Since starting this blog, I have received some emails from citizens looking for my opinion on their prospective parking ticket appeal cases.  I have decided that it is somewhat unfair to keep that advice private, so I will share a couple of these emails along with my allegedly professional opinions.

I have a case coming up this Friday, and it’s in regards to a ticket I received on a college campus.  I parked in a handicap spot with a handicap tag, but without the person it belonged (my mother) in the car with me.  I was in a rush and had to park quickly to be in home for my mom who cannot be left alone for a long time.  Truly a stupid mistake, i know, but to make a long story short, if i ask the judge to reduce the fine because i am an only child who has taken time off of work (unemployed) and taking time off from school to take care of my mother who has been diagnosed with a late stage of cancer..do you think the judge would consider?

It is never acceptable to use a disabled person placard that does not belong to you.  I cannot stress this enough.  No parking ticket adjudicator will let something like this slide.  Furthermore, many people are only children, many people look after their ill parents, and many people experience economic hardship.  This line of reasoning will get you nowhere.  You used your sick mother’s disabled person placard because you did not feel like looking too hard for a legal parking space.  In the world of parking ticket appeals, this is unforgivable.  My advice is to pay the ticket if you have not done so already and cancel your hearing.  You would be wasting everyone’s time.  Next!

I parked directly in front of a sports bar. It was the only building on that side of the block, so there was no issue as to where I was. I had several (many) drinks & being the good citizen that I am, I had the barmaid call me a cab. Unfortunately, there was no parking from 2 AM to 6 AM. The next day, I was worried that my blood/alcohol level was still high & being a good citizen, I left the car overnight again. I was given another ticket by THE SAME COP!!!!! I should not have been liable on the first ticket because, I was too drunk to drive & did the right thing. I should not pay the second ticket for the same reason AND the cop should have known that because the first ticket he wrote was still on the car!!!!!

Hold on; let me get this story straight.  You became too intoxicated to drive home one night, and you somehow continued to be too intoxicated to get your vehicle and drive it home the NEXT night?  And you believe that you should be rewarded for continued intoxication?  What am I missing here?  You planned the first night poorly; you left your vehicle in a no parking zone because you became too drunk to drive.  How is that being a “good citizen,” exactly?  And yes, you were given another ticket because you committed two separate violations.  You parked in a no parking zone on the first night, and you parked in a no parking zone on the second night.  These are two different instances.  If you were to come into one of my hearings with this defense, I would stare at you in amazement.  I might even roll my eyes.  Save a few taxpayer dollars and just pay these tickets without appealing.  Please.

That’s all for this mailbag.  Feel free to comment, as always (but no poll this time).  If you have a parking-related question you’d like answered, you may email me at the address listed on the right.

Advertisement