, be careful not to block the other vehicle in the parking space or your vehicle may be damaged when they try to remove their vehicle from the space.
- If the spot is a timed spot with no meter, move your vehicle a few inches forward or backward before the allowed time has expired. A bylaw enforcement officer chalks your tire with an 'X' and documents where it was marked on the tire and at what time. Upon his/her return to ticket you after the time has expired, if the chalk mark is in a different location he/she cannot prove that your vehicle remained in the space and did not leave and return (which entitles you to the maximum time allowed by the space again). He/She must chalk your tire again and allow the maximum time to expire before returning to ticket your vehicle. Be careful that the chalk mark indeed is in a visibly different location than it was previously as the officer's paperwork is only an approximation of where it was marked. Ensure that the chalk mark is unarguably in a different location by being at least a quarter turn of the wheel away from where it was before.
- Leave a hand written dated note on your dash stating that you put money in the meter and it did not account for it. Technically you are entitled to the maximum time allowed by the meter. You're car will be marked and the time noted by passing bylaw enforcement officers as is done if the parking zone was a timed zone. This may not work if the bylaw officer does not notice the note on the dash so be sure to make it as visible as possible.
Tips
- If you would like to argue about the validity of the ticket, it doesn't help to contradict the police officer. So do not say something like "I didn't do it", or "I wasn't parked there" if the police officer is going to say otherwise.
- You need to find a MERIT to let the summons be dismissed.
- If there is a scribbled correction this is called a Alertation and can sometimes warrant a dismissal.
- If it is a street sweeping ticket, you can sometimes get a dismissal if there is graffiti on the sign. A bumper sticker placed in the right position would be considered graffiti.
- If you would like to argue about the validity of the ticket, it doesn't help to contradict the police officer. So do not say something like "I didn't do it", or "I wasn't parked there" if the police officer is going to say otherwise.
Warnings
- In some places, courts are giving people court dates based on the officer's schedule, so he will be able to appear in court.
- Trying to cheat the law by exploiting parking loopholes can have undesired consequences that are sometimes worse than the ticket itself.
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