$330 Los Angeles Parking ticket...

What is the name of your state? CA

I just moved to Los Angeles, still have my NJ plates. Last night I parked behind two cars against the edge of the curb at a friend's apartment. The road had a dead end, and my car was one of three parked along the edge of the dead end with an alley going behind my car to the apartment's parking garage.

I was there for about 50 minutes, and at around 12:40am I left and was lucky enough to have a ticket waiting there for me. 330 DOLLARS!

Unfortunately, my car was blocking the point where the sidewalk emptied onto the street. There were no markings anywhere. No signs, no painted curbs, no stripes on the pavement.

I never knew that this was illegal, and I don't know what I can do...

anybody have some advice?

What were you cited for? For blocking the handicap ramp off the curb to the street?

You can always contact the city and contest the parking citation, but it is not going to be easy. They MIGHT cut you some slack because you are from out of state if you can show that this is legal in NJ ... I'm guessing it's not, but if you can show this it might go a long way to helping you resolve this favorably for you.

Here is a link to their cite:

http://www.lacity-parking.org/laopm/contest.htm

Also, you do not get a judge for this as it is considered a civil action. So you have to make your appeal to someone who is not a lawyer, not a judge, and may not care too much about your excuse ... but, it's worth a try, I suppose.

Carl

Thanks, Carl.

The ticket was for violation of the "3 ft. sidewalk ramp" and the officer left comments: "100% BLOCKING RAMP/NO D/P ACCESS POSSIBLE NOW/NAU"

Can anyone tell me what exactly "D/P" (disabled person?) or "NAU" stands for?

Is $330 the normal fine for this violation? Does it help my case at all that there was an alternate slope to get to the street 20 feet away?

Don't know if this makes a difference at all either, but the sidewalk doesn't follow a street, it just goes through a lightly wooded area to get to a shoppig center 50 yards away.

Powell

Beats me what "NAU" stands for. Hopefully the parking enforcement staff knows.

Well, if it was not marked in any way (not by hashmarks, colored curb at the base of the ramp, sign, etc., then you might stand a chance in challenging it.

And if it's a disabled placard violation of some kind, then this does sound like a typical fine amount. It's less than it was where I worked in San Diego County, and more than where I work now. So it's in the middle.

Carl

Thanks again for your help, Carl.