LCSC has a large mostly empty parking lot on 11th ave in Lewiston Idaho. It has been there for years!!! They also tore down 4 blocks of homes and cut down a lot of very nice trees.They put a dorm with parking on one of the blocks. And recently completed the last parking lot a week before thanksgiving.And the city of lewiston vacated 4th st to lcsc. This gives Lcsc 3 new parking lots and all the new parking spots on the recently vacated 4th st between 11th ave and 7th ave.Maybe they should put a parking garage on the last green space the lcsc campus has so no students are inconvieneced with having to walk more than two blocks to class

the people who feel this is a simple law and order issue need to do a little research into what the govt is doing to us- shortening yellow light times to generate more red light tickets, asset forfeiture cases, putting speed cameras in areas where the speed limit isn't clearly noted, etc. these are UNREPRESENTED TAXES. Issues like these are what spurred the revolution. Before you chastise your fellow citizen for 'breaking the law', look at the laws... we have more people in prison today than any country at any time in history. Unbelievable!

I am totally opposed to all speed cameras. They are not accurate and they don't really do anything expecte raise revenue and force drivers to constantly watch their speedometer rather than concentrate on the road ahead and what is going on around them. I found some interesting information on http://bit.ly/Y59uH that may be of use to readers if they get pinged. Actually you should read it BEFORE you get a ticket.

@Kim N. from San Jose: I hope you are checking this article for new comments. A similar thing happened to me recently, but the ticket was from a different Bay Area city, not San Francisco. I'm curious about the notice you got in the mail: Did it have just your plate number or also the make and color of your car?

I got a parking ticket at 4 am the other morning, I forgot to move my car back into the driveway--so it was my own fault. While not happy about it, at least I knew the police had been down my street during the night. Then there are other times people leave their cars out and don't get tickets which tells me they probably never made it down my street in my little town

Our government put in solar powered parking meters that conveniently don't work during the lunch hour or the happy hour, or the 6 months out of the year that it is dark and rains in portland, they only work if you have change. Isn't that funny. For over a year I had to find parking in downtown Portland. Received tickets during that time for having to find other pay stations because the nearest ticket dispenser was out of order, having to go into a place with an ATM, pay a fee and buy something from a proprietor to get change; and I have a friend who got a ticket for owing tickets. These tickets start at $23 and if not paid in the 30 days can get up to $119 at which time they garnish your wages and say sorry we have to given the economy, but I can't say, sorry trying to pay but the economy is killing me. I am ready to become a republican because it feels better when the people screwing me don't lie and say we are here for the middle class, only if the democrats are here to collect.

get bikes and stop complaining

Radar detectors are bliss.......all I can say about speeding fines. If one watches where to park, there are no problems ever. Also, as a kicker, in the Orlando area, cops are really mellow, you will get a ticket if you go over 80-85 on I-4. But, for the most part, the FHP is watching for more interesting and important matters. I have been pulled over (paced) 3 times, one was a ticket, the others ended with the officer saying: "Take it easy, have a nice day" and no ticket. Gotta love O-Town.

The "Parking Ticket" issue has been one of the greatest causes of the destruction of countless urban areas. Who would park in a downtown section of town only to come back to their car and find a parking ticket on it. If you avoid all downtown areas and do your shopping at a Mall you do not have to be concerned about getting a parking ticket regardless of how long you spend there. The cities that have parking meters in order to make a few dollars drove all the businesses away. In Albany, New York the city noticed that the parking meter money was declining so they sprayed some quarters with a UV dye that glowed under blacklight. Since it was the cops themselves that emptied the parking meters they found out that wheneven a deposit of rolled quarters was deposited in local banks the banks broke open the rolls before putting them in a coin counting machine and the "dyed quarters showed up. Who was the party deposited the rolls of quarters? The Albany, NY "cops" wives. Thats how they were caught. A lot of meter revenue ends up in the cops pockets. In Middletown, N.Y. I often watched a cop of a motorcycle idle his engine just waiting for the meter to clcik red and when it did he wrote a parking ticket. By the same token I also saw cops put nickels in meters of some cars. The cars were known to be local "big shots" or lawyers known to the cops. Wouldn't it be nice to have a cop put money in the meter for you? In Woods Hole, Massachusetts the way they make their money is to have meter maids constantly walk around a circuit constantly writing tickets. Naturally most people are from out of town. The best way to avoid wasting your money on parking tickets is to shop at a shopping MALL and do not use the downtown area of a city for anything.

The whole law enforcement is corrupt.
I used to go to MacDonalds every morning and a security officer that works at the court house started coming there, we got to talking and it was obvious he hated me for some reason. He had an friend that was a police officer and he wrote my license plate down one morning. When I ask him why he was writing my license plate down he said he was sending his brother-in-law a letter. Sure enough a couple weeks later I got a ticket in the mail. I had to go to court to fight it and won because the judge said there was nothing on my record. Even the cop that wrote the ticket showed up. She was pissed the Judge dismissed it because of my record. But watch out. I dont trust any cops any more.
Some thing has to be done. This world is full of people who have a little power that think they can do any thing they want. If you get a ticket and your not guilty fight it. Don't let them get away with it.

