Parking Ticket "Theft"?

Let me put this in perspective for you. What's to stop someone from copying songs of a CD onto their computer, and then putting them on a free download site? Heaven forbid!

Sadly, there's so many little "exploits" in life. Riding public transit (like a SkyTrain) without a ticket would be the biggest that comes to mind...where I live, every time a Ticket Guard comes onto the train, everyone scampers off like little rabbits. About the parking ticket, I don't think there's anything you could do, except say "someone stole my ticket," hope somehow they get caught, but in the meantime pay the full price. I'm guessing if they did SOMEHOW catch someone, they'd give you some money back.

Unfortunatly, there's lots of people out there who would do that, if they think they could get away with it.

Well, now, why did she get the parking ticket in the first place? I mean, the only time I ever got one, I threw it away. What's to stop the DMV/MVD from assuming she did the same? But it was still my fault that I got the ticket and so I had to pay for it.

All the same, the parking enforcement/police department should be informed of this, if only so they can better secure the tickets... And couldn't the DMV just mail them, if that's the problem?

Tearing up parking tickets sounds like a potential protest tactic. If everyone took it upon themselves to tear up parking tickets any time they saw one on a car, then soon it would be impossible for courts to enforce parking tickets. I suppose that people engaged in destroying tickets would get into trouble for it, so they would have to take care that they weren't seen doing so by police or parking enforcement. But I don't think this would work in that parking tickets work both for and against ordinary people. A car parked in the same spot for days inconveniences other people who want to park but can't find a spot and have to park farther away. And parking enforcement could circumvent the efforts by simply mailing tickets to the address the car was registered to.

A couple of years ago my brother got a ticket in the mail for supposedly not paying the toll on the Golden Gate bridge, but he wasn't anywhere near San Francisco at the time and date he supposedly ran the toll booth. He wrote a letter and didn't have to pay (rightfully so).

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Original post by Benjamin Heath Well, now, why did she get the parking ticket in the first place? I mean, the only time I ever got one, I threw it away. What's to stop the DMV/MVD from assuming she did the same? But it was still my fault that I got the ticket and so I had to pay for it.

Fair enough paying for a ticket you've incurred. Paying an extra fine because you didnt pay the initial ticket on time when you didnt recieve the initial ticket is rough, though.

I think around here tickets are mailed out in addition to being put on cars... If not, they certainly should be. The system is already in place for tickets from speed cameras, etc, so theres no excuse for not using it for parking tickets too.

I know a guy that says he always carries a can of spray paint in his car and that it gets him out of trouble every time.

If he gets a ticket, he sprays graffiti on the sign, takes a photo, and sends it in to the authorities with a letter saying he didn't know he was in the wrong.

I'm still waiting for him to get a fine for graffiti tho...

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Original post by Hodgman I know a guy that says he always carries a can of spray paint in his car and that it gets him out of trouble every time. If he gets a ticket, he sprays graffiti on the sign, takes a photo, and sends it in to the authorities with a letter saying he didn't know he was in the wrong. I'm still waiting for him to get a fine for graffiti tho...

That's like painting a little white over your license plate so the cameras can't catch it. I've seen that with a few cars registered in Baja California (Mexico) here in the states (but in rural areas, not the city).

I say you are paranoid. Do you really think there's that many very cruel persons hanging around just to snatch a parking ticket from a complete stranger?

Only ways to solve the problem you describe is to either deliver the ticket in person or mail it. The first way is stupid, the second leaves you no way of contesting the ticket.

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Original post by caffiene I think around here tickets are mailed out in addition to being put on cars... If not, they certainly should be.

Yeah, I think they do the same around here too. (I've never received one, though...)

I might be missing part of the context here, but here in Portugal, you're responsible for the ticket the Parkimeter machine gives you.

We place the ticket over the dashboard inside the car, not outside in the windshield.

In that sense you cannot argue if you placed it outside over the windshield and someone stole it, because it was your responsibility.

We get a copy of parking fines in the mail, so it isn't an issue - if the place you live doesn't do the same then you've quite possibly got reasonable grounds to protest the fine.

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Original post by Prozak I might be missing part of the context here, but here in Portugal, you're responsible for the ticket the Parkimeter machine gives you. We place the ticket over the dashboard inside the car, not outside in the windshield. In that sense you cannot argue if you placed it outside over the windshield and someone stole it, because it was your responsibility.

That doesn't make sense. We're talking about when you don't pay and you get a fine stuck to your windscreen, or under the wiper, by a parking attendant. He wouldn't be able to get inside your car... is this a language confusion over the use of the word "ticket" to mean "fine/warning"?

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Original post by d000hg Quote: Original post by Prozak I might be missing part of the context here, but here in Portugal, you're responsible for the ticket the Parkimeter machine gives you. We place the ticket over the dashboard inside the car, not outside in the windshield. In that sense you cannot argue if you placed it outside over the windshield and someone stole it, because it was your responsibility. That doesn't make sense. We're talking about when you don't pay and you get a fine stuck to your windscreen, or under the wiper, by a parking attendant. He wouldn't be able to get inside your car... is this a language confusion over the use of the word "ticket" to mean "fine/warning"?

