to fight an NYC parking violation?

Hello,

Last week, I approached my car and saw an orange parking violation envelope. I was confused because I did not think I parked illegally. I opened up the envelope and it was empty. There was nothing else on my windshield. I drive off thinking someone played a prank on me (anyone can put an envelope on a windshield).

I found out a week later that I did indeed get a parking ticket for parking too close to a fire hydrant. I take traffic laws very seriously because tickets are incredibly expensive and do not park in front of fire hydrants if I feel it is closer than 15 feet. The parking ticket I ended up getting said I parked 6 feet away which is something I would never do and dispute strongly.

My complaint is that I never got an initial physical ticket. If I did, I would have taken pictures, gotten a witness, something. But now, I did not obtain proof showing I did not park too close because I never thought I got a ticket because a ticket was never left on my windshield. By not informing me that I received a ticket, I was thus denied my opportunity to defend myself from that ticket.

Also,the ticket that I received in the mail is signed by a traffic officer who affirmed that he left that parking notice on my vehicle. The fact that the envelope was attached to my windshield and the parking ticket was not to be found compels me to question whether the ticket was affixed to my vehicle. Looking at the ticket, it appears to be created by a computer device. Is it possible to find out if the ticket was in fact printed out at the time listed on the ticket?


Anyway, this is very frustrating for me because I am fairly certain I did not park too close to the fire hydrant but now I have no way of proving it.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

I get calls like this all the time -- usually the ticket is stuck up against the side of the envelope by static, and the person doesn't see it. If you still have the envelope, check again.

patstew said:

I get calls like this all the time -- usually the ticket is stuck up against the side of the envelope by static, and the person doesn't see it. If you still have the envelope, check again.

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Really? Having lived (and parked) near a variety of schools over the years, I've found that schoolchildren were attracted to the neon orange envelopes like moths to a light bulb. It's certainly not unheard of for some kid to take the ticket and toss it.

Unfortunately, unless one can prove that's what happened, it's also not a defense.

Actually,

It's not a defense even if you can prove that the ticket wasn't there.

It might be a defense to the $10 penalty for failing to answer within 10 days, but that is all--the envelope was still there and you did find out about the ticket. You still need a defense to the underlying parking violation. Without a photo or at least having physically measured the distance at the time and being able to swear to it, simply saying "I didn't think I was too close" is no defense. You could say I thought it was at least X feet but they're probably just going to go with what the officer said.

Check online and see if they hit you with the $10 penalty. If so then it's worth at least doing a hearing over the net.

lawschdropout said:

It's not a defense even if you can prove that the ticket wasn't there.

It might be a defense to the $10 penalty for failing to answer within 10 days, but that is all--the envelope was still there and you did find out about the ticket. You still need a defense to the underlying parking violation. Without a photo or at least having physically measured the distance at the time and being able to swear to it, simply saying "I didn't think I was too close" is no defense. You could say I thought it was at least X feet but they're probably just going to go with what the officer said.

Check online and see if they hit you with the $10 penalty. If so then it's worth at least doing a hearing over the net.

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I don't suppose you stayed in law school long enough to take the "Don't Revive Dead Threads" class, eh?

Momentarily recussitating this thread (sorry), just wanted to add that my officers take a picture of fire-hydrant violations.

I've actually had people tell me they took a picture of their vehicle and it wasn't in violation, but they get ALL QUIET when I say I'm looking at the photo the officer took. That usually puts an end to the discussion.