Here's how to beat the parking police and make some money at the same time. Take one block of a city street where parking meter enforcement is very high. Put lots of quarters/dimes/nickles in your pocket and just as a meter runs out, drop in the lowest denomination coin and place an envelope in the window the the car that was just about to be ticketed with the following note:
This is your lucky day. A meter maid was just about to write you a ticket for (fill in the amount) for time expiring on your meter. I can't stand to see a fellow driver screwed by the city, so I put money in your meter to save you from the ticket. When you get a chance, please reimburse me for saving your day. Mail a check for whatever you think my good deed was worth to: (enter your name and address.

You'll get half the envelopes back with either a few bills or a check for $5 or $10 or more. If you're close to the car when the hapless driver runs to the meter, take the envelope from the glass and hand it to him. He'll give you a curious look, read the note, thank you profusely and give you a $5 or $10 bill on the spot. If you do it right, you should be able to collect $10 to $50/hour for your efforts...and it really gets the meter maids ticked off.

Here's how to beat the parking police and make some money at the same time. Take one block of a city street where parking meter enforcement is very high. Put lots of quarters/dimes/nickles in your pocket and just as a meter runs out, drop in the lowest denomination coin and place an envelope in the window the the car that was just about to be ticketed with the following note:
This is your lucky day. A meter maid was just about to write you a ticket for (fill in the amount) for time expiring on your meter. I can't stand to see a fellow driver screwed by the city, so I put money in your meter to save you from the ticket. When you get a chance, please reimburse me for saving your day. Mail a check for whatever you think my good deed was worth to: (enter your name and address.

You'll get half the envelopes back with either a few bills or a check for $5 or $10 or more. If you're close to the car when the hapless driver runs to the meter, take the envelope from the glass and hand it to him. He'll give you a curious look, read the note, thank you profusely and give you a $5 or $10 bill on the spot. If you do it right, you should be able to collect $10 to $50/hour for your efforts...and it really gets the meter maids ticked off.

Back in '93 I worked at Mount Vernon Hospital, in Mount Vernon NY. It was the only hospital I ever came across that actually did not have a parking lot. (I think they aquired one in 1996.) Here goes, every day I would put enough quarters in a 12 hour meter to cover my time. Always, my relief never came on time and when I would say I have to go out and cover my meter I was told I could not leave my "floor." Man, I racked up some tickets, finally I quit that stinkin' job but not before I had to settle out a hefty fine. The Judge was only partly sympathetic.

I live in Edinburgh in Scotland. The total parking fines here are only exceede by those of London, a city over ten times bigger.
The City Council has privatised the parking warden contracts and makes millions of pounds a year from the deal.
Same stories as many here - sometimes you get a ticket becuase you can't see the signs that tell you when or where you can't park. When it's legal to park, the charges don't encourage you to stay long. The main business and commercial centre of the city is dying as people prefer to go to out of town malls where they won't be puniched for spending money on local businesses. So what's the new idea? Yes, of course, introducing parking charges in the out oc town car parks.
I don't know about city government in the USA, but it doesn't seem any more business or citizen friendly than ours.

It seems that nearly everyone has a story about how they were unfairly picked on for violating the parking regulations, just a little bit! Grow up and take responsibility for your actions!The government did not come out and paint a handicapped marker, move the hash marks, install a driveway or run your meter to zero after you parked there. You are whining because you got caught! How many violations did you get away with?

John Miller of Los Angeles...you are wrong. I got a ticket on Santa Monica Blvd. that was sent in the mail. It claimed there was a meter violation but the ticket was "undeliverable." So if the vehicle and I aren't available for delivery how can there be a violation of a parking meter?

You see John? To violate a parking meter you need to be parked there.

What's even more ironic is that I was parked in the loading zone ahead of the parking meters because I was....loading and unloading. But that's okay. Los Angeles/Santa Monica won't get any more from me. I left SO CAL. All you sheep who are left can sort this mess out.

Sooner if not later, the citizens are going to revolt and become aggressive. When government pushes aside the boundary between neccessary intrusions and forces tyrrany upon the overtaxed. We have become to cash conscious in our policing of normal behavior. War over government rapaciousness looms and will be quite deserved.

Only one real solution for this problem. Demand that revenue from tickets be given to charities. Government is proving that they are just not responsible for the task when revenue is involved.

I was legally parked behind another vehicle, 135 feet up the street is a sign which cannot be seen from the parking area of no parking Mon-Fri- 8-6 Pm Not pointed in my direction. I recieved a ticket. The curb is not painted and no local sign is around. The vehicle in front did not recieve a ticket... Guess he wasn't from out of state

I spent 3 days at the CIA in NY, on my way home to NH I was pulled over by a state trooper, handing out tickets for the town of Ghent on the Taconic. I was clueless until he told me my lights weren't on and it was raining. I told him my lights were on and showed him on the dash, but unfortunately for me they were on automatic and it wasn't dark enough at 2 pm for them to go on. My ticket was $110 what a total rip-off, I sent a letter to the town and was ignored. To add more to this outrage, my son got a ticket for parking in the wrong direction on the side of our house, we have been doing this for about 17 years now. My husband is po'd this time and since it is local will fight it!

