Got my first parking ticket... :) Someone was jealous.

[attack eagle]

Backstory:
my son just transfered into a new school district this semester, and there were two dropoff/pickup locations for the bus that takes him to Pre-k. One at the actual elementary school he will attend next year, and one at the 'low rent' apartments nearby. Both are on the street with no parking lot access, and with residences on one side of the street as well. Since the one at the school was 5 minutes later on times, I decided to use that one. 2-3 days a week (tuesday and wednesday I am on my way home from school when I pick him up and barely make it before the bus leaves, and sometimes my youngest is asleep in the back, on M or Fridays) I'd just pull in behind the bus. The no parking spot was 1.5 x bus sized with almost a compact car sized spot between it and the corner so I'd let the nose hang into the zone. 90% of the time I'm behind the bus in traffic on the way there anyway.



Right as i get out of the car today, a motorcycle cop turned the corner, drove directly to where I was parked like he expected it, stopped behind me, asked if it was mine, shook his head and started writing. i went and picked up my son, and while I waited on him to finish up the ticket and provided him with the data (model 525i, wagon, vin number etc) that he couldn't see, we had a nice chat and I thanked the kid for being willing to serve. He really liked the wagon, asked how I liked it compared to an SUV or BMW sedan, admired some of the mods, rims, etc., shook my hand and asked me to be safe after he was done, then he headed back the same way he came. (could have cited me for no front plate, tint etc).

Apparently, what I gathered from him was that someone (s?) was jealous (of my ingenuity i guess?) after 3 months of me doing this and called the cops constantly everyday to complain, so they sent a motorcycle officer out numerous times to write me a citation.
The officer told me that they had not managed to catch me doing it the couple of times they were dispatched before because either the bus was early or I must have been late or in another car those other times.

He agreed that I wasn't impairing the bus from parking or leaving, and that i was complying with the spirit of, and the reason for the law, but that unfortunately I was still technically in violation as soon as I got out of the driver's seat and he had to cite me, mostly since they had dispatched so many times .and to satisfy the complainant. (BTW took longer to write the ticket than I spend parking there a week).
I thanked him for his courtesy, told him I didn't mind getting a ticket since I'd been doing it since January and wasn't upset at him for doing his job. We chatted a little and I did ask him if I could just leave the car there with the citation on it for up to 24 hours to further piss off the complainant, and he smiled and said he didn't recommend it since I had a nice car.

the only unlucky part if it is...
Today would have been my day NOT to pick up at school, on thursdays Daycare picks him up while I am in Photo 'lab', but I skipped class since the little one wasn't feeling well. Otherwise I would not have gotten a citation... at least for a while longer, maybe even at all. My semester will be over in 2 weeks and I can start to get there early enough to find parking or start using the closer location for the last 3 weeks of my son's semester.
It was well worth $55 to get away with it for almost the entire semester. I pay 6x more than that for parking at the University without flinching.
$55 dollars, pshaw. Less than a doctor's Visit!!!

I guess tommorrow I will park in someone's driveway... I'm not walking a block with a sick 18 month old in 40 mph winds.

[jhower08]

A $55 dollar parking ticket?!!??!! WTF?

A parking ticket around here is like $10 MAX.

[E34boyeee]

ya i usually get 10 dollar ones like 2 or 3 a week because i love to park in 30 minute parking so i can stare at my car from my classes. i got a 30$ parking ticket at a university once but 55$ is just ridiculous.

[CleanE34]

55 is like NY status. i had one before but i went to appeal for it because i parked next to a meter that broke when i went to put the quarter in so i did the bag over the meter trick to show its broken. got the ticket down to 5 dollars. lol.

[eightynine535]

A $55 dollar parking ticket?!!??!! WTF?

A parking ticket around here is like $10 MAX.

you don't ever want to get a ticket in NYC then if you think that is too much.:shifty



55 is like NY status. i had one before but i went to appeal for it because i parked next to a meter that broke when i went to put the quarter in so i did the bag over the meter trick to show its broken. got the ticket down to 5 dollars. lol.

next time take a pic of the broken meter with your camera phone (if you have one) to get the ticket thrown out. P.S. the unofficial time to park at a broken meter is 1 hour....which a pic on a camera phone would document.

