2 Made up Parking Tickets in Chicago

[Evadman]

So I sent to see the Blackhawks game tonight. First, that game sucked. The blackhawks played like a bunch of girls. 14 year old girls. With broken legs.

Anywho, I go back out to my truck, which was parked almost directly in front of Malcom X College. I made triple sure that I was not parked illegally, there were no signs, and a bunch of other cars were parked on the same side of the street.

When I come back to my truck, I have 2 parking tickets stuck to the window. One for having expired plates, and one for not having front plates. Both tickets are $50 a piece.

What ticks me off is that I have never had a ticket that was not a speeding ticket. No wait, that's not what ticked me off. What ticked me off is that a cop (or meter maid, whatever) had nothing better to do than write me 2 tickets. Actually, that's not what ticked me off. What ticked me off what that I have a front plate, and my plates are not expired.

I don't understand what the cop/meter made was looking at. Some other random car, but he wrote my plate on the ticket on accident, then some other cop came and stuck it on my car so the 2nd cop didn't see that the 1st had made a mistake? Seriously, I am at a loss as to WTF someone was thinking.

On top of that, to fight it I probably have to drive back downtown (a 1.5 hr trip) which means I would have to take a day off work and lose > $100 to prove that the cop is incorrect. How the hell do you prove that you had front plates on anyway besides my word? Hell, the cop/meter maid must have been illiterate or something to mistake an expiration date of 11/07 with 11/08. And be color blind and not see the color difference between orange and white so perhaps he thought the metal plate bolted to the front of my truck with the embossed letters on it ws some advent garde art or something instead of a plate.

<cliff notes>
I got 2 tickets, one for having expired plates, one for not having a front plate.
I have a front plate, and the plates do not expire until 11/08.
</cliff notes>

<update>
Apparently, in Chicago, pictures of the front and rear plate installed on the truck, with sticker, copy of the registration renewal, and a signed declaration stating that I had non-expired plates are not enough in the great city of Chicago. Maybe if the Pope, with his cool Pope hat, had signed off on it, I would have gotten off.

 

[jagec]

Write it in...it may slightly weaken your case, but not by much. I've always written in my parking tickets in Seattle, and even a simple "Oops, I screwed up" has been sufficient to at least chop the fine in half every time.

Taking pics of the front of your truck, parked at the area, with front plate and tickets visible, may help. Too late for that now. However, send in pics of both front and rear plate w/registration visible on your truck, maybe even take off the front plate slightly and show the ring of dust (tell me you don't keep that truck clean...). Send a copy of your registration, which should have issue and expiration date, proving that you had been issued the registration prior to getting the ticket, and it was valid at the time you got the ticket.

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: jagec
Write it in...it may slightly weaken your case, but not by much. I've always written in my parking tickets in Seattle, and even a simple "Oops, I screwed up" has been sufficient to at least chop the fine in half every time.

Taking pics of the front of your truck, parked at the area, with front plate and tickets visible, may help. Too late for that now. However, send in pics of both front and rear plate w/registration visible on your truck, maybe even take off the front plate slightly and show the ring of dust (tell me you don't keep that truck clean...). Send a copy of your registration, which should have issue and expiration date, proving that you had been issued the registration prior to getting the ticket, and it was valid at the time you got the ticket.

Agreed, but you shouldn't even have to prove the fron plate was on considering they already wrote an incorrect ticket. I would think if you can prove 1 ticket was wrong the 2nd would be thrown out as well.

 

[flawlssdistortn]

Hey, I got my car freakin towed! I was parked on Roosevelt near Halsted - saw other cars there and looked for signs, so I thought it was alright. Apparently there were stickers on the meters a block down saying you couldn't be parked there from 4-5. So, I came back at like 4:30 and was initially scared that it was stolen. Had to call my brother to pick me up, and after $200 and 5 hours of waiting in a goddamn line, got the car back.

