issued Handicapped violation but didn't park there

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

So heres what happened, I dropped my sister off at the front of the post office, then turned into an empty handicapped slot to reverse out. As i was making a 3 point reverse, there were many pedestrians and oncoming cars so i had to slowly and stopped at times to reverse. I did not intend to park there and was just trying to reverse out of the lot since it was only a one way in and one way out parking lot. the whole process took less than one minute. after I left the post office, the police then pulled me over about a block away. he just asked if i had a handicapped plac and i said no. He went back to his car then came back to me to hand me a ticket without any explanation. Then i questioned him why was i getting ticketed? he said that as he was driving by the post office in the main street, he saw me pulling out from a handicapped parking spot. Then the police officer just took off. Is there a case here?

I did not park or stall there and did not intended to block it. It was a saturday afternoon and the entire lot was packed with cars. The only way you could have gotten out was to turn into a handicap slot and reverse out. How would i argue my case? He did not see me park there he said that he only saw me "reversing out". it is pretty much his words against mine although i do have my sister in car as a witness. The officer was driving about 40 mph in the main street, how was he definitely sure that i was park or not. Is it possible for the police to give a citation with his assumption that i parked there only because he saw me reversing out? My car was only in the slot 3/4 and I was on reverse slowly. Please let me know how to ague this case. thanks.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to enter handicap parking spots for any reason (including "backing out") unless you have a valid handicap placard; I doubt you will be able to find favorable results with this situation.

If this was issued as a moving violation, you can present your explanation to a court. If this was issued as a parking citation, you can make your explanation to a panel convened to hear parking citation appeals.

Good luck.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

If this was issued as a moving violation, you can present your explanation to a court. If this was issued as a parking citation, you can make your explanation to a panel convened to hear parking citation appeals.

Good luck.

- Carl

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I was cited for parking citation. Do you know if there is a law in California that states that you can't turn into a handicap parking spot for any reason without a plac? I just find it unfair because he cited me for parking citation that cost $300. he did not give me any explanation and just said that he "Saw" we reversing out. So does that mean he "assumed" i parked there? How would i go with this to contest? please let me know. Thanks.

unjustification said:

I was cited for parking citation. Do you know if there is a law in California that states that you can't turn into a handicap parking spot for any reason without a plac? I just find it unfair because he cited me for parking citation that cost $300. he did not give me any explanation and just said that he "Saw" we reversing out. So does that mean he "assumed" i parked there? How would i go with this to contest? please let me know. Thanks.

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You cannot stop, stand or park in one. Apparently the officer saw you pulling out of it and inferred - reasonably - that you had been parked there. That's why you will need to make your explanation to the panel and hope that they do not think you are just giving them a fish story to avoid paying the fine.

- Carl

Okay, so i finally decided to go contest my parking citation. I've lost my citation ticket, so i figure i could use the my license plate number. So when i got to the police department to contest, i handed the officer my registration, and when she pulled my record up there was not citation. I had taken pictures and written a letter for my contestation. The officer said that she couldn't do anything because there was no citation on my record. she was not able to dismiss. all she said was that maybe the officer forgot to enter it into the computer, then she sent me home. However, i asked her to stamp the time and date on my letter so that i would have a time verification of my attempt to contest. Do you think i can possibly get penalized for not paying the citation?? I tried to contest, but there was nothing to contest. my 21 days to contest or pay ends this saturday. Please let me know if you have any advice for me to do.
Thanks!

If you have proof that you showed up and they had no record of your citation, then you should not face any repercussions for being "late" (since you weren't). I still do advise, however, that you remain proactive on this and continue contacting the court to see if your citation does find its way into the system.

Occultist,

FYI ...

If it was issued as a parking citation (and it appears to be), it is handled by an administrative panel at the lowest level, not in court. CA handles traffic citations much differently than moving citations.

If it has not been filed, then any number of things could have happened ... it may not have made its way through the system, yet, or the officer may have lost his copy. In any event, I recommend to the OP that he keeps his copy of the paperwork to show he appeared and that there was no record of the parking cite, and that he continue to call or contact the office and make sure it doesn't sneak up on hims some months down the road ... the last thing he'll want is a call from a collections agency a year from now.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

Occultist,

FYI ...

If it was issued as a parking citation (and it appears to be), it is handled by an administrative panel at the lowest level, not in court. CA handles traffic citations much differently than moving citations.

If it has not been filed, then any number of things could have happened ... it may not have made its way through the system, yet, or the officer may have lost his copy. In any event, I recommend to the OP that he keeps his copy of the paperwork to show he appeared and that there was no record of the parking cite, and that he continue to call or contact the office and make sure it doesn't sneak up on hims some months down the road ... the last thing he'll want is a call from a collections agency a year from now.

- Carl

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Heh, that was almost what I said!

It's conceivable that the ticketing officer had some time to think about your story and decided to go easy on you this time by tearing up the citation. Wouldn't that be nice?

The Occultist said:

Heh, that was almost what I said!

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Except for the court part. But, that's a common misconception by people - that parking cites are handled in court here.

- Carl

heres the latest update, today i checked the status of my citation, and it is now in the computer. today was the last day to contest so i went. the dismissal man did not dismiss me but he said that he will call me after he talks to the officer. i showed him the pictures and explained to him that i didn't park and was pulled over at the liquor store. he told me he understands what i am explaining but he still needs to talk to the officer because all he wrote on the citation is parking in handicapped spot" when i showed the pictures of him citing me at a liquor store he seems to buy my argument. He just needs to confirm my contestation. It seems like he will dismiss but i'm not sure. Do you guys think that ill get dismiss? he will call me sometime next week.

Good luck.

Next time, avoid those places like the plague. As there is no stopping, standing, or parking in them, so most any occupancy will be unlawful.

- Carl

I'm still surprised that a cop would bother to pull you over for that. I'd understand if you were cited while parked in the handi spot, but around here you can't get a cop to stop someone for running red lights or stop signs, much less handi spots. Don't they have anything better to do? This was in a private lot, too, right, not a public handicapped marked parking space?

Alex23 said:

I'm still surprised that a cop would bother to pull you over for that. I'd understand if you were cited while parked in the handi spot, but around here you can't get a cop to stop someone for running red lights or stop signs, much less handi spots. Don't they have anything better to do? This was in a private lot, too, right, not a public handicapped marked parking space?

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The officer saw what he believed was a traffic violation and he made the stop. It goes the same with red lights and other violations. We can't see everything, and many of those we DO see cannot be stopped due to position, other calls, etc.

- carl