Worthwhile to fight parking ticket in (Pgh) Municipal Court? (Pittsburgh: cinema, costs)

[tyovan4]

Hi,

I got a parking ticket on Sunday night in the South Side.
I've gotten tickets from the Parking Authority before, for forgetting about street sweeping days. Those fines were reasonable ($25, with perhaps a few dollars tacked on for costs).
The ticket last night was issued by the Police, and was extremely steep: $111.50, including costs.
The ticket cited State law, under which the maximum penalty for parking in a no-parking area was $50. However, under Pgh Municipal Code - the same violation has a maximum penalty of $25.

The situation was confusing and all but one car (on the same side of the street as me, within the same block) was likewise ticketed.
This was on S 28th St, between Sidney & Tunnel, adjacent to the cinema. The opposite side of this block has parking. And both sides of 28th between Sidney & Carson have parking. There was a sign for a loading zone where I parked, but the loading zone did not apply on Sundays. I was confused and misinterpreted this strange situation - as did other people apparently.

I've never contested any of my parking or speeding tickets before. I was wondering if anyone had luck contesting any parking ticket at Pgh Municipal Court (not the parking court for tickets issued by the parking authority)? It was a situation I honestly misinterpreted, as did others, and the fine seems rather excessive for the nature of the offense. Not sure if its worthwhile to appeal for any mercy from the court or not.

Thanks!!

[Wells5]

Not a chance that you will win in court. The only satisfaction will be keeping a cop off patrol duty or whatever for half a day in order to testify against you. You can extend your court time by reading lengthy laws and statutes which might have a bearing on your ticket.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by Wells5

Not a chance that you will win in court. The only satisfaction will be keeping a cop off patrol duty or whatever for half a day in order to testify against you. You can extend your court time by reading lengthy laws and statutes which might have a bearing on your ticket.

Like some sort of police filibuster?

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by Wells5

You can extend your court time by reading lengthy laws and statutes which might have a bearing on your ticket.

https://library.municode.com/pa/pitt...IVETR_ARTVIIPA
City of Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances
Title 5 - Traffic
Article VII - Parking

§ 541.02 - PROHIBITIONS IN SPECIFIED PLACES.
Except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or to protect the safety of any person or vehicle or in compliance with law or the directions of a police officer or official traffic control device, no operator of a vehicle shall, and no owner of a vehicle shall allow the vehicle to:
(C) Park a vehicle:
(5) In a no parking zone

541.08 - PENALTY.
Whoever violates any provision of this Chapter where another penalty is not otherwise provided shall pay a penalty of not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and costs equivalent to the costs for summary offenses established by the governing authority as provided in the Judicial and Judiciary Code (see 42 P.S. 1725.1).



My fine was for $50, plus $61.50 in costs and fees, because the City of Pittsburgh officer chose to cite State law (which does have a maximum fine of $50 for this offense)...
Shouldn't the officer have followed City of Pgh municipal law??

[msw5045]

I just had this exact same situation. I had emailed two members of this Pittsburgh Parking Authority and they said it wouldn’t be a violation, but that they couldn’t do anything since it was a police citation. I literally just came from the courtroom. The judge basically said that the Parking Authority had no jurisdiction and that it was a violation. I agree that those signs are confusing. It was a humiliating experience but the judge found me not guilty. I would say that if it’s your first one there’s a good chance they’ll let you go. However, don’t try to argue your case that the sign is confusing because the judge I had was pretty condescending. Not a great experience but at least I didn’t have to pay.

Also, Pittsburgh uses a stand-in officer to represent so it won’t be be the guy who wrote you a ticket.

[msw5045]

Also, my ticket was for the same amount of money, $111.50

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by msw5045

I literally just came from the courtroom. The judge basically said that the Parking Authority had no jurisdiction and that it was a violation. I agree that those signs are confusing. It was a humiliating experience but the judge found me not guilty. I would say that if it’s your first one there’s a good chance they’ll let you go. However, don’t try to argue your case that the sign is confusing because the judge I had was pretty condescending. Not a great experience but at least I didn’t have to pay.

Thanks for the reply - I was a junior enlisted member in the military, I'm accustomed to being spoken to condescendingly.
I'm thinking of e-mailing the City Councilmember for the South Side (Kraus) and complaining about this side of this block: the signage should be changed or the curb should be painted, or it should simply be a paid parking area (instead of a no-parking area). At least then I can say that I'm trying to be pro-active about improving this situation, instead of pleading ignorance.

[Copanut]

Give it a shot, don't show up dressed like a yinzer, start with Sir or Your Honor when talking. They see so many lowlifes that whine a good appearance and intelligence usually works. Did for me, well, the appearance part anyway.

[Lost_In_Translation]

It’s $100 non moving violation, don’t waste a day waiting to fight it.

[Wells5]

Originally Posted by msw5045

Also, Pittsburgh uses a stand-in officer to represent so it won’t be be the guy who wrote you a ticket.

It's a bummer. If that happens, I would ask the judge for a continuance until the cop who wrote the ticket testifies in person. They owe you that.