Parking Violation in Mission (Davis: rental car, rental, cost)

[cinciphoenix]

My husband and I are from out of town staying at an air BnB. We got a rental car in the evening and spent quite a long time trying to find a place to park near where we were staying in Mission. We finally saw a spot on Dolores where there is a median. There were cars parked next to the median on both sides as well as next to the sidewalk. There was a spot open next to the median so we parked there. We noted the time (9 am street cleaning) we needed to move the car in the morning and asked passers-by to check the legality of parking there.

So imagine our surprise when we got a call at 5 am that the police were going to tow the car. We ran over there and did manage to move it in time, but we had received two parking violations for parking there. The cop was not sympathetic when we mentioned all the cars previously and showed how there were none now.

This does not seem fair on many counts, and I am hoping some locals can enlighten us on how to proceed.

First, why should we receive two tickets for the same violation. We were not even aware of the violation until after we got the two tickets.

Second, there were no signs indicating that the lane was usable for parking at certain hours and therefore everyone was parked there illegally but they only enforce it for certain hours? No way the cop was being completely forthright when saying no one else was there now. I'm sure he knows people park there other hours.

I understand that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but we feel a bit outraged given that we did our due diligence.

Do we have a case that we can protest?

[artemis78]

Unfortunately, no--I'm guessing you parked sometime Sunday morning or afternoon. The median parking in the Mission is an unspoken agreement between the City and the churches not to ticket in this area on Sundays so that people can park for church services and activities. They typically start ticketing/towing in the evening on Sunday (and before then it is still illegal--just not enforced). Did you ask the passersby specifically about overnight parking, or just about parking in general? If they said overnight was okay, they unfortunately gave you bad info (as you've already discovered). Sorry is happened to you, but on the bright side, glad you were able to get there before they towed!

[alliance]

Who called you before you were towed...? From my experience getting towed in the city, no warning is given. You got lucky, and saved about $500.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by alliance

Who called you before you were towed...? From my experience getting towed in the city, no warning is given. You got lucky, and saved about $500.

This is what I was wondering. Who called you?

As far as fighting a parking ticket for parking somewhere without sufficient signage...

I actually won a case when i was ticketed for parking in a red zone that hadn't been painted in eons. There was no signage, and the color red was barely detectable. I took photos of the area showing no signs, and the color of the curb, and took them to traffic court, and I won. Ticket was thrown out. This was in Davis, Ca.

So, sure, fight it. Won't cost you anything but time, well, and maybe parking lol!

[artemis78]

I think the tough part here is that this isn't really akin to a curb painting or poor signage situation (which I've definitely known people to challenge successfully)--this is parking your car in the middle of a travel lane, something you'd never even entertain as potentially being legal, except that as the OP found, there were lots of other people doing it too. So you wouldn't expect a sign telling you not to do this, and a city wouldn't expect to have to put one up. It's a strange situation so you could try challenging it and hope for a sympathetic judge who appreciates how bizarre it is, but honestly, for someone from out of town, it's probably not worth it (since I'm pretty sure you have to physically show up in court).

I'm curious about who called, too, though--I wondered if SFPD ran the plates and realized it was a rental car, and called the company (but can't imagine someone answering at 5 am...!)

[davdaven]

Parking in a traffic lane is always illegal, so of course there would not be signage. Awkwardly, the City of SF has a verbal agreement with churches in that area that they will not go to hell if they let parishioners park there to worship a man that may or may not have existed a couple thousand years ago. It's hypocrisy at its finest, but like any major city, SF is corrupt and this sort of thing happens. Just be happy you didn't get towed. You would have been out several hundred more dollars.

[mr bolo]

to be safe in SF always park in a garage, it's a lot cheaper than getting a ticket or getting towed, when you park in the street you forget the time limits and can easily get a ticket.

[cinciphoenix]

Thank you for all the input. We did learn that it was Sunday parking. We are having someone else contest it for us since we were out of town visitors.

As to who called us, that was the rental company, who I assumed was informed by the policie.