Finally! A Better Way to Fight Parking Tickets
A few months ago I got the most bogus parking ticket ever - for parking incorrectly in a parking lot while I was buying some Japanese essentials at SANKO at Queen and Claremont. The cop was just wedging the ticket underneath my wipers when I came out of the store and asked him what was going on.
Apparently I was too close to the sidewalk, but whoever heard of getting a parking ticket in a PARKING LOT? He realized he just quadrupled my grocery bill but said there was nothing he could do about it since he issued the ticket - but he advised me to fight it down at Metro Hall and that they'd cancel it if I told them I was inside buying groceries.
I had something like 15 days to log my intention not to pay it and sure enough I didn't find the time to get down there to register my case. So there went 50 bucks.
I'm not alone in my frustrations.
But now, thanks to a new site called parkingtickets.to this will never happen to me again. The site allows anyone to fight their parking tickets online for the small fee of $5 - a steal considering the time and effort (not to mention possible TTC fare or parking) involved up until now to request a court date in person.
The site just launched and is short on details about how this all works but basically you enter your infraction number, license plate and pay the $5 plus tax ($5.65) and the site will request a court date on your behalf.
I only wish they could also guarantee the charges be dropped.
UPDATE: I just spoke with owner Greg Kasparian (who also owns EcoCut). He explained to me that how this works is once or twice a week he will be taking all the infraction number/license plate combos down to Metro Hall and file them. In so doing, he also submits all the related address info so the city is able to follow up with any of the site's customers directly with a mailed letter with a confirmed court date. Kasparian says this is all legal and he simply acts as an "agent" as permitted by the city.
Comments (26)
I wish I'd known about this before. $5.65 is so much better than taking half a day off work to save $30 on a bogus ticket.
"Short on details" but it still comes recommended? Interesting catch, but how about contacting the website owner (there's an email) and asking what my $5-something would pay for?
I tried and haven't heard back. If/when I do I'll be sure to update the post with what I find out.
Eecch. Great concept, but this kinda looks dodgy to me. They're suspiciously vague on their website, and most of their links don't work. Until we find out more about this business, I would think twice about submitting my personal info to them.
Tim, this is interesting.. a year ago, a friend of my sister's also experienced something similar.. she was given a ticket at traffic light where the cop accused her of doing something she totally didnt do.. when she protested, the cop told her that if she didnt accept the ticket, he would charge her something else...I myself also got a ticket at the finch subway station commuter parking lot.. where i had to drive on the diamond lane in order to go inside the parking lot.. the cop made up a story that I drove like 3 blocks on the diamond lane which I couldn't have done as there was road construction right near the entrance blocking the road...I fought the ticket, but lost.. paid my fine and got points deducted.. then the city made an error and claimed that I didn't pay, so suspended my license.. i had to dig up an old receipt, like more than a year ago to prove my innocence.. it was an absolute nightmare..instead of catching real criminal, the cops waste their time on this.. oh in fact, on the court date, the same cop told me to plead guilty to save his time..first hand experience of how corrupt our legal system was
definiately looks dodgy
"Design concept by: TemplateWorld" (http://www.templateworld.com/)
Interesting concept if it's not though.
This is brilliant, even if all they do is line up with your ticket to get you a court date, they are saving you half a day. I got an idiotic ticket that I really want to fight (being 2.8 meters away from a fire hydrant instead of three on a completely empty street) and had to line up for an hour at the old metro hall to simply hand it in, after pedalling twenty minutes each way to get there. It is like this scene out of a hitchikers guide
where they make it so difficult that you just fold in the end, that someone will do that line-standing is worth a lot more than five and a half bucks!
sorry, my link was removed, but here was what they said:
Official:"The plans have been available at the planning office for the last nine months"
Arthur Dent: On display? I had to go down to the cellar.
O: that's the display department.
A: with a torch!
O: the lights were probably out.
A: so were the stairs.
O: but you did see the notice, didn't you?
A: Oh yes, it was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign outside the door saying "beware of the leopard!" Ever thought about going into advertising?
Lloyd Alter: "I got an idiotic ticket that I really want to fight (being 2.8 meters away from a fire hydrant instead of three on a completely empty street) and had to line up for an hour at the old metro hall to simply hand it in, after pedalling twenty minutes each way to get there."