There seems to be an ongoing theme with these comments. I did something wrong and got caught, so now I think the people who caught me are terrible,heartless pigs, trying to ruin my day. Gee! You all sound like seasoned politicians. Why don't to become the responsible person that your mom and dad raised, pay the tickets without the complaining,and do your best to obey the laws. We live in a wonderful county,America it's the land of choices, so if you choose to park illegally, accept the outcome as your choice not that of some meter maid doing their job.

Parking in NYC is now flat out insane. Meter extortionists are now targeting anyone who "double parks" to wait for a car to move out of a spot. Never mind you might be waiting ten seconds. You WILL get a ticket. That is extortion and not even legal. But they do it anyway.

Coming from small town Americana here is my solution. If you go past a parking meter in "violation" .....put in a quarter or 50 cents and leave a note on the window that says the violater has been visited by the "ticket fairy"! Let them know they have been saved from their fines due to the generosity of someone who only asks that they do the same for the next person they pass with a violated meter.
Guilt is a terrible thing to waste!
Can you imagine the fun you could have feeling "generous" for the price of a quarter?
Put a smile on your face, lose the negativity and fight back.

All this privatization is just part of the corporate takeover of America. Perhaps the cost of operations decreases but the cost to the taxpayer skyrockets to cover the substantial profit margin for these added middlemen. A few years ago garbage collection cost a few dozen dollars per year. Then it was privatized and went up to a couple hundred and now nearly three hudred bucks a year. The DMV in Florida has been privatized so we are not only paying the state fees for licenses and license plates, but substantial profits to Jeb Bush's cronies who run them. Now it's on to parking and traffic lights. Next water and sewer. Bah, I'd rather pay fines to the government (We the People) rather than corporate shareholders and CEO's.

Visiting San Francisco...Watch out. They ticket without cause. My car was parked in a relative's driveway and not on the street. There wasn't a ticket on the car. I got a notice in the mail with a fine and penalty. $75 for parking in a street cleaning zone. No way to prove otherwise---- This is stealing...plain and simple. Out of State victim !

Ive been a police officer for nearly ten years and I can honestly say that these private companies issuing moving violations by a camera is absolutely unconstitutional.
The Constitution clearly states that you have the right to address your accuser.
who the hell is the accuser?!?!
A camera on a pole?
It is a money making scheme, nothing more. These private companies will tweek the camera times or even photoshop a picture to produce the revenue for their stockholders.
Moving violations are misdemeanors that have to be witnessed by a SWORN law enforcement officer at the time of the violation.
And I have never heard of meter maids being able to ticket a car with someone in it while standing/stopped in a travel lane. They are suppose to enforce PARKING. If someone is operating the car standing still in a travel lane this is a MOVING violation such as impeading traffic. Maids do not have the authority to cite for that under any jurisdiction.
And for all the cop haters information ,I dont know one police officer that likes writing stupid ass parking tickets. We usually are forced to write them because someone is "complaining" about a car that isnt parked just right.
And we really dont care to much for stopping cars on the side of a highway, getting shot at, ran over, spit on , stabbed and screamed at for traffic violations either :)

After reading a lot of these post i come to understand that most of you are not breaking the law. The law is braking the law and being very unfair and being a crook. There is different way of being a crook. Yes, Very few here deserved the ticket. You guys need to ban together in numbers and do something about this shady crooked meter maides

Whats a parking ticket? Oh, right, YOU not following the rules and getting caught. Follow the rules.

George, You got to be kidding me !!!!! That is crazy and so unfair. Took the battery out of your car. WOW!!
I winder how she/ he got under your hood to take the battery out of your car. That is insane. That is just going way to far.

That is what is wrong with americans, They don't take responsibility for their own actions. And we wonder what is wrong with our youths. Our youths see us grown ups not taking responsibility for our own action but blaming others for them. Like the man wondering why he would get a ticket for parking in a handicap parking to run in a get a bit to eat, He deserved that ticket for parking there. GROW UP PEOPLE

WOW Gilbert, Are you willing to spend the rest of your life behind bars over a ticket? I know these meter maids makes you want to just strangle them since they seem to have no care in the world what a ticket can do to someone that is hardly getting by as it is. It is like no skin off my nose.

Ok.
A guy goes out and gets drunk, and is involved in a car accident that leaves him disabled.
Explain why we should have to accommodate this moron because he drinks alcoholic beverage and drives?
There should be NO handicap parking spaces.

My sister is a judge for the Parking Violations in NYC, and she went to law school and passed the NY Bar. She had to learn all these arcane laws. Now the DMV gives you a book on driving rules, and so should the city of NY! When you are issued a license EVERY NY DRIVER SHOULD BE MAILED A PARKING AND TRAFFIC RULES BOOK! IT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE SIZE OF THE YELLOW PAGES, COST $5 TO SEND, BUT AT LEAST IT WOULD COST THEM SOME MONEY AND EVERYONE WOULD KNOW THIS NONSENSE.

