Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Report Claims DC Issues Nearly 5,300 Parking Tickets Each Day (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/report-claims-dc-issues-nearly-5300-parking-tickets-each-day-122811#ixzz1hvsRpds6 - broken link)
Quote:
WASHINGTON - Nearly 5,300 parking tickets are issued in Washington, D.C. each day according to a report released by AAA Mid-Atlantic.
The report says that during fiscal year 2011, which ended in September, more than 1.6 million parking tickets were issued by parking enforcement officers. That was a 100,000 ticket increase from the previous fiscal year 2010.
By May, the city had already collected $50.1 million in parking ticket fines and was on pace to top the $80.4 million it collected in ticket revenue during fiscal year 2010, according to the report.
“With the advent of the new high-tech parking meters in the city, parking tickets are becoming increasingly harder to contest,” said John Townsend, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs.
According to AAA Mid-Atlantic's break down of fiscal year 2011, the District handed out approximately 126, 720 parking tickets a month - 31, 680 parking tickets a week - 5, 280 parking tickets a day - 352 parking tickets an hour - 5.9 parking tickets per minute.
Has anyone become a victim of this? Does it seem unreasonable?
I know for me personally I was getting bombarded with parking tickets when I was at Howard University. After I finished my degree I limited my time in DC. Now the only time I go to DC is to visit my grandmother or to watch the Wizards, but other than that, I avoid DC for this very reason.
Report Claims DC Issues Nearly 5,300 Parking Tickets Each Day (http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/report-claims-dc-issues-nearly-5300-parking-tickets-each-day-122811#ixzz1hvsRpds6 - broken link)
Has anyone become a victim of this? Does it seem unreasonable?
I know for me personally I was getting bombarded with parking tickets when I was at Howard University. After I finished my degree I limited my time in DC. Now the only time I go to DC is to visit my grandmother or to watch the Wizards, but other than that, I avoid DC for this very reason.
They've stepped up their ticket game big time. I had to come down to take care of some things at my house and got a ticket on North Capitol Street for speeding. I wasn't flashed by a camera; a cop pulled up behind me and pulled me over. He told me that the speed limit was 35 mph (I was going 50), and then hit me with a $200 ticket. Then I got a ticket going south on 295 on the same weekend. Apparently, they've installed these slick little camera boxes on both sides of the highway. They've also put one on Florida Avenue. Then I got a ticket on a Saturday for not pumping the meter on Georgia Ave. Since when have you had to pump a meter on a Saturday all the way Uptown? The city must be really dying for revenues right now.
I don't avoid DC but I just metro there whenever I go there.
The whole ticketing addiction of DC combined with several other factors was enough to tell me that DC for some reason is an extremely unfriendly place to cars. So I just metro there.
The meter maids (and that's what I call them when I see them) are just as unrelenting. Fine, you meter maids want to give me a ticket for disobeying a nearby street sign, that's all right, but why not circulate your entire designated territory as opposed to staying situated in one spot all day - often times dozing off in the car - waiting like starved vultures for unsuspecting drivers who work/live on the block to commit a no-no?
Has anyone become a victim of this? Does it seem unreasonable?
I know for me personally I was getting bombarded with parking tickets when I was at Howard University. After I finished my degree I limited my time in DC. Now the only time I go to DC is to visit my grandmother or to watch the Wizards, but other than that, I avoid DC for this very reason.
[/color]
How can a lawbreaker be a victim? If you can't obey our rules you should say out of our city.
How can a lawbreaker be a victim? If you can't obey our rules you should say out of our city.
Oh it's easy, there are some meters that aren't electronic that malfunction quite often and take your money. Then they tell you to call it in and they will allow you to park there for 2 hours. Of course you will end up getting a ticket anyway but you are told that if you use the confirmation number they give you when you report it, it will be dismissed. So then you find out that they do not accept the confirmation number and in the time that that you have taken to fight it, your ticket has now doubled. So you went from a situation where you could have just gone to another meter to paying $50 just because they want you to follow instructions that don't work. This is something that is apparently common and one of many tactics the city uses to generate revenue. No way does a city as small as DC give out that many tickets a day without doing some underhanded tactics.
Oh it's easy, there are some meters that aren't electronic that malfunction quite often and take your money. Then they tell you to call it in and they will allow you to park there for 2 hours. Of course you will end up getting a ticket anyway but you are told that if you use the confirmation number they give you when you report it, it will be dismissed. So then you find out that they do not accept the confirmation number and in the time that that you have taken to fight it, your ticket has now doubled. So you went from a situation where you could have just gone to another meter to paying $50 just because they want you to follow instructions that don't work. This is something that is apparently common and one of many tactics the city uses to generate revenue. No way does a city as small as DC give out that many tickets a day without doing some underhanded tactics.
Not true. I've called in broken meters and never gotten a ticket for parking there. If you protest a ticket, you can do so by mail and the fine is suspended until the process is complete. I recently protested a ticket because the sign was obscured by tree growth. The ticket was dismissed.
The traffic enforcement people are relentless but they don't hand out bogus tickets. There are too many easy marks like you parking illegally for them to need to.
You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
Not true. I've called in broken meters and never gotten a ticket for parking there. If you protest a ticket, you can do so by mail and the fine is suspended until the process is complete. I recently protested a ticket because the sign was obscured by tree growth. The ticket was dismissed.
The traffic enforcement people are relentless but they don't hand out bogus tickets. There are too many easy marks like you parking illegally for them to need to.
You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
It is true because it happened to me. A representative of DDOT apologized to me and said that they would work to correct the issue but I heard of more incidents after that happened to me.
And I guess you watch every last one of them and know what they are doing. You are going off assumptions and I'm telling you things that I've personally experienced or have been reported in the media.
Sounds like San Francisco. They discourage cars, but have few other reasonable options available. So, they create short-term parking meters absolutely everywhere, and spend all day ticketing and towing people.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