[attack eagle]

my dad got one in DC (home of the 15+ foot high no parking signs hidden among other signs) and IIRC it was between 90 and 110.

[delman]

Your parking tickets are cheap the ones where I am are $140 plus they put cameras at the lights to make money since it is a college town. I can say I think the cameras causes more wrecks especially at night when the flash goes off plus the lights are timed bad and the yellows are so short that it is really hard to stop when going the speed limit or a little less. Needless to say I have a route I take to avoid all of them and then I hardly ever park in the street since I got a warning once. I got lucky that a friend down the street called and said they were writing me a ticket so I went and moved back 5 feet and they were happy and didn't write me one. But $50 tickets are cheap.

[attack eagle]

WE have those red light cameras here... But texas passed that law stating that they had to post warning signs before and at the intersection to say it was a camera intersection, plus the city only gets what is left over after the state and the company divvy up the moneys, so they are not influenced to make sub 4 second yellows like other states(cities).

Dunno where you are at but all the other cities in texas are seriously discussing removing them because they can not make money off them anymore, and the yellow length is being regulated to something acceptable.

After driving legally for almost 18 years, this is the first time I ever got a valid parking ticket... :) got two when I was in college...

I was away at college with my car, and my hometown issued a parking ticket to the plate one Monday am. I found out after I got the nastygram for not appearing in court.
Boy you talk about hard to prove... how do you prove you WERE NOT somewhere... finally he accepted my sworn statement that I was NOT in town on that date, my car was with me, and the ticket writer must have had the wrong date, or wrong plate.

And I once got a citation at college for a black toyota that I didn't own... all they had was a poorly written portion of the decal number and a really shoddy vehicle description.
Told the parking administrator: yes I have a toyota, but it is a p/up.
2, it isn't black, it is OEM yellow with the original 20+ year old paint.
3, the engine has been spread all over the garage since before the semester began...
4, I had been driving a 1973 red MGB roadster all year.
he claimed I was lying loudly and then accused me of being a cheapskate and a liar for not paying my $15 ticket.

I called the U Presidents direct office number and put him on the phone with the president.

Needless to say I got an apology adn the ticket was wiped off.

[CleanE34]

next time take a pic of the broken meter with your camera phone (if you have one) to get the ticket thrown out. P.S. the unofficial time to park at a broken meter is 1 hour....which a pic on a camera phone would document.

good advice i shall carry a camera on my car from now on.

[Sam Son]

I got a $75 parkin ticket on my campus

[Goathumper]

i got my car towed on friday...:(

They gave me the wrong tag and i had staked about $100 in (4)tickets. They all came in the span of a week and had not had the time to get them cleared and the tag changed, so it got towed on the last day of the week (legaly parked too).

Couldnt contest the fines if i wanted my car back so i had to pony up the cash...which i didnt have so i had to walk to the bank. Who the F wont aceept cc/cheque

Then i got to the tow lot. Thay had the car for 2 hours and charged me 97 dolars :mad stupid college town. They also only accept cash so i had to make another bank run...im begining to suspect the town is run by drug dealers. Cash only..WTF!

[sfgearhead]

too funny, but handled with class, as expected.

[delman]

Dunno where you are at but all the other cities in texas are seriously discussing removing them because they can not make money off them anymore, and the yellow length is being regulated to something acceptable.
I am in College Station and the Lights are only setup on roads around the south side of the campus where most of the students live If I were to take my old route 4 out of 6 of the lights within about 2miles have cameras. I live east so I just go across on a different set of roads. They are seriously considering adding more that would be on my current route which make me angry. It sounds like they are less likely to get installed though since most of the people on the roads that I am on are residents and not students.

Plus they were originally going to try out that speed camera crap in College Station and send out warnings in to the owners of the vehicles as long as the vehicle had texas plates. So that should tell you how shitty they are with concerns about traffic. Why is the freeway 70mph through town if they want people to slow down and why 50-55mph on some of the major roads.

I don't even live in college station so I am glad my tax money isn't funding that junk but I have to drive through it to get to school.