I parked in a lot in Vancouver, BC that had a kiosk to pay for parking. The machine was out of paper to print tickets on, and was therefore no longer accepting payment. I thought that since it was 10 PM, I'd be okay, but I wasn't: a $70CAD ticket was waiting for me upon my return.
Apparently this happens all the time in Vancouver. The city or collection company has realized that tickets bring in more more than parking fares, so if they don't keep up with filling the paper or removing the coins, people cannot pay for their parking and can be ticketed instead.
I'm sure the city of Vancouver will make a killing during the Olympics next year.
As of yet, Boston, MA has not jumped on this trend, and thousands of illegally parked cars go unpenalized daily.

It's Seems far More Are Quilty Then Have A Legit Excuse. If Your Parked Where You don't Belong How Can you Bitch when You get A Ticket. Yes Things Are Tough Right Now And know One can afford a Ticket, All The more Reason To Think Before You Park In A handicap Space Or Somewhere Else You Don't Belong.

Just more examples of morally and financially
bankrupt Governments. The Revolution can't come
soon enough.

Getting out of a parking lot into a two way street in quiet area in San Leandro, California, with a sign "RIGHT TURN ONLY" get you a $380, yes 380 Dollar ticket, if you turn left and cross one traffic line.
The "Hayward Hall of Justice" is a corporate whore full of "commissioners sitting in department rooms" numbered like SEARS.
Before you can see anyone, you must pay BAIL first, equal to your ticket.

What we all must remember is our vote. We have a scam parking system in Milwaukee as well. Talk to and write or email your elected officials and put them on notice that they need to stop this madness or be replaced by someone who will.

When a cop is spending time writing tickets for non harmful violations, moving or non-moving, they are not working to protect us. Examples for non-harmful are numerous and everywhere. Officers should be spending time on what they are hired and trained to do. If they have spare time to write tickets, there should be reduction in force and save tax payers money being spent on parking and traffic violations,

Lots of horror stroies.
I parked, dropped the required coin in the meter and entered the business, only to realize I'd left something in the car that I needed. Arrivign back at the car, there was a policeman, foot on the bumper, writing a parking ticket. I asked why, since the meter showed 58 minutes remaining. He said, "I won't be back fo ra little while and you'll probably be overparked by then." I went to court and asked to be heard by a judge, I was told I must plead guilty before the court clerk, who would then decide if I was "entitled" to see the judge. When I asked why, I was threatened with a "contempt of court clerk" charge. $25, court costs, $40 parking ticket.

My broke car in the shop got me a ticket a few weeks ago. Apparently I have found tech that lets my car bi-locate and drive its self. So while I was at work I was also seeming to be out on the highway doing 84 in a 65.

do the crime, pay the fine. get over it.

I am a police officer in California and though I am sympathetic to most of these valid complaints, I find that in my years of service, that many people do things that they "think" are ok-like park in a fire lane or disabled spot, for instance-simply because they were "going to be parked for five minutes". I find that people in this country are losing accountability and when they receive a citation for parking or traffic, they want to blame me or the government, when in fact it is their fault entirely. THEY chose to do speed, or park improperly, or whatever, yet they always want to blame someone else, and the police officer who is writing the cite is always the scapegoat...When will people show a little accountability and accept that they did something wrong, pay restitution, whatever it is, then not do it again? NO, instead, people don't want anyone to tell them what to do and want to shoot all the cops who try to or want us to come running only when they need us. Sorry, doesn't work that way, and for those saying that they should shoot us, bring it on, me and my friends have bigger and better guns and though I would lay my life down to protect yours, I will take it just as quickly if me or my friends' lives are threatened. Just food for thought.

@Tony, NY NY - Parking is a municipal issue, not a federal one. The "US Government" has absolutely zero to do with parking tickets and point two, Europeans are hardly the anarchists you claim. AND if you think parking issues are only a US issue, you are dead wrong. Most major European cities are a nightmare when it comes to parking, fees and fines. It's a part of life in a crowded world that is getting more crowded by the day.

Everyone should fight every ticket they get. If some meter maid wrote up 227 tickets in five hours and all those people went to court to fight their ticket it would bog the court down so much something would have to be done. I mean say 2,000 tickets a day and everyone fought them there is no way the court system could handle it. Not only that but if some private company gave me a ticket I would fight that, not a real cop giving me a ticket come one is that legal. They are private security at that point and have no rights.

Oakland CA is on a revenue raising spree. A friend was just towed for an expired registration tag. Towed! $500- later, she gets her car back for something that should be a $10- fix it ticket. My city council person admonishes us not to "take it out on the merchants" by shopping elsewhere. Fat chance.

Steer clear of Pasadena, California! For years they have been slapping INCONTESTABLE parking tickets even on cars that are appropriately parked and prominently displaying paid-for PERMITS.

"Some people rob you with a six gun and some rob you with a fountain pen."
Woody Guthrie

Have you ever seen such a pack of whining and sniveling comments? Someone commented, "park correctly and you won't get a ticket," and I have to say, 'thank you for taking the words right out of my mouth.' America has some of the worst offenders and law breakers in the world. We have become lazy, finger-pointing, and complaining buffoons. Personally, I'm glad they are cracking down. Now law enforcement just needs to do it on the highways and roads and we just might get back to the days when the law actually meant something.

