City
Another Bogus Parking Ticket
Today I went with an old friend for sushi in Bloor West Village. I took the car. I parked the car. I proceeded to the ticket machine, popped in my credit card at 7:12pm, and bought time until 9:00pm. Dinner and conversation were lovely.
At 8:47pm, I returned to my car and found a dreaded yellow parking ticket on my windshield. My reaction was most certainly of the WTF!? variety. This was the second time in one month that I'd gotten a totally bogus parking ticket! Apparently parking officer _____ thought I didn't pay for parking, even though my stub and expiration time were placed visibly enough on my dash. There's absolutely no reason why someone who is trained in this job shouldn't have seen my stub, and I'm starting to think that they either don't care or they're doing it on purpose.
I looked around hoping to see a parking vulture nearby, but none were to be found. Calling the phone number on the back of the ticket only frustrated me further. So what do I do now?
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I have to arrange to appear in court to protest the infraction, but I'm almost inclined to just pay the fine (even though I did nothing wrong) rather than waste time trying to protest my case. Maybe this is what the city is hoping might be the response? None of the four trial locations are particularly close to where I live, and I would have to take off time during working hours to appear in court. There's a quick $30 for you, City of Toronto.
The kicker is that In late August the same scenario happened to me downtown. "Failure to display receipt in windshield". Bogus.
Is there a parking blitz still in effect? Are the officers getting sloppy, or is there a greater conspiracy to dig up here? I don't know. All I know is that I'm out $60, illegitimately. I can't possibly be the only one that has been wrongfully fined, am I?
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I just had to mail them the ticket & receipt (keeping copies) - and they cancelled the ticket for me... no court... +/- 5 min of effort...
One more thing - the credit card function does not work on most of the automated machines in Toronto. The rollers that move the credit card back and forth don't seem to stand up to our winters. You generally have to pry your card out once they fail.
I'm sure the ticket will be cancelled when you provide the parking receipt.
But I do not intend to pay for my "sin" when I'm done my part to abide by the law to the full extent and am erroneously slapped with illegitimate fines.
This shouldn't turn into a "ride a bike" or "take the TTC" argument. The issue I'm trying to tackle here is improper city officer practices.
No Standing - motorists are only permitted to receive and discharge passengers. Typically used in the area of TTC bus stops.
source:
http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/parking/parking_faq.htm
I don't do things on principle. In my opinion, it is better to be logical.
When I'm being falsely accused of breaking the laws when in fact I'm being certain to follow them I will fight on principle. This is especially true if I'm being fined.
Your point still stands though - you should never have gotten the ticket in the first place and ANY effort on your behalf here is too much.
I paid it but only because it would have cost me more than that to fight it.
Here is how it happened: Firstly, I was parked for two and a half hours on a street with no signs. Secondly, I left for half an hour. Thirdly, I came back and parked on an identical parallel street that's one block away. Forty minutes later they gave me a ticket for parking longer than 3 hours. I decided to take it to court. Three weeks later I received a notice of impending conviction in mail. As it turned out,few days before the other ticket, I got another ticket(that I never saw) for the same type of offense in the same area. The saddest part is that it is going to be very hard for me to prove that the tickets were issued in error. It just sucks that the parking dudes can do whatever they feel like and the ordinary people have to spend their time and/or money and effort to prove them wrong.
Recently, I saw a parking enforcement car with two dudes inside driving around that same area and stopping by every single car to note the license plates down. They should be getting out of their car and chalking the tires to get the evidence that a car was there for all 3 hours. They are not doing their job. They are just giving other people trouble.
In your office/home, zoom in to your car and show the surrounding area to show that it was taken within minutes of you parking.
Say you parked at 7:00pm for an hour and get a ticket for less, you got the proof. Make sure you get the city car number too. Then go to the media with it, such as Silverman. They'll have the proof and shame the city.
We are told how much the city is broke. Closing the pools was in inexcusable example at how the city that once maintained the pools for years, now cannot keep the financial books in order. Something stinks. It sure didn't help to watch mayor Miller fly to red communist China. The airfare alone could have kept many pools open for the summer.
What you need to do is show up at the parking infraction office on 55 John St, 3rd floor (or any other office listed on the back of the ticket) and either complain about that bogus ticket (as they can throw it out for you on the spot) or ask for a trial. It takes you 5 minutes to wait in line and fill out the little trial request form, and you're set for about 3-4 years. Sure, the people working there would tell you that you'd get a trial notice in the mail within 6-12 months, but any paralegal dealing with these traffic offenses will tell you that in reality courts are so backed up with all these trial requests for parking tickets that you'd be "lucky" if you hear from them in less than 3 years, if at all.
My last 2 court appearances were just this January and February, and they were both for tickets I contested back in 2005. Of course I pleaded not guilty to both and contested them and had them thrown out of court, those money grabbing douchebags...
Ticket prices just went up to $100 so it's definitely worth my time to go down to John St on Monday and complain my ass off.
So... I've lost 200 dollars wages, 60 bucks in gas, 8 hours of driving I'll never get back... for a 30 dollar ticket. That's what they are betting for. You now to show up.
Karma will have it's way with those involved.
Bring you ticket in and choose to fight it. It will get thrown off the books. The city of Toronto does not want you to know this but they are not setting court dates for parking tickets!!! Your ticket will get thrown out!!! Trust on this... Ask anyone who has fought a parking ticket in the last two years. Look into it!!! I got another one today even though I paid to park!!! They don't care!!!
From the Toronto Sun... "This year, some 37,000 trials for $30 parking tickets have already been requested but, according to the report, not a single court date has yet been assigned."
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_24135.aspx
You didn't have to do that. If you live more than 100km from the city you can insist on the trial being held in your local provincial court.
Always fight it. Chances are two years down the road the officer won't even be employed by the city anymore and won't be able to show up at your trial. :)
You guys think I should just pay it out, or is there something that I can do about it. Because realistically speaking, I wasn't "parked". I just ran upstairs to tell my friends that the car was there. I mean my 4 ways were on, and my car was still running. Also, do these type of tickets affect my driving record by any chance? I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?
So I get out of the game knowing full well the bastards will be waiting to tag at 1:45am , and wham on my windshield is a $30 ticket, parkeing without a permit, time stamp is 12:25am. WTF??? Right bellow the sign!!!!
This is my second bogus ticket, 2 years ag0 parked in the parking lot of a bank (RBC) and got a ticket. Spent time out of my day to register intent to dispute, NOTHING happened, tickes just disapeared ( have no outstanding tickets)
spent time again today to register intent to dispute this ticket.
This city is OUT OF FREAKIN control. They realy should get audited and class action sued, we play by the rules why should they not too?
Mad as hell.
Absolute Bullshit
Apparently, the machine on the south side will take your money (even if it exceeds the time it will print as valid) but the time on the ticket is maximun 5 pm, when the lanes open for rush hour.
I wanted to go nuts, but was glad I beat the tow truck driver who was perched at the ready!