pay, mitigate or contest?

[natcat]

(Washington State, city of Seattle)

So I got towed and ticketed for parking partially in front of a driveway. Paid the tow fee, but there's still a $136 parking infraction fee. In my defense, the driveway looked derelict and there wasn't a sign, but yeah, I did do it. So should I try to mitigate it or even contest it? How much evidence does the city have against me? Does contesting usually lower the fee or is it just a waste of time and more court fees? If I mitigate will the judge even care about my "hey, I work at a hospital and have a bunch of student loans, I'm a good citizen, please cut me a break" argument?

Any suggestions?

Thanks, N.J.

[racer72]

If you wish to challenge the ticket, you are going to go in front of an employee of the city of Seattle's parking enforcment division, it will not be a judge or anyone associated with a court. You are going to get one chance to prove the ticket was not warranted or otherwise invalid. If you can't do that, you will have to pay the ticket. And nothing in your post suggests the ticket is not valid. If you want to fight downtown Seatte parking to fight what will probably be a losing cause, go for it.

[reamann]

"hey, I work at a hospital and have a bunch of student loans, I'm a good citizen, please cut me a break"

You're a good citizen who broke the law and now should pay the fine associated with it. Have a nice day.