I'd like to offer my sincerest curses to Stamford Parking Violations. At the end of October I got a ticket (see photo) because I stayed too long at lunch at Eos, the yummy Greek place on Summer St. I just came across a FIFTY FIVE DOLLAR ticket for that- the original $15 plus FORTY BUCKS because it's over a month and a half late. I only get a month and a half to pay a measly parking ticket? Isn't that a little Draconian? It feels very unconstitutional, frankly.
Right after I got this ticket, I was struck down with a whooping cough-like illness that lasted close to 6 weeks. I wasn't thinking about this stupid ticket! I was thinking about the muscles I was pulling in my side and chest from coughing so hard! Curses upon you, Stamford Parking Violations!
If you are a person who is organized enough to pay your stupid parking tickets on time, good for you. I'm not like that, but I don't think I should have to pay more money to Stamford because I'm a little spacey. I think people should get mailed at least one warning before they get fined forty bucks for forgetting about a stupid, irritating ticket.
In general, I'm irritated to live in a place where I have to drive everywhere, and yet parking for some of the best places is pretty inconvenient. Parking meters are TOTALLY OLD FASHIONED, and this town needs to GET RID OF THEM. I hate paying for parking, but at least make the meters ones I can pay more than 2 hours for! Just give me a 3 hour limit, like the ones in the garages offer!
I mean for God's sake, I'm patronizing cool restos and shops and being penalized for it. I might as well speed, and drive recklessly, because I'm a lot less likely to get caught for that, and I'd probably get fined less, too.
Rrrrr! So should I pay this stupid ticket, or is there some clause that says "Just ignore the extra fee and pay $15 and the city will not notice"?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Curses Upon Stamford Parking Violations
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7 comments:
If it makes you feel better, even I who know the officers have received a ticket for parking facing the wrong way on our little street with parking only on one side (but a two way street)!
None of are immune - I gain a bit more time by appealing it online, but alas I had to pay also...
Hate to say it, but I would recommend bucking up. Mine wasn't a Stamford incident, but I got a "fix-it ticket" in LA years ago for a burned out tail light. I fixed it and sent in the paperwork, and promptly moved back east. Five years later, I got a call from a collections agency that was about to garnish my wages for the ~$500 in penalties, etc. - apparently the fine print said I had to appear in court with my fixed tail light. SO... needless to say, while I still think tickets suck, I think not paying them sucks far worse! GOOD LUCK!!!
I have a horror story that will make Stamford's parking authority look like Cub Scouts. It takes place, not surprisingly, in NYC, the deepest circle of parking ticket hell, where the signs demarcating when and where you can legally park are inscrutable except to a triple-Ph.D. in lingustics, astrophysics and string theory calculus. I parked on West 45th Street and browsed Barnes & Noble while waiting for my wife to leave her office. I failed to notice the "commercial vehicles only" sign next to the "No parking from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on alternate Tuesdays while Mercury is ascending and only if your name is a palindrome" sign. I come back a few hours later to a wonderful yellow boot and a big honkin' fine. Bad, right? It gets worse. You can't just call them, pay the fine (via credit card) and wait for someone to remove the boot. Noooo. You have to go to the tow pound. On West 12th Avenue. NEAR THE INTREPID. In other words, the far extremities of Manhattan. Being so remote, no yellow cab will take you there, since they have zero chance of finding a return fare. So we had to flag down a black car. Actually, we had to flag down a few, because the first one wouldn't take us out to Timbuktu. Once we found a willing driver (read: paid him FORTY BUCKS), he took us there. I paid upwards of $300 for the ticket and the boot removal. But guess what? We then have to get back to the car! Fortunately, there was a taxi stand a block from the tow pound (near the cruise terminals, I think). We still managed to make it to her work party on time. But still out $300+. The moral of the story: If you can at all avoid parking in NYC, DO IT, because they will find a way to f*** you. Rant over. Thanks for listening.
The real story is $15 for a parking ticket in Stamford? Really? That is super cheap.
http://vrod62.blogspot.com/ 14th photo from the bottom taken on Summer Street, Stamford. (Sorry, but if you count from the top down, it is alot more than 14.
This is probably a really random comment much too late, but you've inspired me to share my woes over Stamford parking.
Two years ago, during my senior year at Westhill High School, there was major construction on a new freshman building, severely limiting the availability of parking on campus. For those not lucky enough to win a senior parking spot, parking was a daily contest on drum hill ln or roxbury rd. That year I ended up with two parking tickets totaling $70; one for having my car halfway beyond the no parking sign, and another for halfway past an orange cone which apparently signified the location of a new no parking sign near the fire department. Oftentimes, I'd spend an hour trying to look for a spot, so despite having arrived at school far before the start of first period, I might have missed it altogether by the time I finally got to park and then trek fifteen minutes all the way uphill to school. I understand that parking tickets are a way for the local government to earn revenue for enforcing the law, but in the end I felt as if I was being punished for trying to go to school and get an education. It also burned me that the kids who got to school two hours late would end up being able to park at the spots near campus that had just been vacated by the skippers. Now in college, parking is even more strictly enforced and fined, but at least its on private property and I'm aware of the costs associated with having a car on campus...
Anyways, thanks for listening to me rant about my albeit now irrelevant parking troubles. You have a great blog!
I got a ticket for $15 as well, because I parked by the library for 2 minutes to drop off some books. I worte a letter explaining and asking them to forgive it, I didnt even have coins when I parked to put in the meter. They reply back with additional penalties. I write back asking them to please read or acknowledge my letter, and they reply back with even more additional penalties, so I called them, and they said that I had to request a formal hearing. I go to the hearing, take time off work and everything, spend 3 hours in a conference room and explain what had happened, they said, ok, you can go, and now I received a letter saying that I have to pay everything...ticket and all penalties assessed so far. It is really unfair, they should at least get rid of the penalties....
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