Maybe all you complaining sacks of s**t should reacquaint yourselves with the motor vehicle handbook on how to park and drive. STOP COMPLAINING and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your own actions.

Hay all you people who say just follow the law I got a ticket while I was walking to the end of the block to pay for parking in one of the new kiosks. How was I not following the law? Did I deserve this ticket?

Ride a bike, as in bicycle. Eventually, they will try to make people carry insurance and tags for bicycles if enough people start riding them, because you can't ticket a bicycle since it has no tags. Because our government thinks we exist to support them and not the other way around.

Stop allowing yourselves to be abused people! Obey the law (not because it's just, because the law is not just and it is virtually impossible to understand let alone obey) I could start reading all the laws in this country 24 hrs a day for the next 300 years and never finish reading them all, much less being able to obey them all at all times.

The commercials tell us a car gives us freedom. It also makes us a target for a rabid, vicious, out of control collosus called government. The United States is not the land of the Free. It's the Home of the Jailed. We jail more people than any nation on earth, including China which has 4x the population.

That's another money making scheme. California is being forced to reduce its inmate population because it has twice as many inmates as the system was designed to handle and prisoners are stacked like chickens in a factory farm on bunk beds in gymnasiums.

It's time to take back America. The biggest threat to our freedom are not foreign terrorists. They are domestic.

It appears to me that a parking ticket reeks with the smell of "A BILL(writ)OF ATTAINDER". Me thinks the bill of rights in the constitution forbids such. Just a thought.

Try Philadelphia, Pa's approach. Mail tickets to anyone in the state, even if they live 300 miles from the city. My co-worker got a parking ticket in the mail for a day he was working with me. Philly has done this for years. The best one is Toledo, OH which issues parking tickets for parking in your own driveway. It is now illegal to park in any driveway in Toledo. The mayor stated the city needed money and this was the best way to raise it.

How about getting back to your car with 15 minutes left, and finding a parking ticket on your car? The ticket said my time was expired. It'll take 6-8 weeks to hear a response from Cambridge city hall about my dispute.

I've been reading through all these griping letters and I have to say...

What do you all think would happen if the cities didn't enforce parking laws and restrictions?

Think it's hard to find a parking space now - try finding one if the cops stop enforcing the laws and just allow everyone to parking where ever they want, for as long as they want.

I'm seeing alot of letters from a bunch of people who seem to think that they don't have to responsible for themselves.

Sad, pathetic and scary.

To Mark in Denver -

Denver is NOT a cowtown - it has consistently been rated one of the best cities in America to live for several years.

Why are you even here if you hate it so much?

And do you think if I went to Florida and did something that is against the law there that they're just going to let me off because it's legal in Colorado? Get real!

And as for your comments about Denverites and Coloradans not like anyone from other state - "especially anyone brown" - that is patently false.
I've had people from all over world visit me in Denver and comment on how friendly people here are.

Maybe, Mark - the problem is YOU.

I work part time for some friends who own a business that does revenue recovery (collections, essentially) for private commercial parking lots.

Trust me - there are two sides to these stories.

I deal with the appeals people submit for the tickets they get for either not paying for parking or failing to follow the procedures.

You would not believe how often I catch people in bald faced lies - and of course everyone thinks they've come up with a unique, believable and fool proof excuse to get out of the ticket - except that I see that same excuse 50 times a day.

I can't tell you how many people who instead of paying to parking and displaying their receipt as required - will instead leave an old receipt or even fast food restaurant receipt face down on their dash, thinking that the lot attendant will just see the piece of paper and walk on by.

No - their job is to view the receipt and make sure it's valid for that day, time and even the space the vehicle is parked in.

People don't realize the lengths and expenses companies and probably cities have had to go to enforce that people are paying for parking.

Parking companies used to just have slot boxes that you put your money in - but everyone would claim - "Oh I put my money in - somebody must have took it".

So, they put in automated payment machines where people could buy receipts which they have to display in their car and equipped their lot attendants with hand-held devices and cameras so they could document violators - and they have to pay third party companies for that equipment as well as storing the data.

It's a two way street, folks. If so many people weren't trying to get something for nothing - these companies and city agencies wouldn't have to be going to lengths they are to collect what is due.

@ Outgraged Father: You admit you were illegally parked in a handicapped space for over 15 mins while you "got your feed on" and then complain you got a ticket? How many truly handicapped people had to park elsewhere in that 15 mins? You're an inconsiderate lout.
Presumably the cop did not murder your child, and perhaps had been briefed to look for the person who did and was truly expressing his condolences on your loss. I'd say I was sorry too, but I don't want to become the accused....

While attending at HR for work, I was ticketed for not turning my wheels toward the curb while parked facing down a slight rise. I had set my hand brake on my automatic transmission vehicle. Believe me, that car was going nowhere. The municipal code states it must be done where there's a 3% or more grade...I want to know how do I know (or the ticketing officer) what a 2.75% vs. 3% grade looks like.

