ticket infestation

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

Driving home this morning, I noticed a whole line of cars with traffic violation tickets along Kidder Ave and on the sidestreets, between Davis and Ball Square. I must have counted twenty ticketed cars in the space of a few blocks. It looked like the morning of a street-cleaning day! Although not every car was ticketed, it seemed as if the majority were. I was almost nervous to park my car in the usual spot!

What's going on? Were they out ticketing people for the 48-hour rule this morning in huge numbers (post-snow storm)? Is this normal on a Thursday morning, and I'm just now noticing it?

Comments

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

were the cars still snowed in, or did they still have snow covering their permits?

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

Some were clearly snowed in, but quite a few were not. I didn't think to look and see if the permits were covered.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

likely it's both 48 hour enforcement (which is easy to see when car is snowed in) combined with parking without a permit - if they can't see your permit, they'll ticket you.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

I've seen a lot of people who have not replaced their Zone 2 stickers (the ticketing barrage they usually do at the start of the month must have been postponed due to the storm). Ignore if the region in question extends outside of Zone 2 (but I believe that Ball Square may be in that zone).

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this was definitely Zone 2.

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

I got a 48 hour ticket and I'd used my car within that 48 hours. I just happened to park in the spot just in front of the one I'd used before. I intend to fight this one, since I didn't do anything wrong!

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

How do you prove that you moved the car? I've often wondered what I would do if this happened to me: it seems like an easy mistake for a ticketer (or cranky neighbor who hates it when people park in "their spot") to make.

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

I shouldn't *have* to prove that I did. They should have to prove that I *didn't*. Our entire legal system is based on innocent until proven guilty, except for parking and traffic tickets where it's just assumed you're guilty, period. As I said, I intend to fight this.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I've heard people complain about this before. They've fought the ticket with varying degrees of success/failure.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

while i agree to some extent, i'm still just curious how you intend to prove that you moved it.

like maybe when you were out you bought something and still have the receipt with a time stamp on it?

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, is there some way of proving that you were someplace else, that necessitates a need for a car?

also, since you have the ticket, YOU have to prove you're innocent. If you do nothing, you Assume Guilt. Remember, the kindly officer who ticketed your car had a Good Reason (tm) to, therefore you have to prove that they were wrong.

Good luck.

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

You know what that is? It's unconstitutional. It's actively illegal to assume guilt, and if it means taking this to court that's what I'll do.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

This happened to me last year. I sent them time stamped receipts for MULTIPLE non-t accessible shopping trips I had made during the time. I got no response at all until I called Jack Connolly and requested his help as my insurance guy and alderperson extraordinaire. He cleared that up for me right away by making a few calls. Sadly, that's my best recommendation.

[dashford.livejournal.com]

This has been covered here before, with even Tom Champion weighing in. It's not that you were ticketed because you happened to park in the same spot you were in originally (they don't monitor who is parked where at a given time).

The intention is to get parking spaces back in circulation within 48 hours after a snow emergency has been lifted. They do that by ticketing the cars that "obviously" haven't been moved since the storm. If you did move your car, then they screwed up and you *should* fight it. But don't get the wrong idea and think it's because you re-used the same spot.

As others have pointed out, your parking sticker also had to be visible (even if you did move your car). That'll get you a ticket as well.

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

It was pretty clear that both my car and the one adjacent to me had moved into the spots AFTER the snow. In fact, I had to shovel out my car that day. My parking sticker was clearly visible. If they screwed up, then fine, I'll fight it. I think there was more intent than "oops", but that doesn't change what I'm going to do.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Since no one has mentioned it, is it possible that it's a one-time deal for the expected traffic fiasco that is the reported U2 concert at the Somerville Theater?

[ron_newman]

I don't see what a ticket today has to do with an event supposedly happening on 3/11.

[solarpanda.livejournal.com]

Most cars in that area have a Zone 2 parking permit, meaning that they've been ticketed if they haven't renewed their permit.

The biggest load of crap is that they'll just keep ticketing; I've seen at least 3 tickets stacked on car in the span of 12 hours for the non-renewal violation.

48 hours

[jenej.livejournal.com]

I got one last night on Summer St. that I didn't notice until this morning. Mine was for a 48 hours violation, and in the comments section it said "3/1 snow bird." I assume that means they've been noting the cars that haven't moved since the storm? I cleared off my car and sticker and shoveled out after the snow, but hadn't moved the car, so fair is fair, I suppose. This is the first time I've gotten a ticket for 48hrs and I commonly don't move my car for days in a row, so I think they were just keeping an eye on cars after the storm. I feel un-environmental starting my car just to move it a few spaces, but now I'll try to remember to do that after snow.

[bryelejr.livejournal.com]

I got ticketed this morning around 9:30 a.m. for the 48-hour rule, as did two others on my street that I noticed (well, they got ticketed. I assume it was for the same violation, but who knows). And yeah, I had the little "snow halo" around my car so it was pretty obvious.

