Can you fight a "street cleaning" ticket, if they don't actually clean the street?

[DwaynieAD]

submit to the government.

[jugglingfreak]

Originally Posted by kentiki

It doesn't matter. If its posted. you can't park there.

This.

It's says "don't park here between this time frame". The why part is irrelevant.

[DWBass]

I'd fight it. The worse thing that'll happen is you have to pay anyway! No harm in trying.

[Bassamatic]

It's the letter of the law. You were parked there, you had no idea if they were coming or not. You lose.

I find it extremely unfair to give the ticket if they have already passed and you park there, but again it is the law. The logic may be that sometimes they come back clean twice, but the sign says - - - -

[HaMMerHeD]

Eh, to heck with the sign. I'd fight it anyway. Probably lose, but that doesn't mean that FLAGRANT abuse of AUTHORITY should go unchallenged!

[alembicguy]

Originally Posted by hdracer

They probably didn't clean the street because you and other people were parked on it.

My thoughts.

[6jase5]

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

Eh, to heck with the sign. I'd fight it anyway. Probably lose, but that doesn't mean that FLAGRANT abuse of AUTHORITY should go unchallenged!

Flagrant abuse of authority? How about laziness on the part of the car owner? Signs are there for a reason. YOU don't HAVE to obey them, but you DO have to deal with the consequence if someone can't do their job because you can't read and follow a simple rule.

This "It's not my fault" whining has gotten old. I'm way tired of the argument for not accepting responsibility for screwing up. Fight the man! Sure. How about fighting apparent illiteracy and ignorance? How about people try taking a little responsibility and learning from mistakes?

Everyone doesn't get a cupcake and a "you almost did the right thing" sticker.

[HaMMerHeD]

Originally Posted by 6jase5

Flagrant abuse of authority? How about laziness on the part of the car owner? Signs are there for a reason. YOU don't HAVE to obey them, but you DO have to deal with the consequence if someone can't do their job because you can't read and follow a simple rule.

This "It's not my fault" whining has gotten old. I'm way tired of the argument for not accepting responsibility for screwing up. Fight the man! Sure. How about fighting apparent illiteracy and ignorance? How about people try taking a little responsibility and learning from mistakes?

Everyone doesn't get a cupcake and a "you almost did the right thing" sticker.

Oh, I forgot this part of my post:



Go ahead and untwist your panties.

[6jase5]

Originally Posted by HaMMerHeD

Oh, I forgot this part of my post:

Go ahead and untwist your panties.

Aw man, I'm gonna need help with the knot.

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by 6jase5

Flagrant abuse of authority? How about laziness on the part of the car owner? Signs are there for a reason. YOU don't HAVE to obey them, but you DO have to deal with the consequence if someone can't do their job because you can't read and follow a simple rule.

This "It's not my fault" whining has gotten old. I'm way tired of the argument for not accepting responsibility for screwing up. Fight the man! Sure. How about fighting apparent illiteracy and ignorance? How about people try taking a little responsibility and learning from mistakes?

Everyone doesn't get a cupcake and a "you almost did the right thing" sticker.

First of all internet cowboy, getting a ticket has nothing to do with laziness. I never said it was not my fault, in fact I took responsibility for it in my OP.

The problem is that the regulation you are enforcing doesn't exist. If the actual street cleaning doesn't occur, you are preventing nothing. By your (and others) rationale here, you could put up ticketing signs all over the place for "violations" that also aren't actually occurring, and then tell them to stop whining.

By putting up a sign of penalty for violating street cleaning, you must also fulfill your part of the contract, which the city has not done.

[Etienned]

Fight it !

That way the citizens of your city will have the joy to pay more taxes for court fees while you escape your responsibilities.

Make sure to bring guns, king of England is probably behind this tyrannical scheme !

[tastybasslines]

Watch this...EVEN the City of Los Angeles, (where I live) says no ticketing should occur if the sweeping doesn't happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=2O6rdy7XuoA

[Roscoe East]

Originally Posted by kentiki

It doesn't matter. If its posted. you can't park there.

^^^This. Whether or not the street got cleaned is completely immaterial to whether or not you parked legally. You're essentially saying "Yes I broke the law, but the law is unjust because..." and it doesn't matter what you then say because the judge stopped listening at that first comma.