I got a moving violation for running a red light in Manhattan. NY State wrote me letter saying that if I did it again I would run the risk of losing my license. So I moved to Maine where I've been for 20 years - nice place to live. BTW - I was riding a bicycle when I went through the red light. Good bye NY - take your tickets and stick em.

What's worse than parking tickets is the 'fees' attached to any ticket the police give you. My husband got pulled over for doing 74 in a 55, granted this was waaaay over the limit. The cost of the fine for speeding was 38$, the cost of the court fees, regardless of whether or not you contest the ticket, was $180!!! It's ridiculous how much money they make off people when they're supposed to be protecting them!!!

I was parked I a private driveway with no sidewalk. The driveway was about as long as the the car. A ticket shows up for blocking the sidewalk. There is no sidewalk because it would tresspass on the private property and driveway. I used Google Earth photos of all the cars parked like mine, photos take the day of the ticket of the neighborhood with cars parked like mine and a letter from the homeowner where I was parked. I took it all to court and got it dismissed because NOBODY else was ticketed that day or any other day. Since hurricane IKE the parking meters do not work.

Ticketing has gotten OUTRAGEOUS! I was parked for LITERALLY 15 minutes in a handicapped space because I had to run into McDonald's to get my feed on and I get a $100 ticket! Not only that, as the officer is giving me the ticket he smiles and says, 'I hope they find your son's murderer'...how did he know THAT if he wasn't directly involved in the case! Now they not only give tickets they are murdering CHILDREN??!

Most of what I read here is predicated on this premise: violate parking rules, get a ticket. But here in Los Angeles, CA I can tell you that it is much more Machiavellian and pointed toward pure profiting.
I was issued a ticket for "blocking the side walk" with barley 3 or 4 inches of my bumper over the sidewalk- while the rest of my car was parked in MY DRIVEWAY (with the address incorrect on that ticket, I still had to pay it - the supervisor told me it only had to be "approximate to the violation.") Or this: put two hours worth of money in the meter, return after only a bit more than an hour to find a ticket for being (almost imperceptibly) 'outside' of the painted hash mark of the allotted parking space. Or this: One evening I pulled next to a vehicle (with my foot brake applied and turn signal on) that was leaving a parking space at a curb on Sunset BLVD. Suddenly, the little car with the little yellow light appeared in my rear view mirror - and suddenly, about 5 days later I received a citation in the mail for being "double parked" when I wasn't parked at all at that point. No one that evening approached or signaled my vehicle to tell me of that fictional citation. Oh, how I could go on.
In short, the premise here in Los Angeles is: if you're at all NEAR a public street they WILL find a way to issue you a parking citation.

What about the case, I think in New York, where the driver pulled over under an overpass and DIED in the drivers seat??!! I believe I read that his van had received several parking tickets while all the time his body was in the drivers seat and DEAD. They finally found his body when the vehicle got towed. Do this ticket writers not look at the vehicle at all?

Encinitas, California hides their "2 Hr Parking"
signs BEHIND Trees, so they are not visable. Meter maid physically walked me over to it and pointed it out, since it was 50 ft away from my car! When I commented it was hidden, she said "You have to look".
Bad for business in Encinitas.

How many of you are sick and tired of the BS we're getting from the US government. Taxes always going up, parking tickets as revenue (another way of getting more taxes) out of control spending, corruption in Washington and throughout America.

When will we as citizens will stand of up and fight??? The government in the United States are 99% corrupted and will never change. We the citizens of the United States need to come together whether we are Republicans or Democrats etc and revolt against the US government. The US government are always trying to put fear into the citizens, but we should not be afraid. FIGHT BACK. Just look at the citizens of all the Europeans countries, they are always fighting back, and this is why their government are very afraid of the citizens. We need to do the same here in the United States. We should have a march of 100 million people one day and all come together and say enough is enough.

Park correctly and you won't get a ticket. Quit whining.

It is about time for the citizens of the U. S. to use our right to bear arms to stop our out of control government. That's what the right to bear arms is all about - keeping our government in line. The U. S. was founded to escape an out of control government to start with. If a few dozen traffic cops and meter maids were gunned down daily for a while, some of the crap would stop.

When I lived in Chicago I worked at the Univ of Chicago. The meter maids around the University area would ticket cars in the hospital parking garage when they couldn't make their quotas for the day.

Joe M is correct on this one. If you are affected, remember that the city belongs to you. The money to run it has to come from somewhere. either pay higher taxes (sales, property), cut programs, or live with these hidden taxes. If you don't want to live with the first two, then at least protest the outsourcing of it to an external firm. If I were facing an increase in enforcement and a bunch of that revenue was flowing out to a private company, I'd be beyond livid.

When are people going to stop being such lemmings?

Yeah. Put a boot on my vehicle. It'll only take a few seconds to it torch off. I wonder how much those things cost?

this isn't limited to parking tickets, cops also give out more traffic tickets to make money

Maybe it's because I'm Canadian but when I get a parking ticket I assume it's because I've done something wrong. I DONT think the government is out to get me with parking enforcement hiding behind bushes and street lamps, or that they are tracking my ever movement with satellites. And if they are there waiting for your ticket to expire, so what? It expired! You should have either run out to add more money like we usually do or leave in time to make it. Don't blame your irresponsibility on people who are doing their jobs.

