Parking Ticket Question

dudemar

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This question is directed more towards the police/parking officers here on CPF; but if you have any input that relates to the matter please post ahead.

I got a parking ticket this morning. It was for parking on a street that has street sweeping from 8:30AM-11:30AM, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Today being Sep. 22, it is spot on.

There's a problem though.

The ticket I was cited for distinctly says 8:30AM, but I very clearly remember parking on the street at 9:00AM, a full 30 minutes after the cited time. I remained parked there until 12:00PM. One can argue this was a simple "mistake" because I was parked there between 8:30AM-11:30AM, but the fact that it's a full 30 minutes off is an egregious mistake.

One can argue the officer's watch was 30 minutes early. If this was the case the officer clearly lied, because I was there at 9:00AM, not 8:30AM. Had the ticket been written at 11:30AM by his watch, it would have in fact been written at 12:00PM. I think the most disturbing fact is I was parked from 9:00AM to 12:00PM, so the ticket could have very well been written at any time between 9:00AM to 12:00PM.

The question: is this citation legitimate? Could an officer legally cite someone by being off by a full 30 minutes?
 
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alpg88

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never mind what i said before i missread your post.
if cleaning was between 8,30 and 11.30 you're not supposed to park there in those times period.
doesn't mater what cop wrote, if you were not there , you wouldn't be ticketed.
the only way to get out of it, is if you prove that you were not there at 8.30.
 
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dudemar

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While the location is in fact important, I am primarily concerned about the time that it happened. I was definitely parked where the ticket says it was, but the time is way off.
 

alpg88

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While the location is in fact important, I am primarily concerned about the time that it happened. I was definitely parked where the ticket says it was, but the time is way off.
edited, missread o.p.
 
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Obijuan Kenobe

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Am I missing something? What is so 'disturbing'? If the street has cleaning 8:30-11:30, weren't you parked there illegally? If so, then as far as the spirit of the law would be concerned, it's irrelevant isn't it?

Do you think that writing the wrong time is disturbing enough to be grounds for you not to pay the fine? That's funny. It's likely the officer was late hitting that street and covered it up a bit by writing tickets for 8:30...when he/she was supposed to be there ticketing cars.

Sorry if I misread your post/story.

obi
 
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alpg88

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Am I missing something? If the street has cleaning 8:30-11:30, weren't you parked there illegally? If so, then as far as the spirit of the law would be concerned, it's irrelevant isn't it?

Do you think that writing the wrong time is grounds for you not to pay the fine?

Sorry if I misread your post/story.

obi
my bad, i misread op, you are correct
 
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dudemar

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Am I missing something? If the street has cleaning 8:30-11:30, weren't you parked there illegally? If so, then as far as the spirit of the law would be concerned, it's irrelevant isn't it?

Do you think that writing the wrong time is grounds for you not to pay the fine?

Sorry if I misread your post/story.

obi

He's right in that I technically parked there illegally, except this isn't so much about the spirit of the law. I'm calling into question the ethics of the officer in question.

The fact that the ticket was in fact written after I parked there at 9:00AM when the officer cited 8:30AM, is wrong. In fact he pretty much lied. Since I was parked there 'til 12:00PM, for all I know it could've been written at 10AM, 11AM or even after 11:30AM. It means the officer could make up whatever time he/she wants and write it on a ticket.

In other words the officer lied. It's unethical. It's possible it could've very well been written after 11:30AM.
 
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dano

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OP said street sweeping was 830-1130. Even if the metermaid's time was off, the OP is still in violation. A time error on the ticket doesnt negate it.
 

Lost Hawaiian

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I guess I'm missing the point also.

I could see a major problem if you were NOT parked there during the prohibited time and you received a ticket stating you were, but whether or not a mistake was made on the time, you yourself admit you were parked illegally.

I say pay the ticket and be done with it...

Maybe the officer couldn't afford a good watch because he spent all his money on lights :rolleyes:

Rich
 

Diesel_Bomber

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Maybe call the courthouse or wherever you go to pay the ticket and let them know that their time was off. By your own admission, you broke the law, regardless of the time on the ticket.

Man up and take responsibility for your actions.
 

dudemar

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Maybe call the courthouse or wherever you go to pay the ticket and let them know that their time was off. By your own admission, you broke the law, regardless of the time on the ticket.

Man up and take responsibility for your actions.

The way you stated your last sentence makes it sound like I intentionally broke the law. If I sped through a red light, sure, slap me with a fine. But a $65 fine because a street sweeper couldn't clean a 15' section of the street (which gets all f***ed up in a few days anyways) is not only plain wrong, but ridiculous. Heck I make a better effort than the city does cleaning up my entire street. Wow city government, you taught me (and therefore, us as citizens) a lesson in a BIG way! Lord forbid I get in the way of your almighty street sweeper anytime soon.

It's also a very easy and convenient way for a cash-strapped city to milk $65 out of a law abiding citizen, and while they're at it turn him into a "law breaker".

The point? I never intended to break the law. The city passed a law anyone can easily break, only to find out you break it after the fact. Anyone with any common sense knows the law is a farce, a joke. You can't legislate common sense.

No one bothers to question laws like this anymore because "it's the law."
 
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Lost Hawaiian

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The point is I got a ticket at 8:30AM. I got there at 9:00AM.

Yes, I understand that...what I don't understand is why you seem to think that this changes the fact that you were in the wrong.

Whether the officer that wrote the ticket can determine the correct time or not, you already admitted that you knew you weren't supposed to park there.

Rich
 

alpg88

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Yes, I understand that...what I don't understand is why you seem to think that this changes the fact that you were in the wrong.

