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I love Chicago, but this is ridonkulous...

nickspohn

nickspohn

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 9, 2007
3,592
0
So i went to Chicago tonight, deep in the city in Chinatown (I'm not asian ;)) and when i go back out to my car, I'm like "What the F***?" There is a ticket on my window. I made sure before i left i was in a safe place to park, not blocking anything. But yet, i get a ticket. I was feet away from the yellow paint on the curb (where i can't park)


So what do i do? I would be fine if this was $20, maybe $30, but $100!!

(iphone pics)

img_0124.jpg




see the yellow curb? and the sign?
img_0119.jpg





there is even a car there when i left....
img_0117.jpg
 
Those pics look like they could have been taken with your iPhone. Did you geotag them? If so, I would say you are spot on for contesting it...
 
Contest it. Would have been best to take a pic that had the car's plate in it as well as the parking job, but I think you'll be good with the photos above.
 
yeah i had GPS and i was just thinking about that. good idea.


and it says on the ticket "PARK/STAND BUS, TAXI, CARRIAGE STAND".

how would i go about contesting it? i guess i have to go back to chicago..

and i also have a pic of my headlights that defiantly shows its a camaro (my car) so i should be fine showing its my car.
 
nickspohn said:
yeah i had GPS and i was just thinking about that. good idea.


and it says on the ticket "PARK/STAND BUS, TAXI, CARRIAGE STAND".

how would i go about contesting it?

and i also have a pic of my headlights that defiantly shows its a camaro (my car) so i should be fine showing its my car.
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I dunno about Illinois, but here in CA the directions for appearing are on the ticket. You'd have to show up, plead not guilty and get a court date. Then, you go plead you case on your court date.
 
There should be a traffic court there, let alone something at least down at the county courthouse that you can go to. Pretty sure there's a number in the phone book you can find and call as well.

IMHO, if you don't get out of this one, it's another reason for me to avoid Chicago (and I'm sorry to say that, being a Bozo Show fan, and wanting to see Wrigley Field). I won't really visit that town until Czar Daley is booted out. What he did with Meigs was an atrocity.

BL.
 
Yeah i'm reading the tiny print on the ticket. Great. Now i have to waste time going back down there not once, but twice.


The cop was probably a Ford redneck or something.
 
Contest the ticket. I've done it by mail and won. Send the photos along with it.

I once got a ticket for not having a city sticker. They put the ticket on my window right by my valid city sticker. FAIL! I didn't have to pay and got a letter of apology, believe it or not.
 
leekohler said:
Contest the ticket. I've done it by mail and won. Send the photos along with it.

I once got a ticket for not having a city sticker. They put the ticket on my window right by my valid city sticker. FAIL! I didn't have to pay and got a letter of apology, believe it or not.
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What's a city sticker and/or for what is it?
 
CorvusCamenarum said:
What's a city sticker and/or for what is it?
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If you live in the city, it's an annual tax on owning a car, similar to license plates.

Since I quickly discovered owning a car and living in the city don't go together well, it was easy for me to give up the car and avoid the cost. It's much easier living here without one. There just isn't a real need for owning a car in the city.
 
nickspohn said:
Yeah i'm reading the tiny print on the ticket. Great. Now i have to waste time going back down there not once, but twice.


The cop was probably a Ford redneck or something.
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Will it cost you more to go back twice and fight it, or to just pay the $100? It may not be worth the aggravation.
 
if you are living far away and it costs more in time and money to fight it then just pay it.

however make their life miserable:

mail them a formal complaint with all pictures and lot's uf useless paperwork.
call them to complain. a few times.
pay 103.70 dollar and demand the 3.70 dollar back.
glue the envelope with the check with scotch tape.
 
You know what I just noticed from your pics? Your car isn't behind the "bus stop, no parking" sign. It's behind the bus sign, but not the "bus stop, no parking" sign. There's a certain distance your car has to be from the bus stop. I can tell from the pics that you're too close to the bus stop. Don't think you'll win this one. Sorry, I know it sucks. I've been there before. The yellow line is for the fire hydrant. You get a whole new level of ticket if you park there.
 
look in on the ticket and what it takes before they send you off to bill collectors or before they boot your car.

if you never plan on going to the city again or very often you could just not pay it and not pay any attention to it.