Uh... those rules about parking too close to a hydrant are in place for a reason, and they have nothing to do with how empty the street is.
If the street was so empty, you should've been able to find somewhere legal to park.
I am the site owner, I couldn't believe how fast this got posted!
I just put the site live today, I had no idea my email to blogto would get me noticed so quickly.
The site is functional, the system works and I am just putting the finishing touches on the content links. I have requested quite a few court dates for a few friends who get parking tickets somewhat regularly as they drive downtown a lot. This website is an extension of that.
Just for the record, the $5.65 does not pay for representation in the event you do get notice of a court date. It simply pays to have us REQUEST a court date (option three) on your behalf.
Great idea, but....how is this guy gonna file 100 claims at a time if his site gets popular?
As soon as he's swamped, it's over. He'll go bye bye.
But 5 bucks is cheap for him to go through the hassle for you.
And speaking of fire hydrants, the city should mark 3 m on either side with a yellow paint mark on the sidewalk. Then there's no debate about where the 3 m is.
Fighting a parking ticket requires you to make two appearances:
1) First appearance at Metro Hall to book a court to dispute the ticket.
2) Second appearance in court to actually dispute the ticket.
So this service will save you the trip to Metro Hall at a cost of $5.65, you still have to take half a day off. Not sure why the site owner is charging tax, is he reporting this as revenue to the government?
I know you didn't park in front of the hydrant, but if you haven't seen this picture yet then take a look, it'll make you weary of parking in front of or even near a hydrant.
http://boldt.us/humor/no_parking_fire_hydrant_bmw_windows.jpg.html
No it's not an ad. It's a funny picture that'll make you think twice about parking in front of a hydrant!
Re: Bobby
It's a sale of a non-essential service, of course tax is charged! Yey for GST!
The one time I had to deal with fighting a parking ticket that was totally bogus (claimed something that was clearly not true based on the sign I was parked directly under) and after all the time of setting up a court date, going downtown to court, waiting through other cases... in the end the *prosecution* pointed out that the cop was in the wrong before I even said a word and the whole thing was dropped.
They couldn't have had a fact-checker at a desk somewhere sort that out in 5 minutes instead?
Yeah, but you still lose a day to dispute the ticket in court, so really, it's not that much help. It still costs more to skip a day of work than to pay the ticket.
While I admire this person for realizing an opportunity and running with it, I give the city of Toronto 30 days before they realize that they themselves can profit by going online and offering an agency fee for ticket opposition.
I once got a ticket for parking in an unmarked no-parking zone on McCaul street. I checked up and down the street looking for signs to make sure I was legally parked but got a ticket anyway. So I emailed the City and they said they'd look into it. Lo and behold, a little while later they write back, saying "Hey, you're right, the no parking sign IS missing from that block!" Of course I pay the fee anyway since losing half a day of work for a $30 ticket doesn't make sense. This service is a GREAT idea.
There is an easy way to contest a parking ticket online with www.contestmyticket.com For only $9.99 anyone can contest a ticket, print the letter on your own printer and mail it out. It works great and it only takes 5 minutes.
I did this once already and it counts as the first step. When I asked what the next step was, there was no answer, no reply. I started to search on the web and I found steps 2 to 10 in an Ontario website called http://www.fightyourtickets.ca. This website has it all, all the steps, all the legal decisions, all the ways to beat a ticket and when I was looking for the "catch" there was none, this site asks for donations. The website is free and is always updated. It's a new site, but it has alot of people visiting it and the City Hall has heard about it and doesn't like it. It you want to know what to do after this guy has filed your ticket go to fight your tickets.ca and they tell you the rest.
Elwood: You pay so you dont have to wait in line. A friend of mine used the service and it worked like a charm.
The price has gone up, but still the $10 is more than worth not going into that stupid office and burning MORE than your lunch hour. It looks like they have started filing Traffic tickets too, which is AWESOME.
Contestmyticket.com looks totally bogus... a printed letter for $10? I don't get how that would work... considering you MUST request a trial in person.
Anyway... when I get a ticket if I do anything but pay it, I'll use Parkingtickets.to
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