Motorists claim L.A. handing out tickets at broken parking meters. Has it happened to you?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Motorists claim L.A. handing out tickets at broken parking meters. Has it happened to you?
March 11, 2010 | 11:54 am

Between 10% and 12% of the parking meters in Los Angeles fail at any given time, according to a recent study.

Officials aren't supposed to give parking tickets to motorists parked at broken meters, but some residents complain the city is doing just that.

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comments following the article

I was parked on a side street off Sunset and Highland in Hollywood last summer and the parking meter was bagged and labeled as broke. but I STILL FOUND A TICKET ON MY WINDSHIELD. I wound up paying $65 after sending in a defense to the parking commission.

Posted by: Marc Glassberg | March 11, 2010 at 12:32 PM

This happened to me on Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana, and I called the number on the meter to report it, but got ticketed anyway. When I protested the ticket, it was denied, and then when I didn't pay the ticket, got additional penalties that doubled the amount. I finally paid it because it wasn't worth my time anymore.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/03/motorists-claim-la-handing-out-tickets-at-broken-parking-meters-has-it-happened-to-you.html

[villager]

1. They're going after this "new tax" aggressively. Also looking for expired tags

...on parked cars, and writing tickets for that.

[Retrograde]

24. Gotta get the money from somewhere

With the state taking more of local funds and revenues from sales and income taxes down cities have to get money from other sources if they want to keep up services. My town's used aggressive parking enforcement for revenue for decades. A new parking system is getting popular around these parts: you enter a space number in a centralized machine, so if you overpay the city keeps the surplus - no more parking at a meter with time still left on it! (For an additional fee the machine will send you a notice when your time's about to run out.)

At least they haven't gotten to the level of Oakland yet, where they've been known to write tickets as people were putting money in the meter.

[Xithras]

27. Oh damn, a friend had that happen in San Francisco.

Pulled into a metered space and was rooting around in her glovebox looking for quarters to put in the meter. When she found them and looked up, the meter reader was standing behind her car writing the ticket. She had been in the space less than three minutes, and had never left the car. When she tried to argue, the reader just said, "You're in the space. The meter says expired. You're getting a ticket."

Thankfully, the judge tossed that one.

[Xithras]

2. I wonder if they exceeded the max time.

I was nailed for that once. I parked at a bagged meter that was also labeled "2 Hour Maximum" and came back 3 hours later to a ticket. The meter reader had chalked my tire, found me in violation, and wrote the ticket. I tried to fight it, but was informed that parking at a broken meter is free, but that all other regulations surrounding the spot remain in force.

The majority of the meters I've seen here in California include some sort of time limit, so I can see how this could bite many people.

[Tesha]

21. That's true in Boston as well; two-hour limit most everywhere in the city. (NT)

[Richard D]

3. L.A. parking tickets . . .

. . . are written by and handed out by TRW, I believe.

[kestrel91316]

11. No, the meter readers in city vehicles are city employees, technically cops.

[Hepburn]

4. I have a Calif handicapped driver plaque...

...and I have had to fight tickets because the meter readers are often not aware of the rules which apply. Usually the parking department will dismiss the ticket, but not always ~~ and then it is time to go to court. The worst problems are that most of the meter readers are not aware that the "20 Min Green Zone" parking limit does NOT apply to those with a handicapped plaque.

[jody]

6. Is this true” Parking privileges In an on-street metered parking space at no charge?

[Hepburn]

12. Handicapped drivers do not have to pay at parking meters.

All other laws have to be obeyed ~~ like hours of use, etc. ~~ but there is no required payment. This is also true for things like the Santa Monica pier and county parking at courthouses and other govt buildings where there are charges for the lot, but no meters.

Here is the deal:

With your disabled placard (temporary or permanent) or your permanent disabled license plates, you may park:

*In any parking space with the International Symbol of Access. (wheelchair symbol)

*Next to a blue curb authorized for handicap parking.

*Next to a green curb (green curbs indicate limited-time parking) for as long as you like.

*In a metered parking space on the street at no charge.

*In an area that indicates it requires a resident or merchant permit.

*Check public arenas, like sports stadiums, to see if they offer free disabled parking. Many do.

Do not park in the areas marked with white hatch marks (near the disabled parking spots), any red (no stopping), yellow (commercial vehicles only), or white (passenger loading and unloading only) curbs.

http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/disabled-drivers.php

[jody]

13. Many thanks, I have a DP tag and I'm heading to CA on a vacation.

ON EDIT ADD:
Do the time limits for a metered parking place apply to DP tags?

