Question about No State next to License Plate # on Ticket

[Eve6MediaHQ]

What is the name of your state? New York City, NY

I just got a ticket for being too close to a fire hydrant (I was a good 8 feet from the hydrant, although the ticket has a blatant lie and says 2 feet). In any case, I didn't realize that I was too close to the hydrant, seemed like if there was a fire there would be PLENTY of room to take care of the problem.

In any case, on the ticket, my License Plate Number is written down, but in the field next to it where the issuing "officer" is supposed to mark the state, nothing is marked.

Is this going to be grounds for dismissal of the ticket? If so, how do I go about getting it dismissed? Am I supposed to appeal it by mail?

Also, the plate type is not filled out on the ticket. How do I find out if this information was readily available to the issuing officer and they just neglected it?

If possible, can somebody with knowledge about this please let me know if I will be able to get out of this $115 ticket because the state wasn't specified next to the plate number?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Eve6MediaHQ

What is the name of your state? New York City, NY

I just got a ticket for being too close to a fire hydrant (I was a good 8 feet from the hydrant, although the ticket has a blatant lie and says 2 feet). In any case, I didn't realize that I was too close to the hydrant, seemed like if there was a fire there would be PLENTY of room to take care of the problem.

In any case, on the ticket, my License Plate Number is written down, but in the field next to it where the issuing "officer" is supposed to mark the state, nothing is marked.

Is this going to be grounds for dismissal of the ticket? If so, how do I go about getting it dismissed? Am I supposed to appeal it by mail?

Also, the plate type is not filled out on the ticket. How do I find out if this information was readily available to the issuing officer and they just neglected it?

If possible, can somebody with knowledge about this please let me know if I will be able to get out of this $115 ticket because the state wasn't specified next to the plate number?

Thanks

Q: If possible, can somebody with knowledge about this please let me know if I will be able to get out of this $115 ticket because the state wasn't specified next to the plate number?

A: They can run your tag just by knowing the number/letter combination without knowing the state; thus, the answer to your question is "No".

[CdwJava]

If your plate was something other than NY state, then you might get a pass. But since the default answer is going to be NY, then you are likely out of luck.

- Carl

Originally Posted by CdwJava

If your plate was something other than NY state, then you might get a pass. But since the default answer is going to be NY, then you are likely out of luck.

- Carl

Carl, did I dream this up or is there some kind of system to license tags where the combination of letters and numbers will tell you what state the plate is from?

[Curt581]

Originally Posted by seniorjudge

Carl, did I dream this up or is there some kind of system to license tags where the combination of letters and numbers will tell you what state the plate is from?

No way. That would require the cooperation of bureaucracies from all 50 states, and you know how likely that is. It would also need way too many possible letter/number combinations.

Originally Posted by Curt581

No way. That would require the cooperation of bureaucracies from all 50 states....

You're right.

What the hell was I not thinking?

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by seniorjudge

You're right.

What the hell was I not thinking?

With a lot of work and knowledge of the commercial/non-commercial arrangements in all 50 states, you might be able to narrow it down. But as it stands, each state has a variety of different arrangements and codes. Some states make it very difficult for us to run their plates through CLETS without the EXACT state AND license code. You would THINK that all you would need would be the letters and numbers plus the state, but, NOOOOOO!!


- Carl

[You Are Guilty]

While I'm hesitant to answer the first question (8' is still illegal - here's why: [url]http://www.douglasfiredept.com/pictures/bmw%20and%20hydrant.jpg[/url]), I will go as far as to post my usual response.

The only "automatic dismissals" are those listed in this booklet: [url]http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/pdf/99pdf/pvo_itslaw_00.pdf[/url]

[Eve6MediaHQ]

Thanks for all of the replies.

In response to the picture of the BMW and the fire hydrant, that is pretty bad. However, now that I look more closely to my ticket, I was listed as 12 feet from the hydrant. So, if you imagine how far 12 feet is, you will see that the picture of that car with the windows punched out in order to get the hose to the hydrant is not actually applicable in my case.

Now that I looked at the NYC.gov website, I realized that my ticket doesn't list the state of my plate, or my plate type.

My final question is, what is my best case of appealing my ticket? Should I point out right away that the state and plate type aren't listed? Or should I try to get the ticket dismissed for some other reason? Technically 12 feet is still too close, but what am I supposed to carry a tape measurer with me in my pocket when I am parking my car?

If someone can please respond and let me know what the best tactic is when the ticket isn't properly filled out, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Ross

[Eve6MediaHQ]

Here is what my defense will be. Please let me know how you think this will hold up.
This defense is for a ticket issued on 5/13/05 for parking too close to a fire hydrant.

On the ticket I received, the state of my license plate was not listed and the plate type was also not filled in.

From reading the grounds for dismissal on the website "http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/pdf/99pdf/pvo_itslaw_00.pdf" I found the following information:

"Under the law, a parking ticket shall be dismissed,
upon application, when any of the required infor-
mation described below is missing, incomplete or
misdescribed. Unless the Issuer indicates that it was not shown"
"LICENSE PLATE INFORMATION
If the License Plate Number or State of
Registration is missing, incomplete, illegible or
misdescribed, the ticket can be dismissed.
PLATE TYPE
Unless the Issuer indicates that it was not shown
(e.g., that it was covered, mutilated, faded, etc.),
the Plate Type must be listed if it appeared on
(a) the Registration Sticker, for New York State
vehicles, or (b) the Plate(s), for out-of-state vehi-
cles."

In addition, the distance from the hydrant listed on the ticket was 12 feet. I understand that the proper distance from the hydrant is supposed to be 15 feet, but I didn't have any instrument on my person at the time of parking to measue the distance from the hydrant. I judged with my eyes at the time of parking and felt that I was of a proper distance from the hydrant. It was dark outside when I parked and the courtesy paint on the sidewalk that specifies the prohibited parking space is too faded to see.

Please review this case, and inform me of your decision at your earliest convenience.

Any guess on whether this will be a suitable defense?

Ross

[You Are Guilty]

If you can, go fight it in person (should take less than an hour and your chances are immeasurably better) and leave out that last argument unless it seems like the ALJ won't dismiss it for the first two reason like he should. (The last argument is not a legally valid defense - it only works if they have pity on you).