Parking ticket woes
No one likes to get a parking ticket, especially when they have paid to park in a legitimate spot. Well, that happened to me just the other day.
Because of two separate appointments in the city on the same day, I ended up with two parking slips on my dash. It just happened to be on the day we had the wind warning and my window must have been open a crack because the current parking slip blew over, revealing the outdated one underneath.
When I retuned from my second appointment and saw the bright yellow parking ticket in my windshield I figured that the misunderstanding should be easily resolved. All I had to do was go to one of several Parking Tag Operations Offices in the Toronto area, show them the ticket and the legitimate parking slip, and common sense would prevail.
I headed up to the office at Keele and Eglinton and waited in line for at least half an hour. When my turn finally came I was told that there was nothing they could do and if I wanted to dispute the parking ticket then I would have to go to traffic court.
What a colossal waste of taxpayer’s money!! I am very appreciative of the fact that we are offered the opportunity to stand up for our rights and dispute a parking ticket if we feel it has been unjustly given, but in this case it is a simple a matter of common sense. I had the proof in my hand!!
So I am going to traffic court because I already paid for parking and I will not pay again for a parking ticket!! It will likely be a year before I get my court date, and after all is said and done it will probably cost me about the same amount of money in gas and parking to fight it, and I’m not even factoring in my time. But it’s the principle of the thing.
To avoid this happening again I will make sure that only one ticket is on my dash. But the parking slips are so flimsy even the slightest gust of wind can blow them over. The city really should make them out of sturdier material. Or maybe there’s a see through pocket I can stick on my windshield. Now there’s an invention for one of you entrepreneurs.
April 17th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I feel for you. This has happened to me a number of occasions. You are right this is a waste of taxpayer money. If you have the evidence in your hand, they should be able to cancel the ticket with two clicks on a computer and void the ticket! The bureaucracy that goes on with the city astounds me.
I guess what they are hoping on is that you will not spend the time to go to court, therefore, they still receive revenue for an improperly issued ticket.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:41 am
You are absolutely correct, this matter should have been settled when you appeared in person at one of the parking offences sites.
Perhaps the person you dealt with was having a rather unusually unbearable day. I find that in order to deal with unsatisfactory people, is too be very very sweet, no matter the circumstances, and to stay calm. This usually works. Sorry for what you went through.
April 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I am surprised the clerk at the Parking Offices counter didn’t invalidate your ticket - I have fought parking tickets before and have seen it happen at the Don Mills / York Mills office in front of me. Guy would show up with the slip (proof) and the ticket and the clerk would take a look and then nullify it.
I think they may have made a mistake in raising some parking ticket fines - now more people will fight it than before.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I got a parking ticket in Toronto a year or so ago by accidentally leaving the legitmate receipt upside down - since I live out of town all it took was 2 phone calls and a faxing of the documents to the parking people and it was reversed.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Hi Helena; I went to traffic court once and experienced all the wonderful things you spoke of. At court the lady before me said her ticket was upside down in the window and the judge told her the instructions state blah blah…. So he made her pay because she didn’t have her ticket facing upward.
Best of luck though.
I’ve decided to fight a recent fifty dollar ticket which I received for “unauthorized parking on a boulevard” outside Rosetta McClain Park in Scarborough. The ‘boulevard’ was cleared of snow, there were parking spots, and the gate to the regular parking is closed in winter. It looked like a parking lot to me.
I’ve got some great digital photos. I hope to take some more pics when the wedding parties park their limousines there this summer.
Again good luck at court.