Wed 23 Sep 2009
I received the official decision letter regarding my parking ticket hearing the other day. The best part of the 2-page findings and quotes of relevant statutes:
While there appears to be a sign posted indicating a DASH bus stop, the sign is not in conformity with The California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CAMUTCD), which are the uniform standards and specifications for all traffic control devices adopted by the state in compliance with California Vehicle Code Section 21400. The DASH sign that is posted is meant for pedestrians rather than motorists. At minimum a red border is required, and without curb paint, a bus stop sign needs to set for the area where it applies so that vehicles know where they can and cannot park. There apparently was no paint or stencil on the curb to indicate that the area was a bus stop, and there still is no stencil on the curb. I therefore find the Respondent Not Liable for the citation. A refund shall issue in the amount set forth above within 30 days of this decision letter.
I received my $278 refund check from the City of Los Angeles only days later and no, it’s not an I.O.U. I’m surprised by the negativity from some that I got after my win, belittling comments like “How did you get a refund, did you prove you weren’t the person that parked your car illegally?” and “Cool, next time I park in downtown and get a ticket I can use a camera to fight the parking ticket.” Please, like I had no grounds to create my “well-presented case,” which was how the hearing officer described my argument, exhibits and declaration! Even Mr. W had little faith in me, suggesting before the hearing that I change my defense to claiming I wasn’t there, period, that the ticket was erroneous in identifying my vehicle, and saying that “ignorance of the law is not an excuse.” I wasn’t ignorant of the LAW, the LAW was not posted! My defense wasn’t that I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to park at a bus stop, it was that it was the most invisible bus stop, ever! And the City eventually agreed with me, so there.
Way to stand up for yourself and what you believed to be true about the parking sign. And the best part you have $278 to buy Grouper Cheeks in Clearwater!!
I can’t believe tha people gave you a hard time. WTF? HATERS!! Anyways, I am proud of you for sticking up for youself and pointing out this error. I wonder if the city then retracts tickets given before the city painted the curb? If they do, then a lot of peole will be getting a nice letter like yours all because of you 🙂
Flat Coke – bahahaha! That’s enough to bury me in grouper cheeks!
…okay, NOW I’m drooling.
busykitty – I doubt the City would dig thru all its citations to find the ones that my ruling applies to, then mail them all refunds. But if someone contesting his/her ticket has the same argument from parking in the same area around the same time, and gets my hearing officer, he/she’ll probably win because I set a precedent. I wonder if the City painted the curb because of my argument (that I’d mailed them before the hearing), and because others before me who’d received tickets there had made the same argument.