[Hepburn]

15. Time limits:

If you mean such things are NO PARKING between certain hours ~~ yes, that applies to handicapped drivers.

If you mean a maximum time ~~ like 3 hours, ect., I am not sure. I do not think it applies because it would be like the Green zone. But...I will see what I can find for you on the issue. Will PM you.

[jody]

17. Many, many thanks.

:hi:

[RC]

5. Public parking meters are against the law in North Dakota.

:P

[DRoseDARs]

14. With a population of ten people and a couple bison, not much point in having them is there?

;)

[RC]

26. I think ya might have a point there.

[joeybee12]

7. You can't fight city hall...

...seriously, because in cases like this, the burden of proof is up to you, and try working through a bureacracy to do that!!!

[Cleita]

8. I haven't lived in LA in a couple of decades but they used to do it back then

too. You can fight it in traffic court though and win, however, there is the nuisance factor. I got a ticket for making a right turn on a corner that was no right turn but there was no sign. It had been knocked down in a previous accident and not replaced yet. I took a picture of the corner and went to traffic court and won, but the cop who gave me the ticket didn't care. His attitude was that I should have know about the no right turn corner (from ESP, maybe?). I did discover that every now and then there is a crack down by City Hall on writing parking and traffic tickets so the police work in a frenzy trying to nail as many as they can, whether there are broken parking meters, downed signs or whatever. I guess it's when they need to fill the city treasury.

[kestrel91316]

9. Happens to my clients ALL THE TIME. For 15 years, 2 of the 3 meters immediately in front of

my office have been broken more often than not. They "fix" them, and they work for 2 days, and then they are broken again. People put money in, get no time, bang the things, then give up and come inside. Then they get a ticket for parking at a broken meter that THEY PAID. It is a TOTAL SCAM in this city.

The real catch is, when you contact the city to report a broken meter, they REQUIRE that the meter number be provided. But the numbers on these ancient meters have worn completely off (they are painted on), so you can never actually formally request repairs to them. So the city makes money year after year.

I'm sure their lame excuse is that they can't afford to repair them, but they sure can afford the crew to collect the money from broken meters, and the meter police that come along to write tickets. It's a RACKET.

[jody]

19. Classic Catch-22, need meter # to report but meter # obliterated. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

10. The City of Los Angeles

Losing money at the rate of about 400,000 dollars a day. Highest paid city council in the country, with perks. $171, 648 a year. This is more than a member of Congress, if I am not mistaken. They get staffs of 20+, free cars, repairs and yes, free gasoline. It does not end.
So they need to hand out tickets.

[devilgrrl]

16. Yes, it has happened to me! It's bullshit too!

:nuke:

[AllentownJake]

18. California is going to be in full citizen revolt by the summer

New York, by the fall.

[Mike 03]

20. Pasadena Story. I put a dollars' worth of quarters into a meter, ran into a Barnes and Noble to

buy a book that had just come on sale. I was in there for thirty minutes, came out, ran to my vehicle. There was a cop writing me a parking ticket. The meter showed I was expired, but it was impossible. I just walked into a bookstore, picked a brand new book off a pile, paid for it and walked out and jogged to my car.

So I don't doubt that these meters are fixed.

I think even the cops know it, because this cop could not even look me in the eye as he wrote out the ticket.

[conscious evolution]

22. A parking meter study

done by some friends in Savannah Ga back in the early ninties found that the parking meters were a money losing operation.After calculating the cost of newmeters/repaired meters,meter maids and the amount of revenue from fees and fines they found that the city spent more money on parking enforcement than they brought in as revenue.
Its all a scam.

[Jkid]

23. It's just another way for the city to make more revenue.

They can't raise taxes, but they can find ways to get your money from you.

[pinniped]

25. SF and other crooked cities supplement parking meter revenue by stealing people's cars....

right off the street. Some car with a disabled placard was violently dragged right out of its parking spot, popping two of its tires.

On any given day, the three and four-wheeled asshole vultures (meter maids and tow truck drivers) can be seen salivating over carrion (cars) on the streets, just waiting to be devoured. I have more respect for real vultures than these jerks.

These crooked cities sure know how to run a good racket.

[Greyhound]

28. I always called this the "living in LA tax".

Over 12 years they got me for $600 - $700. KPHO did a story on one of my cases and they showed the parking enforcement people cruising the parking garages downtown and just writing down tag #'s and going off to do other things all day (napping, working on their house, washing cars, etc.) and "issuing tickets" the whole time.

The LA court still made me pay.

Today, I'm an infamous scofflaw that the City of Beverly Hills contends owes thousands.
:evilgrin: