NY Parking Ticket- Incomplete

[LTT993]

What is the name of your state? NY

Hi there. I received a parking ticket in NY that I was going to dispute because I did not feel that I was in violation of any rules. After browsing the web, I found the following NY law that supports an other defense (possibly easier to fight):

§39-02 Notice of Violation (Summons).
(a) Contents.

(1) The notice of violation (summons) shall be in such form as may be
prescribed by the Director and shall contain the registration plate number, the type of
registration, the state of registration, the date of expiration, a description of the vehicle, a
general statement of the violation alleged, including a reference to section 4-08 of title 34
of the official compilation of Rules of the City of New York or applicable provision of the
Vehicle and Traffic Law or of the Administrative Code of the City of New York or any other
law or rule, information as to the days and hours the applicable rule or provision is in
effect, unless always in effect pursuant to the rule or provision and where appropriate the
word "all" when the days and/or hours in effect are every day and/or twenty-hour hours a
day, the date, time and place of occurrence, and, if a meter violation, the meter number.
A mere listing of a meter number in cases of charged meter violations shall not be a
sufficient description of a particular place of occurrence of the charged violation.

(2) Where the plate type or the expiration date are not shown on either the
registration plates or sticker of a vehicle or where the registration sticker of a vehicle is
covered, faded, defaced or mutilated so that it is unreadable, the plate type or the
expiration date may be omitted from the notice of violation, provided that such condition is
so described and inserted on the notice of violation.
(3) If any information that is required to be inserted in a notice of violation is
omitted from the notice of violation, misdescribed, or illegible, the violation shall be
dismissed upon application of the person charged with the violation.


My ticket has "N/A" in the registration expiration date field. As the law states, it must say that it was not visable (I assume by indicating NS for Not Showing). Since the field indicates N/A, I was wondering if it would be sufficient to fight the ticket online (with no pictures) since the field was not filled in? Also, I do not feel like I was in violation in the first place (it said that I was in a taxi zone- Sign said Monday-Saturday, Ticket said All Days/All times) I didn't know if I should use both defenses to fight the ticket (pictures of the area to support that I was not in voilation in addition to the defense with the missing information)?

 

[FlyingRon]

Also, I do not feel like I was in violation in the first place (it said that I was in a taxi zone- Sign said Monday-Saturday, Ticket said All Days/All times) I didn't know if I should use both defenses to fight the ticket (pictures of the area to support that I was not in voilation in addition to the defense with the missing information)?

If the ticket is dated Sunday (and it was indeed Sunday) it sounds like you have a much better case with this than trying to weasel out because of a clerical error.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Assuming your car is registered in NY, (if it isn't, ignore this paragraph), I'd take the ticket to your local PVB office and tell them you'd like a settlement. Before they can offer you one, a clerk will review the ticket for "fatal flaws", which the missing registration date absolutely is. They should dismiss the ticket outright without you even having to speak to the ALJ.

If you have an out-of-NY registration, then take a series of pictures showing the sign, then pull out a little further back showing the area where the sign is located, then further back showing the street, then further back, etc. The goal is to show the exact location where the sign is on the street, and what street it is. (If there is an address on the ticket in the "in front of" space, try to get that address in the pictures as well). It helps a lot if there is a recognizable landmark in each of the photos to show they are all of the same area.

Just make sure the sign says what you think it says before trying this

 

[Zigner]

N/A could mean not available (=Not Showing)

As mentioned, fight it based on the grounds that you didn't break the law, not based on things you think MIGHT be wrong with the ticket.

 

[moburkes]

Does this particular statute have to do with when the ticket is written for an expiration date violation, or is it for all tickets? Also, why did you get a parking ticket, which is never even mentioned in your post?

 

[LTT993]

So... you want to dispute this based on the registration expiration date being marked N/A instead of the actual date? You think the N/A should have been marked N/S?

Where did you get that N/S means "Not Showing"?

As I said in my first post, I was going to dispute it anyway but since the law specifically states the "required fields" on the ticket and mine is missing some- it seemed like the easier route to go to fight the ticket. The thing is, I did have my registration sticker and plates shown/applicable etc. They should have put the date on the ticket just like they put my plate numbers, model, make, etc. all of that required information as the law states. There are two fields defined on the ticket:
N/A - not applicable
NS- not shown

 

[LTT993]

Assuming your car is registered in NY, (if it isn't, ignore this paragraph), I'd take the ticket to your local PVB office and tell them you'd like a settlement. Before they can offer you one, a clerk will review the ticket for "fatal flaws", which the missing registration date absolutely is. They should dismiss the ticket outright without you even having to speak to the ALJ.

