Fight the meter maid!!!

[baci2004]

I've got around $7,000 in parking tickets on 2 of my vehicles. I just paid half of them as part of my turning over a new leaf stage lol.

Anyway the other day I paid for parking (Did you know they have these green boxes now that dispence parking tags?LMAO) and there was this business card taped to the box with the url www.fightthemetermaid.com I thought to myself...where do I sign up?

Their idea is stupid but they do provide a valuable service for $3.00. When you want to fight a parking violation someone must appear in person to set the court date. They will do this for you for only $3.00, so you only have to show up once.

Thought I would share

Baci

 

[Keebler Elf]

Just don't park illegally and you won't have to deal with any of the hassle to begin with.

 

[RogerRabbit]

www.fightthemetermaid.com

Thought I would share

Baci

great idea/ service for $3.00!

 

[RogerRabbit]

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/04/425.asp

http://www.canada.com/national/nati....html?id=a4a1df47-452c-4ccd-a6e5-35fcfab721aa



'Taking ticket rage to the streets
Web site urges people to fight fines and overwhelm the court system

James Cowan
National Post

May 27, 2005


Matt Davies advertises his parking ticket Web site on meters and on the windows of cars that have been ticketed. He says the city has made it far too difficult to fight parking fines, a process that takes months and requires a trip to the Old City Hall courthouse.

A Toronto man is attempting to incite a citizens' revolt against parking tickets with a new Web site aimed at clogging the courts with challenges and crippling the traffic enforcement system.

Matt Davies founded his site -- fightthemetermaid.com -- after he received two tickets in a three-week period for parking on a residential street while he took tango lessons. He has temporarily abandoned his home renovation business and is living off his savings while he launches his anti-ticket crusade.

"What I want the city to do is look at its parking system, realize how upset all its citizens are and do something about it," he said.

Mr. Davies' campaign encourages people to fight in court instead of paying their fines. By creating a flood of court date requests, he hopes to deprive the city of some of the $80-million in revenue it generates annually from tickets as the overloaded courts slowly deal with the contested tickets.

Mr. Davies contends the city discourages people from challenging tickets by making the process difficult. To request a court date, you must go to one of four parking offices. It then takes at least 75 days to receive a trial date. The trials are held at Old City Hall courthouse, an inconvenient location for many.

Faced with this time-consuming procedure, many people simply pay their tickets. But Mr. Davies' Web site endeavours to make things simpler for malcontents. For a $3 fee, he will request a trial date on your behalf and send you an e-mail reminder when the day approaches.

Even if you request a court date but pay the ticket before the date arrives, Mr. Davies notes you have still contributed to court-clogging efforts.

"If you don't want to go to trial, just keep your court date until a month before the trial and then pay up," he said. "It's kind of like a delayed payment plan, and you still end up jamming the courts up."

With court dates being set 11 months in advance, Mr. Davies hopes he can inject enough cases into the system that wait times will exceed those permitted under law. If that happens, anyone challenging a parking ticket will have constitutional grounds to fight it, he said.

"Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, you are guaranteed a trial in a reasonable period of time," Mr. Davies said. "We're nearing that point where, if people go to court, the charges should be dismissed."

While he is not a lawyer, Mr. Davies said his plan has been vetted by experts. He also notes there is no penalty for contesting a ticket in court. And last December the city eliminated its voluntary payment program, which rewarded individuals who paid their tickets early with a lower fine.

Toronto Police Staff-Sergeant Frank Ruffolo confirms Mr. Davies' plan is perfectly legal. However, the parking enforcement officer added police are unworried about his protest's effect on revenue.

"As far as bylaw court, we're not having any problem," Staff-Sgt. Ruffolo said.

Only 3% of ticket recipients contest their parking tickets, the officer added.

"Most people who get a ticket know they've done something wrong and just pay it," he said.

The city's ticketing practices have been widely criticized lately, especially after enforcement officers targeted cars over the Victoria Day long weekend.

Parking enforcement officers issued nearly three million tickets last year.

Mr. Davies said he has received remarkable support since he launched his campaign last month. He has distributed 3,000 flyers for his Web site by attaching them to parking meters and placing them on the windows of ticketed automobiles. So far, about 100 people have enlisted his services, and his Web site has received hits from across North America.

