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I live in DC, and drive in DC, a lot and I couldn't disagree more with AAA on this one. How on earth are parking ticket writers supposed to show "mercy." They see a car in a wrong zone, or an expired meter, they write the ticket, and move on. They are not detectives, they don't have the time to investigate the exact circumstances of why each and every car is parked the way it is.

Do they sometimes get it wrong. Yes, but you have some alternatives including a written appeal and a hearing. The written appeal costs you about 5 minutes of your life, the hearing about an hour. Or you can just pay the fine and chalk it up to a cost of owning and driving a car, like an oil change.

In seven years of nearly daily driving and parking in this city, I have gotten exactly 2 parking tickets that I felt were improper. In one case the sign was missing, I appealed by mail and lost. In the other case the ticket was issued after the parking restriction period, I went to a hearing and won.

Now with the Park Mobile system, there is really no excuse for ever getting a meter ticket. The system actually alerts you when the meter is running out and lets you add time via your phone! It doesn't get any simpler than that.

In fact, do you want to know my biggest complaint with parking enforcement in this city? Not enough of it. It is frustrating to come home with a car full of stuff and not be able to find a spot on your street, park several blocks away, and walk by multiple cars parked without zone stickers.

So I say, thanks for the 1.6 million tickets, lets shoot for an even 2 million in 2012!

by dcdriver on Dec 30, 2011 6:06 pm • link • report