[kentiki]

Originally Posted by eyeballkid

parking tickets are not about what's "right" they are about making the city money. period.

This.
In many areas, parking tickets are one of the few ways local communities can raise cash. This has led to the hiring of more meterpeople, more areas with parking restrictions and literally 24hr patroling.

As far as fighting the ticket goes, if you can do it online or through the mail, go for it. If it requires you to show up in person, just pay the cash.

I fought one once. I had to show up in person and tell the court I was fighting it. I then had to come back a second time (and wait for several hours) to talk to the judge.

If it sounds like the system is set up to make it so inconvenient that you'll never fight a ticket, you're right.

While I'm a strong believer in standing up for what you think is right, in reality wasting 4 - 6 hours to save $20-$40 just isn't worth it to me.

YMMV

[seventhson]

I'd fight it.

I fought a ticket for using the phone while driving. The judge gave me a break for just showing up.

[Truktek2]

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

5 minutes after the start of the posted time zone infraction

Seems pretty clear to me. You screwed up. Pay the piper and move on. Rules are rules.

[Ziltoid]

You can contest any ticket, I don't know if you'll win but you can try.

[tastybasslines]

Originally Posted by Truktek2

Seems pretty clear to me. You screwed up. Pay the piper and move on. Rules are rules.

This seems to be the general message of the group here, however unethical and perhaps illegal the city's behavior is.

Rules are Rules eh? The city can post anything it wants, regardless of purpose, and if it's broken, just ticket the general public ad nauseam? So the city could put up street cleaning signs on EVERY street in the city, not clean them, and then ticket people for parking there during the posted hours? There does not seem to be anything wrong with that to you? What other laws could they post? Are you not concerned for your own rights?

I do agree that I probably won't get anywhere, and that I should pay the fine because it will be more trouble than it is worth etc...But if there was a reasonable process by which to fight it, I would. I'm going to look for one.

The general public is also surely entitled to clean streets, which they pay taxes for, and isn't getting done either.

And the ticket is $73. Not $20-40.

[Curmei]

Originally Posted by tastybasslines

This seems to be the general message of the group here, however unethical and perhaps illegal the city's behavior is.

Rules are Rules eh? The city can post anything it wants, regardless of purpose, and if it's broken, just ticket the general public ad nauseam? So the city could put up street cleaning signs on EVERY street in the city, not clean them, and then ticket people for parking there during the posted hours? There does not seem to be anything wrong with that to you? What other laws could they post? Are you not concerned for your own rights?

I do agree that I probably won't get anywhere, and that I should pay the fine because it will be more trouble than it is worth etc...But if there was a reasonable process by which to fight it, I would. I'm going to look for one.

The general public is also surely entitled to clean streets, which they pay taxes for, and isn't getting done either.

And the ticket is $73. Not $20-40.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the case in some cities. In 24 years of driving, I had never had a speeding ticket given to me. Not to say I never speed, but 90 to 95% of the time, I drive the limit or slower. Pisses off lots of other drivers, for some reason.

Drove to DC for a wedding last year, and about a week after I got home, a speeding ticket arrived in the mail - 45 in a 35 zone. $120.

I was shocked - I never drive that much over the limit. My wife and friends were just as shocked. I figured I missed a sign with the new speed, or there wasn't one.

I was willing to try and fight it, but after talking with two DC lawyers, decided to just pay it, and forget it. They both gave the same answer - those speed cameras are set up to generate revenue. It is almost impossible to win, and if I really wanted to win, it would be hundreds or thousands in legal fees (or, at the least, tens of hours of my time plus multiple trips up there).

I was pretty put off by it, and did not think it was right or fair in the least. At the end of the day, though, it did not affect my insurance, and I had other things I wanted to spend my time on.

If you can find a way to fight this, without a major impact to your day-to-day, I am all for it. If you find it not worth your time, though, I totally understand.

Good luck.

[seventhson]

Despite what I was used to seeing in the news, I was very impressed by how even-handed and reasonable the judge at my hearing was. It was actually very instructive to see a few hours of city court in action. The judge seems to have wide discretion to hear the testimony and adjust the penalty. I saw him completely dismiss some charges based on testimony. Also, I honestly thought that he knew that some people were at court because they could not afford the penalty and made an appropriate adjustment solely based on an admission of guilt with extenuating circumstances.