I for example still owe my former college a parking ticket I got on my brothers car. never going to pay it because I knew for a fact the school does not do anything until either 4-10 tickets a car unless the car is registered to a student or you want to get a parking permit for that car.

City of Houston I knew at one point was the same way so you could just not bother if you only had one ticket. The ticket is a civil matter so they can not get a warrant out for your arrest. The worse they can do is send it to a bill collector and normally that takes it getting to a certain point before it is worth it.
 
well i think i'm going to write a letter and send them the pics i have.


here is the place it happened from google street view. that van is pretty much parked where i was at.

6ftqaf.png
 
And right behind that van is the sign you missed. Go back to google, scroll over and this is what you'll see. You can't read it on here, but that's the sign that got you. I'd also like you to notice the parking meter behind the sign and the fact that there is no parking meter in the area your car would have been. That should have tipped you off right away. Keep an eye out for that stuff next time. Looks like they got you fair and square.
 

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Very good eye there Leek. Me thinks the OP knew about this the whole time (as is these threads usually go in this direction). Whatever it takes to not make you at fault...

Well, just pay the fine and walk off, simple...
 
Rapmastac1 said:
Very good eye there Leek. Me thinks the OP knew about this the whole time (as is these threads usually go in this direction). Whatever it takes to not make you at fault...

Well, just pay the fine and walk off, simple...
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Nah- it was probably an honest mistake. It's tricky here where you can park and such, but in this case, the police were correct. The OP will just have to pay the fine.

To the OP-my advice is to pay it ASAP. I believe you have a month before they double the fine.
 
I swear on my life that sign was not there. I even remember looking at that poll. I looked all around. It was at night though. You are right that there was no parking meter though. But someone else was parked right behind me and if that image you posted is accurate, they didn't get a ticket because i looked if anyone else got one.


I'm still contesting it.
 
parking in Chi town is a royal pain in the arse. Got to love the L. The thing that gets me is all the fire hydrants are in the middle of the block, but I guess you can't blame Chicago for being a little paranoid about fire.

Leek is right though, if you were in that yellow area it would be a whole new world of hurt. I will be heading to Chicago on Tuesday, the car is being parked in a save place and left there.
 
leekohler said:
You know what I just noticed from your pics? Your car isn't behind the "bus stop, no parking" sign. It's behind the bus sign, but not the "bus stop, no parking" sign. There's a certain distance your car has to be from the bus stop. I can tell from the pics that you're too close to the bus stop. Don't think you'll win this one. Sorry, I know it sucks. I've been there before. The yellow line is for the fire hydrant. You get a whole new level of ticket if you park there.
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yep. you got the ticket not because of the hydrant but because of the bus stop.

no way you'll win this. honestly. even with the pictures.
by default anytime i see a bus stop i know parking behind them is a good 20-30ft behind the actually bus stop sign.
 
nick, if you've got a friend in the city that could swing by and take pics proving that sign is absent, then you might still have a chance. If it turns out you missed the sign, then I wouldn't bother contesting it anymore. It'll just be a waste of your time.
 
nickspohn said:
I swear on my life that sign was not there. I even remember looking at that poll. I looked all around. It was at night though. You are right that there was no parking meter though. But someone else was parked right behind me and if that image you posted is accurate, they didn't get a ticket because i looked if anyone else got one.


I'm still contesting it.
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Nick- that's the same image you posted from Google. I just scrolled to the right. We're not telling you this to be jerks. You're not going to win this one. You're better off just paying the ticket, believe me. I noticed on the pic of your ticket, that that is what they ticketed you for as well- being in the bus stop area.

Just a word of warning- if you do decide to contest it, make sure you do it before the deadline. Otherwise you'll get stuck paying double.
 
Well yeah i know you guys aren't being jerks, and i clearly see the sign in your picture.

I think what through me off was that there was a car parked after that sign too, and then i pulled in front of it, and saw no sign around so i thought it was fine.


Ugh. I'm going to make sure the sign is there though. Chicago isn't far, just out of the way.
 
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