Parking tickets

What do you want to contest? The ticket or the amount of the fine?

Yes I think you should. You had a reasonable excuse and I think that if the state is going to require handicap parking then short term parking spaces should also be required. My experience is that most parking in handicap spots by none handicapped people is for short term reasons.

If it's the amount of the fine, you could plead "guilty with an explanation". You can do that up here in Canada and I think you can do it in the U.S. as well.

But ... then you have to go to court and persuade a judge that your excuse is reason enough to waive the fine or reduce it.

I'm with Mckenzie. You can go to court and explain your situation to the judge and see what happens. You've got nothing to lose.

Good luck Littlek ;-)

Sorry kid, I don't think you've got a snowball's chance in hell. Cambridge (and greater Boston in general) look at parking tickets as a municipal excise tax.

Being late is not an explanation that goes over too well in court.

And, if you lose - (at least this is true in Australia) - court costs will be added to the amount of the fine.

I say go for "Guilty with an explanation". You would have to check about court costs. I don't think that in traffic court this would apply, but I don't know for sure. Emphasize your concern for the child.....deemphasize the lateness. And make sure that you act repentently.

Once I was stopped for making a right turn on red in an area in NYC where it was not permitted, although it WAS permitted a few blocks away.
When the police came over, I looked him straight in the eye and, before he said a thing, said, "Boy, I really screwed up this time", in a very contrite manner. He gave me a short lecture that I should have known better, and he sent me on my way, sans ticket. I think that if I had reacted aggressively, I would have gotten the ticket, for sure.

I tried the same thing Phoenix, and I still got the ticket

My suggestion would be to just pay it.

Can you get a letter from the girls mother that states something you mentioned above about the girl being emotional and the necessity of you getting to her quickly being the most important issue, otherwise you would never have dreamed of parking there?

There may be a sympathetic judge who may be lenient for issues of the care of others, especially children, as excuses why the law of the land may be bent slightly. If the child had been in physical danger, you would be released from such a fine I am sure. Why not if there might be emotional danger? I would not mention too much about being late. Instead, you could have been on time, but did not anticipate parking problems and the more delayed you became trying to find parking, the more you worried about her and finally had to take the chance of parking at a handicapped zone.

However, if this is a sensitive family issue, you may not want to go there!

Thanks for all your suggestions. Generally it seems people think I should contest it, but the only person here with experience in this town says don't bother.

The biggest problem is I'd have to take off time from work to do it and I'd lose the cash anyway. I don't think there are court fees for this type of thing.... Maybe I'll do some online research.

On your side...
The judge might be sympathetic to the kid's emotional state and the shortness of the stop, and waive it -- in which case he may have to explain to somebody why (s)he took a $100 from the city and failed to protect the rights of the handicapped (prolly not, but maybe)...

Against you...
The judge might simply view you as flaky.
The judge might be passionate about abuse of handicappped parking spots.
The judge might be reluctant to keep money out of city coffers.
The judge might object to the court being tied up with someone contesting a ticket for a blatant parking violation (this is probably a very significant part of his/her docket already, and it may take a great deal to really be heard).

Actually, the fine seems low to me. In the parts of California where I noticed these things (because you drive everywhere in California) the fine was upwards of $250.

I'd recommend paying the fine and saving yourself the time and aggravation of going to court, especially as going in by no means guarantees that you won't have to pay the fine anyway. (Have been to traffic court in CA, and there were no court costs -- but it was a mandatory appearance, and I was contesting nothing, and I was sixteen...)

You could contest it, but you're not going to win. You can't beat a parking ticket in Mass.. Everybody has to pay - Senators, state troopers and city employees pay. No matter who you know, the Parking Division is a separate secret society and untouchable.

WOYZECK: It's the Freemasons, Andres! The Freemasons!

Yeah, yer gonna have to pay.

I parked in a handicapped parking space in L.A. Long story... it wasn't clearly marked, I was going to an important meeting which I was not late for but would be if I had to go someplace else to park, and was TOLD to park there by the parking lot attendants as it was the only space. I also was 1 week pregnant, though I didn't know it at the time, and my brain was not what it ought to have been. (I.e. I was told to park there but I really shoulda been more critical about "WHY is it OK?") It was a huge huge huge fine (I think $300 or even $400) and I was totally aghast, spent a lot of time with the supervisor of the parking lot attendant who told me to park there, etc., etc., and still had to pay it.

I've never fought a parking ticket, never had one that expensive. I'd fight it, you've got a good reason.

I do owe "Fast Lane" about $200 though. Damn bastards. Sometimes my transponder just doesn't register, and I'm always too lazy to mail in an appeal.

Slappy, can you explain the fast-lane thing? I mean, you're not paying them for the tolls you used, but for something else? Fines?

I'm thinking I should just pay it. I always do pay the damned things and I prolly will pay this one too. Just really hard to swing. Oh well, I was an idiot.