Yeah, sorry, it was just a case of extreme misunderstanding of my part.

Don't drink and post kids!

A solution: require the car owner to have mobile phone number stuck to the windshield in the corner on inside, and just sms the ticket payment info. If no number, leave ticket under window wiper as usual. Car owner is instantly informed.

Otherwise, it really is no issue. You arent getting parking tickets everyday, right? Parking in wrong place or without paying for parking is an exploit; so is taking the ticket. If you exploit something to your benefit, you gotta accept that someone else can exploit it to your disadvantage, thats how life is.

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Original post by Dmytry A solution: require the car owner to have mobile phone number stuck to the windshield in the corner on inside, and just sms the ticket payment info. If no number, leave ticket under window wiper as usual. Car owner is instantly informed. Otherwise, it really is no issue. You arent getting parking tickets everyday, right? Parking in wrong place or without paying for parking is an exploit; so is taking the ticket. If you exploit something to your benefit, you gotta accept that someone else can exploit it to your disadvantage, thats how life is.

I think you are missing the point. I know lots of people around my city that have ended up with a ticket because they ran late and their meter expired on them. I also know a lot of dumbass jerks that if I told them about this idea then they would go around and snatch every ticket off a windshield they see.

The point isn't about the abuse of someone pulling the ticket off their own window and claiming they didn't get it, it is people pulling tickets off other people's windows, and causing them to get an extra fine because they didn't pay their parking ticket.

The one thing I hate the most is parking garages that require pre-paying for your parking. I don't know how long I'm going to be in the garage. It could be 1 hour, it could be 6 hours, it could be 24 hours. I park in a garage because I expect to be timed and pay afterwards.

I pulled into one such garage in Aberdeen, UK, and had a bugger of a time trying to figure out how much I was supposed to pay. There were all these rules about time of day and weekends and whatever. So, I figured I would put the minimum amount in, see when it said it would expire, and come back before then to revalidate. I got a ticket that looked like it said it wouldn't expire until 5pm the next day, specifically because it had a date one day from then and a time "1700" next to it, under a label marked "expiration date". I came back at noon the next day and found a £60 ticket. I still couldn't find on my ticket when it was actually supposed to have expired to warrant $120 of fines.

They've always mailed my tickets to me.

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Original post by capn_midnight The one thing I hate the most is parking garages that require pre-paying for your parking. I don't know how long I'm going to be in the garage. It could be 1 hour, it could be 6 hours, it could be 24 hours. I park in a garage because I expect to be timed and pay afterwards. I pulled into one such garage in Aberdeen, UK, and had a bugger of a time trying to figure out how much I was supposed to pay. There were all these rules about time of day and weekends and whatever. So, I figured I would put the minimum amount in, see when it said it would expire, and come back before then to revalidate. I got a ticket that looked like it said it wouldn't expire until 5pm the next day, specifically because it had a date one day from then and a time "1700" next to it, under a label marked "expiration date". I came back at noon the next day and found a £60 ticket. I still couldn't find on my ticket when it was actually supposed to have expired to warrant $120 of fines.

Welcome to Britain! What you have experienced, according the people we pay to provide us with decent infrastructure, is what passes for acceptable user interface design. (Most drivers will swear that it's merely a way to screw money from drivers who lack the requisite fifteen pairs of eyes that seem to be required to drive here these days, but no! They are merely misguided, ill-informed, and clearly haven't read the relevant paragraphs and subsections in some little-known and never-advertised book of regulations.)

We suck at pretty much everything except complaining about how much we suck.

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Original post by Doggan When you get a parking ticket, the ticket is placed on the windshield of the car. What is to stop someone (a very cruel person) from taking the ticket from your windshield? You are then unaware that you even got a parking ticket, and are issued a subsequent penalty. Is there anything that can be done to contest this? (i.e. pay the original ticket fee, but not the penalty for lateness?) It seems there can be no way to establish proof. Everyone could just always say they didn't get the ticket, so that's why they didn't pay. I haven't found anything on Google about this, so I'm wondering what the common consensus is, as it seems like it could be a somewhat prevalent issue.

Where I live, the traffic wardens are notorious, they'll fine you your life savings for anything at all.

But they evolved to the point where they managed to solve the problem you describe (except it was with the drivers themselves destroying the ticket and pleading ignorance): the traffic warden puts the ticket on your car, then takes out a digital camera and photographs your car with the ticket on the windscreen and the numberplate visible. There can therefore be no argument if you claim that you were never issued with a ticket.

I've never had a parking ticket but I've been walking out and about and seen the traffic wardens doing this on a number of occasions. It seems a very sensible solution to the problem.

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Original post by superpig Quote: Original post by caffiene I think around here tickets are mailed out in addition to being put on cars... If not, they certainly should be. Yeah, I think they do the same around here too. (I've never received one, though...)

yeah im pretty sure my brother had one posted to him

turned out some of the people he hangs out with had "borrowed" his car and he had a speeding ticket posted out too, both of which they'd obviously known about and removed from the car/not given to him. so he shopped them. they're still mates though, they put their hands up to it to the cops and just said sorry they were pissed so he had it cleared within days