san diego, CA
My girlfriend was visiting from VA, the day she left, nov 10th, i went ouside and around the block to where my car was parked and pulled it up in front of my Apt. there were absolutely no parking spaces, so i pulled on the corner, which is about 15 feet from my door, and happenned to have a ramp, as most corners do around here, for handicapped people. anyway, my girlfriend was waiting on the porch with her luggage and we proceeded to carry it down and put it into the car. as i was putting the first bag into the back seat, a meter/parking enforcement officer came up the street in one of those carts that they drive. he passed my position by about 1/4 of a block, did a u-turn (illegal i think) and then stopped across the street and about 30 feet up. At first, i thought he was going to come over and either tell me i couldn't park there, or write me a ticket, but he didn't, so i loaded the second bag, my girlfriend got into the car, i walked around to the other side, got in and we drove to the airport. NOTE, there was ample time for the officer to approach my position, but he stood off, which made me think he was doing something pertaining to the car he was parked beside. anyway, fast forward 13 days. i get a notice in the mail "A reminder of parking violation" turns out the parking attendant or whatever you call them, was not writing a ticket for the car he was parked beside across the street, he was taking down my license plate to give me a ticket. I have a few questions about this.
1. don't people have the right to pull in to load and unload a car, on a corner, no parking zone etc? is it reasonable for them to give me a ticket when the meter attendant saw that we were loading the car, and in fact, we were in the process of loading it when he approached...
2. is he allowed to make an illegal u-turn? just whipped it around in the middle of the street.
3. what is my best defense when i write in to contest this ticket
4. if there are no parking spaces (there is only street parking where i live) isn't it unreasonable for the parking enforcement to expect that someone would load or unload, luggage, groceries or whatever from a block or two away and have to make a bunch of trips? Keep in mind that the car was never unattended, when i pulled up, my girlfriend walked down with her bag and was standing by the car while i got the other one, then we loaded them and left...
Note. The ticket was issued at 1123 AM and i have a copy of my girlfriends flight itienerary showing her flight at 12:40, which should corroberate the fact that we were just loading luggage.
It seems like a lot of trouble for a parking ticket, but, since my car was in front of a wheelchair ramp, the ticket is for $290.00
HELP... SUGGESTIONS...Thanks for any responses.
CA, san diego
My girlfriend was visiting from VA, the day she left, nov 10th, i went ouside and around the block to where my car was parked and pulled it up in front of my Apt. there were absolutely no parking spaces, so i pulled on the corner, which is about 15 feet from my door, and happenned to have a ramp, as most corners do around here, for handicapped people. anyway, my girlfriend was waiting on the porch with her luggage and we proceeded to carry it down and put it into the car. as i was putting the first bag into the back seat, a meter/parking enforcement officer came up the street in one of those carts that they drive. he passed my position by about 1/4 of a block, did a u-turn (illegal i think) and then stopped across the street and about 30 feet up. At first, i thought he was going to come over and either tell me i couldn't park there, or write me a ticket, but he didn't, so i loaded the second bag, my girlfriend got into the car, i walked around to the other side, got in and we drove to the airport. NOTE, there was ample time for the officer to approach my position, but he stood off, which made me think he was doing something pertaining to the car he was parked beside. anyway, fast forward 13 days. i get a notice in the mail "A reminder of parking violation" turns out the parking attendant or whatever you call them, was not writing a ticket for the car he was parked beside across the street, he was taking down my license plate to give me a ticket. I have a few questions about this.
1. don't people have the right to pull in to load and unload a car, on a corner, no parking zone etc? is it reasonable for them to give me a ticket when the meter attendant saw that we were loading the car, and in fact, we were in the process of loading it when he approached...
2. is he allowed to make an illegal u-turn? just whipped it around in the middle of the street.
3. what is my best defense when i write in to contest this ticket
4. if there are no parking spaces (there is only street parking where i live) isn't it unreasonable for the parking enforcement to expect that someone would load or unload, luggage, groceries or whatever from a block or two away and have to make a bunch of trips? Keep in mind that the car was never unattended, when i pulled up, my girlfriend walked down with her bag and was standing by the car while i got the other one, then we loaded them and left...
Note. The ticket was issued at 1123 AM and i have a copy of my girlfriends flight itienerary showing her flight at 12:40, which should corroberate the fact that we were just loading luggage.
It seems like a lot of trouble for a parking ticket, but, since my car was in front of a wheelchair ramp, the ticket is for $290.00
HELP... SUGGESTIONS...Thanks for any responses.
CA, san diego
