Cars parked at broken meters will get a ticket

[Liberal_in_LA]

Days of free parking at broken meters in L.A. coming to an end
September 8, 2010 | 11:51 am

The days of getting free parking at broken meters in Los Angeles are numbered.

The city has begun installing new solar-powered meters that are much less likely to malfunction and that accept credit cards and coins.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has replaced about half of the 40,000 meters across the city with the new models, making it easier for motorists to pay and harder for vandals to tamper.

Until all the meters are replaced, drivers who find a spot at an old, broken meter will not get a ticket, said Sean Anderson, a spokesman for the Transportation Department.

But drivers who park at a new meter that happens to be broken will be ticketed. :wtf:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/days-of-free-parking-at-broken-meters-in-la-coming-to-an-end.html

“That is unlikely to happen,” said Anderson. “With the new meters, you don’t have the reliability issue. There is a less than 1% chance they are ever down.”
The new meters cost the city about $20 each a year to lease. They use wireless technology to communicate service problems and jams, allowing technicians to be dispatched to the field quickly.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Every last penny.

Deal with it!

[no_hypocrisy]

2. As a traffic lawyer, I see an opportunity to move to dismiss.

The municipality has to have concrete evidence that you've parked too long. Either hire personnel to mark the tires each quarter of an hour or replace the broken meters.

[zipplewrath]

3. Yeah this wouldn't stand

And I suspect the spokesperson isn't being accurate. What they are saying is that if you park where there is a broken meter, and they fix it while you're gone, they're ultimately going to be able to ticket your car. Someone is going to have to work out just how long they have to wait before they ticket your car. Conversely they'll have to figure out how to demonstrate that it didn't break until AFTER you left.

[wtmusic]

4. Question: a friend got a ticket for a rolling right turn on red (automatic cameras)

and she insists it was a yellow. If the light itself is not shown in any of the photos, how can the city prove she is a violator?

(I don't know if she's being truthful or not, interested more as a legal issue)

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Probably through more pictures.

They take a series of split second pictures, time-stamped, and show much more of the light at trial.

Have your friend ask for discovery, in other words, those more specific photos. If they aren't produced pretrial, have her make a motion for dismissal.

[wtmusic]

6. Thanks very much, will do.

:thumbsup:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. I started my monkey wrenching career with parking meters.

We used to attack the posts first. When they covered the area near our school with meters, the following Monday nearly 100 had been taken out and stacked neatly in a pile. City was furious. We kept at it for months. Torches, super glue, drills, epoxy, magnesium strips, and other fun concoctions. Its a good thing I don't live in the city these days.