If you have an out-of-NY registration, then take a series of pictures showing the sign, then pull out a little further back showing the area where the sign is located, then further back showing the street, then further back, etc. The goal is to show the exact location where the sign is on the street, and what street it is. (If there is an address on the ticket in the "in front of" space, try to get that address in the pictures as well). It helps a lot if there is a recognizable landmark in each of the photos to show they are all of the same area.

Just make sure the sign says what you think it says before trying this

My car is not registered in NY. Does the law that I found on the .gov website about dismissing tickets for missing data only apply to NY registered vehicles?

 

[LTT993]

Does this particular statute have to do with when the ticket is written for an expiration date violation, or is it for all tickets? Also, why did you get a parking ticket, which is never even mentioned in your post?

It has to do with ALL tickets, not tickets for violations regarding vehicle registration. Read my first post carefully. The last paragraph mentions why I got the ticket.

 

[moburkes]

It has to do with ALL tickets, not tickets for violations regarding vehicle registration. Read my first post carefully. The last paragraph mentions why I got the ticket.

Are you saying that you got the ticket on a Sunday?

 

[LTT993]

Yep. I got the ticket on a Sunday and the sign only specified Monday thru Saturday. Also, the whole block had cars parked so I wasn't the only idiot who thought it was legal to park. I might go back this Sunday and take another picture with all of the non-taxis parked.

 

[moburkes]

Yep. I got the ticket on a Sunday and the sign only specified Monday thru Saturday. Also, the whole block had cars parked so I wasn't the only idiot who thought it was legal to park. I might go back this Sunday and take another picture with all of the non-taxis parked.

What city?

 

[You Are Guilty]

My car is not registered in NY. Does the law that I found on the .gov website about dismissing tickets for missing data only apply to NY registered vehicles?

It applied to all tickets written in NY, not registered vehicles. However, this is one of those areas where you have a slim shot at winning.

From what I understand, since the location of every state's registration "stickers" differ, i.e. all parts of windshield, stuck to plates, etc., coupled with the fact that some states have only the year of expiration, some have a month and year, and others have a specific day, NY does not require its ticket agents to "search" non-NYS-registered cars to ascertain the registration info - thus the "N/A".

The argument to make, as weak as it is, is that your "full" registration info/sticker is located on the windshield in the same location as a NYS-registered car's, thus, the agent would not have needed to "search" to see it. Don't expect to get very far with this one though - come prepared to argue the sign didn't apply on Sunday.

Actually, that reminds me - there was a story the other day where some cheap contractor was putting up various signs that were not the same on both sides. In other words, one side might say "No Parking 12-5" and the other would say "No Parking 12-8". Of course, people were getting ticketed for parking between 5 and 8. Anyway, the moral of the story is to go check both sides of the sign at issue.

 

[LTT993]

What city?

New York City

 

[LTT993]

It applied to all tickets written in NY, not registered vehicles. However, this is one of those areas where you have a slim shot at winning.

From what I understand, since the location of every state's registration "stickers" differ, i.e. all parts of windshield, stuck to plates, etc., coupled with the fact that some states have only the year of expiration, some have a month and year, and others have a specific day, NY does not require its ticket agents to "search" non-NYS-registered cars to ascertain the registration info - thus the "N/A".

The argument to make, as weak as it is, is that your "full" registration info/sticker is located on the windshield in the same location as a NYS-registered car's, thus, the agent would not have needed to "search" to see it. Don't expect to get very far with this one though - come prepared to argue the sign didn't apply on Sunday.

I didn't see any mention of a "search" mentioned in the law. I am going to try to find it for out of state vehicles. Also, is it better to go in person or send everything via mail? Obviously most will say in person, but if I write a lengthly letter and include the correct pictures etc. will showing up in person vs. not make a difference?

 

[You Are Guilty]

I didn't see any mention of a "search" mentioned in the law. I am going to try to find it for out of state vehicles. Also, is it better to go in person or send everything via mail? Obviously most will say in person, but if I write a lengthly letter and include the correct pictures etc. will showing up in person vs. not make a difference?

As scary as it is, not all parking law/rules are published. The info I posted above was word-of-mouth as to PVB internal procedures. You won't find it on the internet anywhere.

An far as in person or writing, I strongly recommend in person. The vast, vast majority of tickets that are dismissed (for other than an error on the ticket) are at the PVB centers. I've had defenses that worked to dismiss a ticket in person be rejected when used via mail. There are a ton of centers around the city, one has got to be near you. They've streamlined the process too, it's like the DMV - you get a number when you walk in and watch the board for it to come up. Figure no more than an hour (maybe 2 if you're in midtown Manhattan), and likely less.