I tried to contest the ticket on the basis that the stickers were not visible enough (I took a bunch of pics to prove it!), but was rejected. So good luck to you man, but even if you have a good case there's no guarantee you'll win. At least you have a car and don't have to take the crappy public transportation.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: thepd7
Agreed, but you shouldn't even have to prove the fron plate was on considering they already wrote an incorrect ticket. I would think if you can prove 1 ticket was wrong the 2nd would be thrown out as well.

The court won't see it that way. The two tickets have nothing to do with each other. You have to disprove both of them separately.

 

[xeemzor]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: thepd7
Agreed, but you shouldn't even have to prove the fron plate was on considering they already wrote an incorrect ticket. I would think if you can prove 1 ticket was wrong the 2nd would be thrown out as well.

The court won't see it that way. The two tickets have nothing to do with each other. You have to disprove both of them separately.

It always sucks when you are guilty until proven innocent. :thumbsdown:

 

[Ballatician]

parking sucks everywhere these days

camera phone ftw?

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: thepd7
Agreed, but you shouldn't even have to prove the fron plate was on considering they already wrote an incorrect ticket. I would think if you can prove 1 ticket was wrong the 2nd would be thrown out as well.

The court won't see it that way. The two tickets have nothing to do with each other. You have to disprove both of them separately.

And yet, you have already proven with 1 incorrect ticket the incompetency of the person who wrote it. So if the same officer # (or whatever they call them) is on both tickets you can prove their incompetency, ESPECIALLY since they are at the same time.

Say I steal some stuff from a store, and they only find me with half of what is missing. Do they have to find the other half to prove I stole it?

 

[Gunslinger08]

Yet another reason I will never live in a big city.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I got a fine at my school for parking in a Faculty Staff lot that is farther away than all the Resident lots when I was not only parked in the Resident lot, but surrounded by Resident cars. Furthermore, the ticket came on a Wednesday-- so apparently Monday and Tuesday I wasn't in a Faculty Staff spot, but Wednesday, having not moved the car I was.

To go further, they made me pay a late fee even though they were not open for me to pay the ticket over break. And finally, after 2 appeals and after providing pictures and written testimonials from friends who went with me they still upheld the ticket.

Parking services in this world are messed up on so many different levels. I hope your ticket turns out better than mine!

-Kevin

 

[CorCentral]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
Yet another reason I will never live in a big city.

 

[ktehmok]

Originally posted by: Evadman
So I sent to see the Blackhawks game tonight. First, that game sucked. The blackhawks played like a bunch of girls. 14 year old girls. With broken legs.

Anywho, I go back out to my truck, which was parked almost directly in front of Malcom X College. I made triple sure that I was not parked illegally, there were no signs, and a bunch of other cars were parked on the same side of the street.

When I come back to my truck, I have 2 parking tickets stuck to the window. One for having expired plates, and one for not having front plates. Both tickets are $50 a piece.

What ticks me off is that I have never had a ticket that was not a speeding ticket. No wait, that's not what ticked me off. What ticked me off is that a cop (or meter maid, whatever) had nothing better to do than write me 2 tickets. Actually, that's not what ticked me off. What ticked me off what that I have a front plate, and my plates are not expired.

I don't understand what the cop/meter made was looking at. Some other random car, but he wrote my plate on the ticket on accident, then some other cop came and stuck it on my car so the 2nd cop didn't see that the 1st had made a mistake? Seriously, I am at a loss as to WTF someone was thinking.

On top of that, to fight it I probably have to drive back downtown (a 1.5 hr trip) which means I would have to take a day off work and lose > $100 to prove that the cop is incorrect. How the hell do you prove that you had front plates on anyway besides my word? Hell, the cop/meter maid must have been illiterate or something to mistake an expiration date of 11/07 with 11/08. And be color blind and not see the color difference between orange and white so perhaps he thought the metal plate bolted to the front of my truck with the embossed letters on it ws some advent garde art or something instead of a plate.

<cliff notes>
I got 2 tickets, one for having expired plates, one for not having a front plate.
I have a front plate, and the plates do not expire until 11/08.
</cliff notes>

Your registration will show that your plates are not expired. This will show the lack of observation by the officer issuing the ticket. Bring that up first. Second, the officer will have to prove that you had no front plate. Ask for proof. There will be none. Request that the ticket be dismissed based on the lack of evidence. After all, the officer couldn't even discern that your tags were legit....

