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read through some threads regarding tickets in dc, but since my situation is a little different, i wanted to get your input.
so i got three tickets in one sitting. one for parking too close to a hydrant, one for not displaying my tags in the rear, and one for not having the month sticker on my front plates. the plates are from CA.
my car was registered in CA (now expired, registration not renewed) and now in VA. i am waiting for the plates from VA.
my ticket did not record my CA plates correctly (xxTxxxx vs xxIxxxx) so one letter off and did not record the VIN. they did not note the model of my car.
the ticket was given by DC Public Works so there are pictures of the infractions. they did take a picture of my license plate and you can make out the make of my car from one of the pics. however, the pic of the license plate is still ambiguous as to what it actually its, whether the wrong letter is a T, I, or J for that matter.
morality of paying aside, do i stand a good chance of dodging this one? they dont have my name or address that i know of, so it think its pretty foolish to actually respond to the ticket with all my info so that they can 100% enforce the fine.
clerical error aside, i would have fought these tickets regardless, with good basis.
however, given the capricious, and by several accounts, corrupt nature of judges if i show up to court, and adjudication officials, if i decide to contest by mail, i think that it is perfectly acceptable to contest the tickets just by not doing anything.
i know there are those who'd want me to pay or at least contest it via the conventional methods. however in doing so, they would get all my information and the chances of having to pay are much higher, regardless of whether im right. by not responding, its basically a double or nothing.
no one should just pay due to the incompetence of officers and officials. it is not the "right thing to do" because it starts down a slippery slope where the accountability of public servants falls further by the wayside. they should be held to high standards. it is simply not how the justice system works, that is why in our society, it is better to let an guilty man go free than to convict an innocent man.
no one should just pay due to the incompetence of officers and officials. it is not the "right thing to do" because it starts down a slippery slope where the accountability of public servants falls further by the wayside. they should be held to high standards. it is simply not how the justice system works, that is why in our society, it is better to let an guilty man go free than to convict an innocent man.
I'm not sure what you would be contesting? You are wrong. Were you not parked too close to a fire hydrant? Did you not have improper tags? Even if you are still waiting for your VA tags (although I'm pretty sure mine were handed to me at the DMV), it is your fault for waiting until your other tags have expired before you chose to head to the DMV to get VA tags.
Yes, the person who wrote you a ticket made a clerical error and messed up your license plate number. Yes, you are likely to get away with if you do nothing. But no one is saying you should "pay due to the incometence of officers or officials". You should pay because you broke the law. I'm not sure why you posted on this board. Were you just looking for a bunch of people to validate your belief that you should get away with it?
I'm not sure what you would be contesting? You are wrong. Were you not parked too close to a fire hydrant? Did you not have improper tags? Even if you are still waiting for your VA tags (although I'm pretty sure mine were handed to me at the DMV), it is your fault for waiting until your other tags have expired before you chose to head to the DMV to get VA tags.
Yes, the person who wrote you a ticket made a clerical error and messed up your license plate number. Yes, you are likely to get away with if you do nothing. But no one is saying you should "pay due to the incometence of officers or officials". You should pay because you broke the law. I'm not sure why you posted on this board. Were you just looking for a bunch of people to validate your belief that you should get away with it?
sorry mr. jump to conclusions, but just because i got a ticket does not actually mean i did in fact break the law. just like if you get arrested, it does not mean you are guilty. while it would be easier for law enforcement to work that way, i suspect that we would be pretty pissed if that were the case. after all, this is america.
i do not care for your moral validations. what i was asking in the OP is whether anyone had any info, anecdotal or otherwise, about the lengths to which dc goes about enforcing its tickets. specifically, if they have "images of the violations". when looking at the picture of my plate, if they do figure out that the plate is wrong, it is clear which letter is incorrect because its the only one that can be. but would they mess around with the letters of the license plate until they match the make and model of the car in the CA database??
and i guess a corollary to that would be, if the plate is now expired (CA made me write a declaration saying i wasnt going to renew because i was moving out of state), would my name and car still be filed under those old tags? and for how long?
my intention is to contest the tickets so that i dont have to pay; i am just trying to figure out the best way to do so.
30 days to pay before fines double and i might lose my chance to appeal, 60 days before i definitely lose my chance to appeal, and the pics of violations get deleted from dcpw website after 90 days.
Last edited by flyinhyphy; 07-25-2012 at 09:29 AM..
my intention is to contest the tickets so that i dont have to pay; i am just trying to figure out the best way to do so.
If you're going to contest them in court then that is acceptable. It sounded like you were just going to ignore the tickets, though. I don't think that's a good idea. That's what I meant in my earlier post.
FYI, some parking enforcement agencies take the VIN down but it isn't disclosed on the ticket, but its recorded online and in their database
Honestly, I would find a metermaid, follow them around and when they get to an out of state car, see if they record anything more than the plates. Unless the VIN number on your car is very easy to read, you'll should be able to notice them taking the VIN number down.
I'm out over $200 to DC over completely bogus tickets. If you don't do it for yourself, don't pay them for me.
^lol i figure if i do that, he/she will call the real cops on me who will crack me over the head with a baton. might even get shot. way too risky.
plus thats what im worried about. the VIN was actually recorded but not on the ticket. my only glimmer of hope right now is that you cannot search for tickets on dc dmv or dcpw websites by VIN. of course that doesnt necessarily mean that the information isnt there.
ive also always wondered what is there to prevent people form just covering up their VIN with "debris"?
Last edited by flyinhyphy; 07-25-2012 at 06:49 PM..
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