Corruption, I think, is the right word we're all looking for. I grew up in the state of Idaho, and they're not any better with properly upholding traffic and parking laws. I was going to class one morning and couldn't find an on-campus parking space (since the parking at LCSC STILL sucks)...so I parked a block away from the college in front of the local hospital's oncology center. When I returned to my car after class, I found a parking ticket waiting for me. The offense? "Obstructing a crosswalk"....PUH-LEEZ!! For one, there were no lines that indicated a crosswalk. Two, my rear bumper was MAYBE 6 inches past the edge of the sidewalk concrete.

Another beef that I had with the law enforcement in Lewiston (my home town in Idaho) came when I was driving home from a friend's apartment in Clarkston, WA, a neighboring town. There was a city police cruiser parked in the street outside one of the local bars. I was about to change lanes to get around him, but had to slam on my brakes to let another person around me so I wouldn't hit the cruiser. A sheriff's deputy (crusty, aged S.O.B....)pulled me over at a gas station after following me for at least 10 blocks. He was about to write me a ticket saying that I was speeding and "almost slammed into the back of the cruiser", and that the city cop at the bar was "afraid" I was going to hit him. Luckily he was apparently feeling lenient since he let me go with a verbal warning, but still....WOW.

And the Alexandria city police here in VA aren't any better. The officers look like they're BARELY old enough to drive and have this dangerous attitude that since they have this power, they can do whatever the eff they want.

epoxy

I'be been reading the comments posted on here, it it seems allot of people have valid excuses and allot more don't. To the people who don't have valid excuses sorry no one is going to cry tears for you becuase you violated the laws that are out there It seems you folks just don't get it. you can buy lottery and cigs, and booze and shop at all malls but you forget about the car. oh the joys of owning a automobile. Gee you should come to my city they park anywhere on the corner in crosswalks in front of hydrants.

hmm, 100+ comments and not a single one from a meter maid. They must be hard at work! Or not get paid enough to buy a computer & net access.

Philadelphia should be on this list also. They are horrible!!!!!!! A parking ticket is now 41.00 and if you don;t pay it right away it doubles and then triples. 25 cent is the meter is merely a couple of minutes and they have done away with smal parking lots where you can pay a flat rate. they have the nerve to have commercials asking people to come to Philadelphia and highlighting all of their attractions...you better not fall into that trap...they need money and their parking henchmen are out there waiting on you to park your car and walk away.

Moral of these stories which is a brilliant idea, OBEY THE TRAFFIC AND PARKING LAWS!!!!! Then you won't have these tickets and fines. Rocket science I know.

If you don't get a parking ticket in Ann Arbor, MI, it would be a miracle.

I've had the same experiences as many others. In the late 1700's, the American colonists led violent protest against the British government because fines were being given to them without due process. Today is no different; the government tells us that we will not be given our most basic rights when it comes to traffic citations or parking tickets. According to the US Constitution; Article III, Section II "The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury . . . ." They get away with this by calling it an "infraction"- but I can't help but wonder about how many times the British did the same thing.

NYC is bad but second on the list should be Jersey City. They have contract boot operators that roam around and boot your car for profit. I parked in a residential area near Comcast by JFK Boulevard and was inside for 15 minutes came back out and I had a boot on my car. I called and found out that I was in a residents only parking section. So I looked for a sign that stated that at found one about 8 car lengths down the block. The sign could not be seen from the corner that I received the ticket. I had to pay about 150.00 dollars total and then I had to deliver the boot back to the Parking bureau in the morning. Anyway, when I got there about 8:50 am the next day I asked about the specific location and the cop was like "oh that one is fairly new and they probably have not put up the proper signs yet". I could not believe what I was hearing. He took the boot gave me a receipt and as I was walking out the door I saw another ticket being flung on my windshield for street cleaning as I walked towards my car. Another 42.00 dollars. I never ever again did any shopping or business in downtown jersey city unless I had to. I also moved to Texas -- good riddance.

I received a parking ticket in San Francisco at a date and time where I was clearly at work 40 miles away in San Jose (where I also work)for a car I have not driven up to San Francisco in over a year! How do you fight that? I'm currently in the process of protesting it but it appears that my chances are slim considering how San Francisco seem to automatically reject all objections. Has anyone ever experienced something similar to this? We need to all band together and do something about this and stop the abuse.

Within 10 ft of an alley in Tucson, AZ: $155!!! Manhattan maybe, but Tucson?! There is no use trying to fight it either. City code denies judges the ability to lower the fine for ANY reason.

In Washington, DC, I parked in a zone that was "NO PARKING, MON-FRI, 8AM-6PM" and got a ticket. The kicker -- it was Saturday. I took pictures and sent them in with a written appeal -- after all, the ticket had the correct date on it. My answer -- the appeal was summarily denied. I was given the option of paying an "administrative fee" equal to the amount of the ticket to appeal it to a judge where I would face the possibility of a doubled fine. I figured I didn't need to pay 3x the fine, so I skipped the appeal and paid it. It makes me want to buy a cheap clunker, run up thousands in parking tickets and then just abandon it on a DC street to let the city take care of disposing of it. They're a bunch of crooks.