They're relying on you not fighting it. They know 90% of the people at downtown events live a good commute away, and would rather pay the bullshit fine than go downtown to dispute it. It is easy money.

Fore go the $100+ that you will lose that day at work & fight it. Then you will get a nice gold sticker for your man card.

 

[Zee]

fucking meter maids. If i was rich, i would hire reporters to follow them around all day.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: thepd7
Agreed, but you shouldn't even have to prove the fron plate was on considering they already wrote an incorrect ticket. I would think if you can prove 1 ticket was wrong the 2nd would be thrown out as well.

The court won't see it that way. The two tickets have nothing to do with each other. You have to disprove both of them separately.

And yet, you have already proven with 1 incorrect ticket the incompetency of the person who wrote it. So if the same officer # (or whatever they call them) is on both tickets you can prove their incompetency, ESPECIALLY since they are at the same time.

Say I steal some stuff from a store, and they only find me with half of what is missing. Do they have to find the other half to prove I stole it?

That's the logical and rational view. We're talking about tickets here.

I once wrote in a case for a pair of tickets I'd gotten in New Jersey...expired registration, and something like not using my blinker. Both were false. My idiot friend (whose car it was) had the current registration, but hadn't put the stickers on the back. The cop claimed that there was something wrong with his computer which didn't let it link up and check the registration on the database, so I got a ticket.

I explained the circumstances later, attached a copy of the registration showing issue and expiration dates that bracketed the date of the ticket, explained that we were looking for an exit with lots of slow trucks on the road, and that I was certainly using my signal. Nope, guilty on both counts. WTF?

 

[chuckywang]

I would be absolutely livid if it was me. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[FallenHero]

To prove your reg is current, go to your local DMV and ask to see your license plate registration. It should have the renewal date on there somewhere...

As for the front plate...dunno what to tell ya.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: FallenHero
To prove your reg is current, go to your local DMV and ask to see your license plate registration. It should have the renewal date on there somewhere...

As for the front plate...dunno what to tell ya.

In Illinois, going to the local DMV is an all day affair. Then he would have to take ANOTHER day off from work!

 

[Analog]

Should have taken a picture of the car with the tickets on the window and a shot of the front license plate...

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Analog
Should have taken a picture of the car with the tickets on the window and a shot of the front license plate...

And also:
There should/may be a registration tag on your plates (depending on the state).
Take a picture of that also.

Photocopy the registration.

Photcopy the tickets

Type a polite letter and send it to the location stated on the ticket.
Address it to the Clerk of Court.
Indicate that you wish to avoid having to appear and re-present the enclosed evidence.
Ask for a review of the information presented and could the case be adjudicated before the stated date.

If your evidence is accurate, they may close the case.
I have succeed a couple of times in that respect (canceling the ticket foul-ups).

 

[Evadman]

I like that EagleKeeper. I will do that.

 

[Miramonti]

Are they actually for your car? Sometimes people get tickets and throw them on someone else's car for the helluva it.

 

[conehead433]

Cop's name on the ticket? Find out where they live and burn their fucking house to the ground. I know that's pretty extreme, but that's what I'd feel like doing.

 

[Parasitic]

I'm surprised that some particular individual has not come in and said "you broke the law so pay the fine" like in every ticket thread...

anyways good luck fighting that ticket. We really get taken too much advantage of as citizens.

 

[DrPizza]

Too late now, but I would have found an officer right away to sign a note saying he observed your car at that time with the plate on the front and with unexpired plates. Then, made a note of the time on the tickets, the event you were at, and the distance from the event to your home.

Knowing that they'd probably say "well, you put the plate on after the ticket", I'd do all I could pictorially to show that the plates were dirty from road salt or something.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Zee
fucking meter maids. If i was rich, i would hire reporters to follow them around all day.

haha, they just started a new series on A&E called Parking Wars which does just that!

it's actually a funny ass show!