JC parking ticket while in car (Jersey City: vs, moving, authority)

[rpk206]

Hi all,

I have a question about a parking ticket I received on Saturday which I suspect was wrongly issued. The facts are these:

I dropped a friend off at the JC post office and waited IN the car by a fire hydrant for 5 minutes. While sitting in the car with the keys in the ignition, a cop showed up outside my window and handed me a parking ticket for being next to the hydrant. I said I was standing and not parked. He admitted that he did not see me in the car as he was standing behind it while writing the ticket but would not cancel i saying I was next to the hydrant. My friend finished his work in the post office and came back to witness me talking to the officer - I was sitting in the car driver seat with the window rolled down and the officer was directly outside. Officer told me to call the supervisor at the Jersey City Parking authority which I tried and left a message (to cut a long story short I don't expect a call back).

Having looked through the NJ drivers manual, it is clear that parking next to a fire hydrant is illegal but it has nothing to say about standing (which means it is not illegal IMHO).

Is standing in front of a fire hydrant illegal? If not, do you have any recommendations as to what I should do?

Thanks for any comments!

Cheers...

[rscalzo]

The definition in NJ Title 39 is:

"Parking" means the standing or waiting on a street, road or highway of a vehicle not actually engaged in receiving or discharging passengers or merchandise, unless in obedience to traffic regulations or traffic signs or signals.

With ATS, all summons are tracked from the time they are issued to the agent. Only a Judge can dismiss a summons. One written, it cannot be simply "torn up" as so many think. It isn't that hard to start writing and not notice anyone in the car. But your only option is to have it dismissed through the court . (or obviously pay it).

Also watch out for this..

39:4-20. Hitching horses to pole, post, tree or hydrant prohibited
No horse shall be hitched or fastened to a pole carrying any wires, a public lamp-post, or pole, a shade tree or its protecting box or casing, or to a water hydrant in a street.

I don't expect a call back

You're probably right.

[rpk206]

Thanks for your reply rscalzo.
It sounds like I should suck it up and pay the $54 fine.

[pvs]

Originally Posted by rpk206

Thanks for your reply rscalzo.
It sounds like I should suck it up and pay the $54 fine.

And ...
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watch where you park your horse

[joe moving]

I always thought standing and parking were different, since some signs specifically say no standing vs no parking, or both .

I always assumed parking meant you are not in the car, where-as standing meant you could quickly move if needed.

[rpk206]

That was my understanding too joe. Looks like the flag posts were moved at some point!

[captne76]

Well I think it becomes a choice between paying the fine or going into parking ticket court in JC and putting the time into that. Even that is not a guarantee he'll dismiss it,,, but dem's yer choices.

[bradykp]

Originally Posted by rpk206

Thanks for your reply rscalzo.
It sounds like I should suck it up and pay the $54 fine.

if you thought it's worth your time, fighting it would likely result in a win. just say you dropped a friend off at the post office right there and were capable of moving in the event of an emergency. i think a judge would dismiss it. question is whether it's worth your time.

[rpk206]

Thanks BradyKP. I'm leaning towards fighting it - I'm planning on taking a signed letter from the friend I dropped off. Court date is the 14th - will report back.

[gagaliya]

It's the norm in jc. One incident recently i was parked next to a meter that had the reading: ERROR OUT OF SERVICE. Just to be sure, i even put a quarter in there to no avail. Then when i came back 10 min later, the meter still reads ERROR OUT OF SERVICE and there is a parking ticket on my car. The reason given was the meter's time expired. No i am not kidding....

It's a ~$30 ticket and to fight it i have to take a day off from work and drive to the courts in inner part of jersey city. Of course i just paid the fine instead, and those **** knows it. It's run like a mob operation, they will cheat/scam whatever they can.

Then another time we got a ticket because there is no parking on tues/thurs. Thought it was strange since we didnt see it when parked, then when we found the sign again, the "tues and thurs" with handwritten on it using a black marker. I guess they just come and wipe it when it's wed and fri.

it's such a joke.