I'm sure everybody here is completely innocent. Yeah right. Go to city council & tell them you want cheaper fines instead of whining. Otherwise, make sure you've got change on you! Not just parking spaces either...quit parking in fire lanes next to the f---in door (even closer than disabled people would park, I might add) and blocking the entrance so everyone has to walk around your car to get into the store, just cause your lazy-ass passenger can't walk 50 feet. Or because you think you're god-almighty who should park next to the doors so everyone else parks in the commoner spots. Sounds like a bunch of people who like to get away with breaking rules. You've probably been in trouble for other things too. Guess what? Everybody's having a bad day!

Simple solution... Vote them all out and demand fairness. If you do not get it, vote the next set of corrupt criminals out. Simple recipe, keep stirring until done...

Chicago, the meter maids (travel in groups of two, since they get into many altercations), witnessed me and three of our work vehicles unloading thousands of pounds of materials for a job site (construction site), I was supervising the vehicles, they both told me that I did NOT have to "feed the meters" as we were clearly unloading, and they were supervised with the flashers on. They then proceeded to walk across the street, and take digital photos of the vehicles, and mail three tickets to my business! I appealed the tickets, but the ruling was that the meter maids are allowed to lie and trick you into a ticket, as there only job is to enforce, so it is not a valid defense to claim that they tricked me into the tickets?

What country do we live in? I refuse to do businees in the City any longer, as do all of the businesses around me, we will only service the customers, if they pay an additional $250.00 delivery fee, just in case we get ticketed.

I feel sorry for the residence, they are being punished many times over.

Brian.

Cops are, putting it nicely, frikin jerks, what more needs to be said?

That so many people have stories about unjust treatment cannot be coincidence. People feel, and rightly so in my view, that they are being abused by their municpalities.

I don't bother driving into cities anymore...too much of a hassle. I'd rather do my business in the suburbs where parking is free and the roads are better. I'll pop in by public transit now and again, but only if I really have to.

With one minute remaining on the meter, I was back at my car where a meter maid was waiting to write ticket the instant the meter expired. I got into my car with seconds to spare and started it up to drive away. The car wouldn't start. The meter maid slapped a ticket on my windshield. She then handed me the battery to my car and said "I think it won't start because there's no battery in it. Have a nice day."

These people who say 'to just behave legally' must live in 'lala land'. Read these posts. Half of them talk about being ticketed with NO justification.

Sure, a few idiots complain they got a ticket for going 74 in a 55. yes, that's wrong. But, going 55 in a 55 still doesn't mean you won't be ticketed because they are corrupt.

I've gotten tickets for meters with time on them. What can you do. It's your word against theirs AND you have to waste your time if you want to fight it. You can beat a rigged system.

And, YOU SHOULD be able to BEND the rules. Sometimes, there are situations where compassion is needed. Having just had a major accident, I can tell you that some rules. I was literally scared to pull into a handicapped space without a sticker. I couldn't get the sticker before my first release from the hospital. I had to go to another doctor and there was no place to pull in and unload my wheel chair. I'm sure some officers would be understanding but I can GUARANTEE that some wouldn't. And, that's inexcusable.

Remember the guy who was going to the hospital to see his dying mother in law and got hassled at the front entrance. Unfortunately, that's the reality these days. Oh, for those who didn't see it, she DIED while he was with this cop. How tragic and unecessary

Whiners. Stop driving. Walk. Take public transportation. Want to drive into the city? Expect to pay for it.

Get used to it! I now refuse to go shopping in San Francisco. i will not give sales tax to a city that tries to squeeze every penny for residents. Same in Chicago, New York......Until we vote these political crooks out it will not change.

Develop a system to weed out bad cops an then use it.
This will save like.

It's EASY to define. MOST COPS ARe CROOCKED How we fire thse cops and replace then with law abiders....is easy.
It starts in the street and moves into the courhouse. Do not fail to tell eveyone how the teroristic cops abuse their authoity. Make then say they are sorry, they hate that,
I believe that crooked cops will destroy America. We must stop them. Throw nails under their tires, get in front of a cop car and drop nails with large heads. Flatten thier tires to prevent them from teroristic actities. Put water in gastanks will slw then down. These evil, self righteous , evil police units

If you happen upon a good cop, treat him with respect and be friendly. If it's bad cop, turn on your audio receiver in your phone and record evry sound the idiot speaks.
In doing so, you might have saved someones like

Never got a parking ticket, I live in the suburbs. If you challenge the ticket does the meter maid have to show up at the hearing? If this is the case every one should challeng the money makers andclog ip the court system. There would then be noone to write the tickets, the ticket writers would alwas be in court, that is until they realize what happening and hire more maids or disallow you to challenge

It seeems everyone has a reason they should have been allowed to break the law. Look at all of these stories piled up here.

Every individual believes in their heart of hearts that they shouldn't have gotten a ticket for whatever they were doing because... well, because, they were the ones doing it! And they had a good reason for having to break the law, and therefore they shouldn't have gotten a ticket!