Yep, it's $20, and yep, my fault. I'll pay it, and I'll remember to move it the next time.

[cold-type.livejournal.com]

I also got a citation for the 48-hour rule, even though I shoveled out my car.

Re: 48 hours

[lizzyclean.livejournal.com]

I've lived on the same street for 4 years and pretty much ignored the 48 hour rule until this year when I finally got a ticket. Since I've seen half of the cars on my street with tickets I assume they are really enforcing it this year - and in all neighborhoods. I have never seen so many tickets on so many cars in my travels around Somerville!
I got my 48-hour-rule ticket during the last snow emergency and it was a measly 2 hours past the 48 hour mark. I would have been impressed if I wasn't so annoyed.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

This week when driving around the city the orange envelopes of tickets are everywhere. The city has, in the last few years, decided they can make up any revenue shortfall by ticketing, ticketing, ticketing. A few months ago my daughter got a ticket for a parking violation on a street where she never parked at all. She appealed it by mail and thought it had been forgiven, but guess what? When we went to renew the parking permit there it was, along with added fines attached. They are ticketing VERY aggressively, so beware........
And appeals, which used to end in forgiven tickets 9 times out of 10 is pretty much kaput. You could prove you were in Hong Kong and I don't think they'd forgive the ticket today.

[studeronomy.livejournal.com]

So let's say, because I live in an urban area and don't have the luxury of a driveway, I need to leave town for 72 hours: for a conference or a vacation or whatever. Maybe I'm in the hospital for an emergency, and can't get back to my car 49 hours. Do I have to pay to have my car towed and stored somewhere? Is this just a fact of life?

I'm okay with facts of life...and I wouldn't fault the city of Somerville for not advertising their 48 hour policy (they do). But isn't 48 hours a little unreasonable? I feel like other, comparable American cities (to say nothing of other, comparable American suburbs, which is what Somerville is) enforce less stringent limitations on parking. I can understand not allowing a car to occupy an urban space for a week, or even five days...but two days? Why am I wrong about this?

Again, I know there's nothing we can do about this and I'm not trying to start a bitch-fest. I'm just curious if there's a logic behind this I'm missing (a logic that wouldn't apply to cities with fewer parking limitations).

[bryelejr.livejournal.com]

The short answer is if it snows, it's very easy to enforce because they can tell if a car has been there before the snowstorm by the way the snow looks around it. One poster here said they got a ticket even though they shoveled out, so it's possible to get one otherwise, but the snow is really the easiest way for them to tell.

But they don't do it much if the snow isn't acting as a dead giveaway for cars, I've found. Case in point: a guy I know went away for business last week and came back this week, but hasn't had to use his car yet so it's been in the same spot for a week on Monday. He wasn't ticket until Thursday though, and they wrote his car had been in the same spot since 3/1.

They really check sporadically, but if the snow is going to make it easy for them, they're going to ticket. The only other way is that if your neighbors call in the car to 311, someone will make a special effort to come out, observe your car, and then check 48 hours later. So unless you have neighbors calling in as soon as you park, it's really -- if it doesn't snow -- kind of a 96-hour rule? Neighbors may wait 48 hours, call, then traffic and parking waits 48 hours to ticket. I think, but posters, feel free to flame away if I'm wrong.

[dashford.livejournal.com]

This comes up all the time -- you're not starting any bitch-fest or anything. If you're away for more than 48 hours and leave your car on the street then you run the risk of getting ticketed. This is especially true during winter with snow emergencies. Again, they're trying to free up parking areas for everyone to use. You may disagree with the reasonableness of the timing, but there's their logic.

They obviously feel that two days of non-stormy weather is a reasonable amount of time for people to move their cars, and I think for most people it is. But if you have extenuating circumstances then (I'm guessing) they feel it's up to you to make alternate arrangements.

What to do? Negotiate with a neighbor to use their driveway. Park in a friend's driveway. Park at the airport if you're flying -- yes, I know it costs a bundle (*believe* me, I know) but that's how it is.

Contact your alderman if this is a major issue for you. Maybe the city could be persuaded to offer a temporary "no-move" permit for a nominal fee, which you could purchase as "insurance" before leaving on a trip. (Though I don't know how you'd ensure that it would be visible after a storm.)

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

In the past, the 48-hour rule was NEVER enforced, unless there was a complaint. For instance, someone leaves their car in front of your house for 2 weeks. I think this rule was really meant to locate stolen or abandoned cars, more than it was to punish people without driveways. As the city has become more crowded with cars, this has become more of an issue. Also, many people commute to work by the T, so don't use their car every day. About 10 years ago, they realized they could make a ton of money by enforcing it after snowstorms, thus began full enforcement. Not only is that stupid on its' face, it's even more stupid, because when there's a foot of snow clogging the streets they usually tell you not to use your car!!! Call your Alderman. If nothing else the 48 hours should be increased to something more reasonable. Don't be surprised, though, if it doesn't happen.....a huge revenue stream would dry up instantly!!