[filmy]

WE have those red light cameras here... But texas passed that law stating that they had to post warning signs before and at the intersection to say it was a camera intersection, plus the city only gets what is left over after the state and the company divvy up the moneys, so they are not influenced to make sub 4 second yellows like other states(cities).
This was just in the news. A few states have been busted for short-timing yellow lights where they have cameras installed. Seems the time is supposed to be 3.9 sec and they'd set them around 3.0 sec. They have to give the ticket money back. This is a TRAFFIC SAFETY issue, and people are making traffic LESS SAFE! It amazes me that something like this doesn't cause some people to lose their jobs and careers. They just get this "don't do that anymore" slap on the wrist.

And the last 4 or 5 parking tickets I've received in LA (you can't avoid them, no matter how well you monitor the signs) were $40 and $50, respectively. Mostly for street cleaning parking violations. And I've watched as the parking attendant came along AFTER the street cleaner has gone past, 10 minutes before the end of the blocked time, and wrote tickets. It's obviously a money-generating thing. Figure $50 a pop, a couple cars on each street/block... thousands of dollars every day. But the streets are clean! lol...

[flipwils11]

Regarding the red light tickets and yellow light times, yes, it is a sad consequence of this money game. The red light ticket cameras act like cash registers for state and local government as well as the companies that run them. The firms that put them up offer convincing arguments citing safety and the need to crack down on evil red light runners. It wouldn't surprise me if they have marketing materials showing maniac hotrodders bearing down on an unsuspecting toddler about to cross the street when the light goes red. These companies contribute heavily to political campaigns, and the contracts area usually worded in a way that PREVENTS (under threat that the contract will be null and void) the cities from lengthening the yellow light timing and guarantees a share of the profits for the companies of about 50% of the ticket cost.

Furthermore, the whole premise of ticket cameras is flawed and designed to fleece motorists. It isn't a safety issue, it's an underhanded way to get more money without raising taxes. These violations are classified in the same way a fix-it-ticket is or a non-moving violation, so your insurance isn't notified. All the more easy to grease the wheels and get their money without a public uproar. Also because of this classification, it's o.k. that they mail you a ticket and you are guilty until proven innocent. I don't know the legal justification for this, but I think higher courts have affirmed that these types of violations are just fine to set aside your right to being proven guilty in a court of law.

I could go on and on and on. :shifty

Attack Eagle, I read your story out loud to my wife last night in front of the TV and we couldn't believe someone has THAT much time on their hands to call every time you parked there. Jealousy indeed. It's too bad you weren't able to do a quick scan and perhaps see one window where someone was peeking from behind a curtain. Because you can be sure they witnessed you getting nabbed. I did like your idea about leaving your car there for 24 hours just to really piss them off.

It's a sad state that there are people like that (sorry to make a blatant generalization, but sometimes retirees have nothing better than to complain about stuff like that. It's certainly more fun than watching Matlock). I'm sure these same complainers are also advocates of red light cameras. :D

[SC David]

That is REALLY immature of you. You should really be willing to accept responsibility for knowingly breaking the law. If I were you I.....oh. Nevermind.

Just leave the little one in the front seat next time :)

[attack eagle]

oh I accept responsiblity, I just find it hilarious that someone would be so jealous of me for beating the system for 3 minutes a day 2-3 times a week that they would call... and that the police would send out a cop on a sting for the sole purpose of catching me doing it.

[SC David]

oh I accept responsiblity, I just find it hilarious that someone would be so jealous of me for beating the system for 3 minutes a day 2-3 times a week that they would call... and that the police would send out a cop on a sting for the sole purpose of catching me doing it.I knows, I knows. I was playin since you were telling the kid from Canada to fess up to having other people in the car. WHOOOOSH, over everyone's heads. :(

It's pretty sad that someone cares enough to call it in, but some people don't have anything better to than to get even with the world for their shortcomings by making life difficult for the rest of us.

[attack eagle]

ahh whoosh indeed.

[m60b30530i]

i hate it when people get envious of the E34. ive had rocks thrown at my car nothing big just a chip here and there still pissed me off. it was nice that the cop took interest in ur E34. when ever the cop at my school sees my car he has such a nasty look on his face.BS. but im glad he didn't cite u for the other stuff and its time to blow up someones mail box :)

[tortexal]

i got nailed for speeding..... i wasnt doing what he said i was, i'll leave it at that. he commented on my car blah blah and said he has a 3 series.... total chick car he has. he was jealous, obviously, otherwise no ticket :D