Plan B Forum

So I went to run a quick errand today in my car, found a parking space on the street near the store, fed the machine and got myself a ticket. I go into the store for five minutes to see a parking enforcement officer walking away from my car; I thought I'd better check the windshield to make sure my ticket was visible and hadn't been blown onto the floor or something. I found a $100 ticket for parking too close to a fire hydrant, and thought, WTF? I looked up and down the curb from my car, no fire hydrant in sight. Then I turn my gaze away from the street and see a fire hydrant perched in the middle of the sidewalk at least 6 metres from the curb. Who the fuck was supposed to notice that? Especially since right at the curb there are these huge square concrete planters that would completely obscure the hydrant from the view of any car approaching the curb. So I'm going to fight it. I am accused of parking within 3 metres of a fire hydrant, I am going to argue that I could not possibly be guilty if the fire hydrant is 6 m from the curb, even if I were parked right in front of it. Fuck the bastards.

Not to mention writing tickets for parking in a metered parking spot....

Take plenty of pictures...

I hope you took photos.

Was the parking space you found an actual marked one, or was it just a kerb?

There aren't individual marked spaces; the entire segment of the street where parking is allowed is marked with signs and there's a machine where you can buy a ticket to put in your windshield. Time was when the city would paint the sections of a curb near a fire hydrant yeloow to let you know precisely where you should not be parking. In this case it would have been particularly helpful considering that the hydrant was nowhere in sight. I suspect they do a brisk business because as I was pulling out there was one car whom I managed to dissuade from parking there who hadn't noticed the hydrant either, and as I was pulling away yet another tucked in right into the same space.

Surely you are not the first person who parked there. I suspect the "enforcement officer" has ticketed many people for that same violation in that same spot.

Off-pissing, to be sure.

Bollocks!!

Why aren't they signing the area as "No Parking" then?

Is it reasonable for a driver to have to check whether he has parked in front of a fire hydrant 6 meters INTO the sidewalk? Surely it is unreasonable to expect spotting that hydrant?

Check whatever legislation or regulations cover standardized road markings. Over here if is under Traffic Management requirements and if you challenged the ticket on inadequate warning signs and no restrictions placed on parking in that space and you would get off.

Not every hydrant has no parking signs flanking it. It is assumed you know that you are not to park in front of a hydrant, even if it is is otherwise in a legal parking area. I am going to be fighting it based on the plain wording of the parking by-law, which says that parking is prohibited "within three metres of a fire hydrant". My argument will be that parking on the street cannot therefore be prohibited when the hydrant is 5.3 metres from the curb. I have a court date in June.

Good for you mate!

It would work here

If the requested distance to park from a hydrant is less than the distance you were parked then you haven't committed an offence.

Have you arranged for some people to go with you to court so that they can carry you out on their shoulders afterwards?

The Hen wrote:Why aren't they signing the area as "No Parking" then?

That would be chopping down their money tree!

I suspect that, if it's anything like here, Scooter will be told: "You shouldn't have parked there. I don't care what the law says, just shut up and pay the fine, plus $50 court costs. If you say another word, I will triple the fine."

When you go to court you might want to hide those horns on your head.

Azrael had a hat, but they make you take those off in court;

The other thread reminded me...I went to court two weeks ago, and WON! The judge accepted my argument that I could not possibly have been parked within 3 metres of a fire hydrant that was set back more than 5 metres from the curb. And he had some harsh words for the officer who wrote the ticket, saying that he was intending to be made aware of any more tickets related to that hydrant making their way through court, so that he could be sure they were also dismissed.

Sometimes this justice thing does work

Nice job Scooter.

You followed through and justice was served.

Congratulations!

Result!!

Cool!

Congratulations...

It's always nice to see common sense prevail in a contest with the bureaucracy....