Whether the officer that wrote the ticket can determine the correct time or not, you already admitted that you knew you weren't supposed to park there.

Rich
well that is true, however for a cop knowingly lie on the summons it much bigger offence, i will never buy that cop had no idea it was 9am, at the time he was writing ticket as it was at 8.30.
it is much bigger crime than his parking violation.

we had dozens of cops arrested in my city for that, tickets that were issued to vehicles previously summonsed, and random addresses, violations, but they were not too smart, they wrote up cars for hydrants, and bus stops at the addresses that had no hydrants and bus stops.
besides everything else they give those few good cops bad names.
 
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Greta

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The way you stated your last sentence makes it sound like I intentionally broke the law. If I sped through a red light, sure, slap me with a fine. But a $65 fine because a street sweeper couldn't clean a 15' section of the street (which gets all f***ed up in a few days anyways) is not only plain wrong, but ridiculous. Heck I make a better effort than the city does cleaning up my entire street. Wow city government, you taught me (and therefore, us as citizens) a lesson in a BIG way! Lord forbid I get in the way of your almighty street sweeper anytime soon.

It's also a very easy and convenient way for a cash-strapped city to milk $65 out of a law abiding citizen, and while they're at it turn him into a "law breaker".

The point? I never intended to break the law. The city passed a law anyone can easily break, only to find out you break it after the fact. Anyone with any common sense knows the law is a farce, a joke. You can't legislate common sense.

No one bothers to question laws like this anymore because "it's the law."
:wow: ... this is amazing... :shakehead
 

Lost Hawaiian

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well that is true, however for a cop knowingly lie on the summons it much bigger offence, i will never buy that cop had no idea it was 9am, at the time he was writing ticket as it was at 8.30.
it is much bigger crime than his parking violation.

I agree that lying would be a bigger offense, but there are a lot of uncertainties here...

We don't know that the officer was lying or intentionally putting false information down. We don't even know for a fact that the time is incorrect.

I will give the OP the benefit of the doubt that his memory of when he parked there is accurate, but I wasn't there to see for myself.

I am not taking either side on the time-accuracy issue.

But the OP said he not only parked illegally, but knew he was doing so. Just because a person thinks a law is "a farce" doesn't make them exempt from it.

My whole point is that if a person knows what the law is and chooses to disregard it, they have no sympathy from me if they get caught.

Rich
 

AnAppleSnail

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The point? I never intended to break the law. The city passed a law anyone can easily break, only to find out you break it after the fact. Anyone with any common sense knows the law is a farce, a joke. You can't legislate common sense.

I would have to disagree with this being true - there's one exception I'll mention in the next paragraph. When you mention this half-hour-wrongness in court, the next question is, "You admit to parking at 9:00 AM on Wednesday in a zone with no parking from 8:30 to 11:30?" And if you answer yes, then it'll be a quick court day for you. After the wait for your case, anyway.

I suspect that you knew you'd be parking illegally. To get a ticket for doing a normally-legal thing (parking, walking, selling stuff, hanging out) in a place where it's forbidden (no parking zone, no trespass, no soliciting, no loitering), you have to be warned not to first. That is, you can't be arrested for remaining before being asked to leave. Were parking signs posted? The question isn't whether you saw them, but whether they existed. If they were, then it's your responsibility to check them. If you routinely park in this city then you really ought to know to keep an eye out for street sweeper parking signs.

Any city can put any restrictions they want on parking. It's their parking, after all! The sign could say "No green cars this side" and the meter maids would walk around with color swatches and you'd have to obey the law. Anyway, most alternate-side parking is designed to keep really bad stuff from building up in the street. Imagine how much worse the streets would be if they didn't sweep them a few times per week? You'd probably find dead horses.

Parking laws are laws. You can argue that they are lesser laws than, say "No stealing from people," but parking has nothing to do with common sense, unlike the more obvious crimes. If you knew that the street is regularly swept at the time you parked there, you've knowingly broken a law. If you didn't know but it was posted, shame on you. And if it weren't posted, take pictures now because it's the only defense valid for parking tickets.
 

blasterman

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As for the time issue, it was likely a meter maid who posts time in 30minute increments just to make everything simplier. You were there within the allocated 'no park' time, and the judge will say 'next case'.
 

alpg88

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I agree that lying would be a bigger offense, but there are a lot of uncertainties here...

We don't know that the officer was lying or intentionally putting false information down. We don't even know for a fact that the time is incorrect.

I will give the OP the benefit of the doubt that his memory of when he parked there is accurate, but I wasn't there to see for myself.

I am not taking either side on the time-accuracy issue.

But the OP said he not only parked illegally, but knew he was doing so. Just because a person thinks a law is "a farce" doesn't make them exempt from it.

My whole point is that if a person knows what the law is and chooses to disregard it, they have no sympathy from me if they get caught.

Rich
sounds fare.

now that i think of it, and after looking carefully on my old tickets, there is a field on the ticket that has to be filled out with times in effect if ticket is for alternate side, or no parking \standing from.. to..., obviously cop had to fill out that space with 8.30 and 11.30, sometimes top portion of the ticket (2 sheets, bottom is carbon "customers" copy), moves a bit and fields don't match, i had it few times, so it might look like 8.30 was the time of offence, but in fact it is time when the rule is in affect, in wrong field,
 
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FlashKat

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Possibly the Officer has a watch that stopped, or he just misread his watch.
Are you sure that your watch is correct? Do you have proof to compare your watch to another watch the time was correct when you parked at 9:00am in a "NO PARKING" between 8:30am-11:00am.
 
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