Indeed, one local coupon distributor is so impressed by Mr. Davies' fight that he has offered to include a flyer for the Web site in his next mailing.

"I'm upset, but he's irate," Mr. Davies said of his benefactor.

© National Post 2005'

 

[Pleasing_Brian]

No tickets would SUCK!

Imagine what a mess the streets would be if tickets WEREN'T enforced? Good luck finding a spot! There'd be no rush to get back to your car. People would be parking illegally everywhere. Personally, I'm glad we have a good ticket system. If I do get a ticket, it's because I f*'d up.

 

[Keebler Elf]

The whole issue wouldn't exist if people didn't park illegally! This is all about people getting caught and finding some excuse to bitch about it and blame others for their own mistakes.

 

[Truncador]

Also, the people who park in handicapped spaces when they aren't handicapped should be tarred and feathered.

 

[baci2004]

Keebler - Evidently you don't drive downtown or own a car because if you did you wouldn't make those comments. There are more and more cars on the road every year; many spaces that were once available for parking are no longer.

Truncador - At any given time when a parking lot is full you can always be sure that all of the handicap spaces are empty. Here's a little something that you may not be aware of, a person with a valid hadicap permit can park where ever they like at anytime of day or night without receiving an infraction. They don't need special spots to park.

 

[Jade4u]

I personally think they are all going meter crazy. More meters in apartment buildings as well that never had them before. Even in some smaller plazas, which obviously cannot be good for business for the store owners. When it boils down to it most of it is about money and new ways to make a buck.

 

[RogerRabbit]

I personally think they are all going meter crazy.

When it boils down to it most of it is about money and new ways to make a buck.

I totally agree with you stacey, here is another example of how far they will go:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1117749018887&call_pageid=968350130169

'Unpaid fines a ticket to no York degree
School says pay up or don't graduate
City says parking tickets are illegal
CATHERINE PORTER
CITY HALL BUREAU

Aliza Libman is a model York University graduate. She's won two academic awards, a scholarship, been elected to the university senate and helped edit the campus newspaper.
But up until this week, she wasn't going to graduate.
The reason: $150 in unpaid university parking tickets that the city considers "illegal."
Libman was among a number of York graduates surprised by letters from the university warning that if they didn't pay their outstanding parking fines, they wouldn't get their degrees or transcripts this month.
The surprise came because those fines are considered illegal by the city, which passed a bylaw last summer stating private lot operators and institutions could only punish parking violators with City of Toronto tickets — meaning the city, and not the private company or institution, gets the money.
"They're not legitimate according to the bylaws of the city. You can't just disregard the laws," said 21-year-old Libman, who swallowed her principles and paid the fine, so she could graduate and get her transcripts, which she needs to land a teaching position in the fall.
"It's bullying," she says. "York is fighting a war of attrition. It has time on its side and it's going to keep bullying people until they pay."...'

 

[Keebler Elf]

Keebler - Evidently you don't drive downtown or own a car because if you did you wouldn't make those comments. There are more and more cars on the road every year; many spaces that were once available for parking are no longer.

What a crock of shit. I own a car and I work downtown. And I pay what I owe instead of whining about it like an irresponsible person. And guess what... I don't get many parking tickets at all because I don't park illegally.

When you've got $7,000 in parking tickets, YOU are the problem. I would have thought the first step in "turning over a new leaf" would be to admit that to yourself.

 

[Kurt]

No you are missing the point.

I got a ticket at Younge and Sheppard. I had a valid tag in the window with over an hour left.

I phoned over to fight the ticked and I had to make an appointment at Don Mills and York Mills. Took time off went to my appointment.

This appt. was to see if I had a valid case to fight in court...I was like WTF.
Made court appt. two months later take time off go to court and was immediately dismissed by the Judge.

Now a $30 ticket probably cost me $15 in parking $5 @ the Don Mills office and $10 at court plus time off that because of my flexible schedule didn't cost anything but took about three hours of my time.

Is this a fair system...NO
Most people would just pay to avoid the hassle.

Kurt

 

[RogerRabbit]

No you are missing the point.

Is this a fair system...NO
Most people would just pay to avoid the hassle.

Kurt

I have had similar problems and frustrations with the current system of 'justice' and I agree it should be less hassle, hopefully this chap will make a difference...