Ken in Berkeley

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/20/2061.asp

Cities Eliminate Right to Contest Parking Tickets
Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, DC effectively eliminate the right to contest parking tickets.

In an attempt to stem the loss of revenue from motorists contesting parking tickets, cities are effectively eliminating the traditional due process rights of motorists to defend themselves at an impartial hearing. By the end of next year, Washington, DC's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will not allow anyone who believes he unfairly received a citation to have his day in an administrative hearing.

"DMV will complete the phase-out of in-person adjudication of parking tickets in favor of mail-in and e-mail adjudication by December 2008," the Fiscal Year 2008 DMV plan states.

The move is intended to allow automated street sweeper parking ticket machines to boost the number of infractions cited well beyond the 1.6 million currently handed out by meter maids. As one-third of those who contest citations in the city are successful, the hearings cut significantly into the $100 million in revenue tickets generate each year.

Under the DMV's plan, motorists will only be able to object to a ticket by email or letter where city employees can ignore or reject letters in bulk without affected motorists having any realistic recourse. That's not good enough for residents like Emily Miller, who told us that being able to present her case in person was essential. The Sunday school teacher was found not guilty at an administrative DMV hearing in June of driving with an open container of coffee. She was so thrilled with her victory that she decided to fight a parking ticket issued to her in a location where the parking signs were contradictory.

Motorists in many cities besides DC complain about unfair citations. So far, Baltimore, Maryland's Inspector General has uncovered 10,000 bogus parking tickets issued to innocent motorists. In Boston and other cities in Massachusetts, motorists cannot challenge a $100 parking ticket in court without first paying a $275 court fee. If found innocent, the motorist does not receive a refund of the $275.

Not being able to contest your parking ticket is complete bullshit, if you ask me.

jowey

I wonder what else we will not be allowed to contest ?

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BillCosby

Down the road from you in San Leandro has to be the worst place on earth...... They have the entire place checkerboarded w/ speed traps.....

Court cost are skyrocketing but those "judges" still only work about three hours a day....... I got a vehicle stolen several years ago & when I finally got it back the plates were gone........ I got a tiX for not having plates. I had to go to court & after I explained it all the "judge" she said I still had to pay court costs...

I protested & she gave me a choice. Pay it or pay more........... I walked out & payed it..........

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

Ken in Berkeley

I hear your frustration Bill Cosby. On September 11th, 2007, the American Canyon Police Department gave me a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt, even though I had two witnesses that said I was wearing it. My boss who was driving the truck at the time had misplaced his driver's license and the officer at his discretion decided to tow the company truck.

To make a long story short, the owner had to drive up from the East Bay, pay the fine to the ACPD and pay off the towing company/storage yard, both as a result of the bogus traffic stop. The court date for the seatbelt violation has been set for January in the Napa Superior Court and I intend to fight it, but in reality even if the case is dismissed, they have already won.

I also recently had my '91 Mustang stolen which was bad enough, but I then got 4 parking tickets in the mail (all at the same location), each spread out over a week or so from the previous ticket. I had to write the city of Oakland four separate times that my car had been stolen, with reference to the Berkeley Police Department's report each time.

In America, you are supposed to be able to contest these kind of tickets because presumably you are innocent until proven guilty. But that's all changing, isn't it?

jdanton

Yes it is, and the citizens don't seem to care. First problem is that until it happens to them, they can't accept the concept of a bogus ticket.

Part of what makes America the country we are proud of is our right to go to court.

The only hope is that the voters in each city vote the incumbants out, and make it known this is why.

That or it's challenged on constitutional grounds, but with this supreme court.......

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Author: Memoirs of a Sleepless Mind, a book you CAN judge by its cover.

slowhand

I have a little secret on how to deal with parking tickets..Turn the windsheild wipers on

I knew a lawyer years ago that had some kind of a loophole, or something in the law that he claimed the cities and towns had no right giving you a parking ticket..He took care of parking violations free of charge for his clients..He himself parking in no parking zones purposely when he went to court, and accumulated over 400 tickets, and beat them all..I have no idea how he did it

bigbrowndog

Well in Boston, they can now contest it without paying a court fee.

Gee this article isn't written without much slant.

Automatically assuming DMV workers are going to ignore everything
and street sweepers will increase tickets on days/times they aren't
scheduled to sweep?

You have proof of when you sent your email, use an option
that gives you a return notice, you can do that with mail as well.

Also street sweepers keep a schedule; if you get a ticket on a
day & time when they aren't scheduled, then send a photo
of the sign and a copy of your ticket.

This is not NEWS; it is opinion and not a smart one at that.

More fear-mongering much?

W.M.DEEEZ

When Bloomberg took over, NYC became worse than the good old USSR, with respect to tickets.

Talk about instant revenue.

I had to fight a couple of parking tickets, and learned a little about driving a pickup truck in Queens. I ultimately had one of the two dropped. My hearing was over the phone, but you had to pay the tickets in full, first.

jdanton

Personally, I think charging to park on a public street should be illegal.

In Montclair, NJ, when I was a boy, and parking meters took pennies, Mr. Chapman, the owner of one of the stores walked around the area all day putting pennies in expired meters, much to the frustration of the meter maid.

More recently, they put restricted parking all around (two hours) the town to elliminate the out of towners from parking and getting on the NY bus.

Then discovered those cars they didn't want parking there belonged to our teachers, our letter carriers, people who worked in the stores, etc... What a mess.

Of course, when they put their "2 HR PARKING" sign between my sidewald and the curb, my garden tracker became a very impractical way of mowing the lawn, so I put a "for sale" sign on it.

Stanley stopped and bought the tractor. He inquired about violins. When Mom died I called him, and he bought her three old violins and a trombone. Then he asked about the house.

After having it appraised, I called him. He bought it for the higher end estimates of the real estate people, minus their fees and a very little more, no inspections.

I owned that home for 3 hours.

And I owe it all to the new parking restrictions.

__________________
Author: Memoirs of a Sleepless Mind, a book you CAN judge by its cover.