Wrong direction?

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Sorry to bring up everyone's favorite topic around here... but I got cited for parking in the wrong direction today. I have never even heard of this. I was not on a one way street, and pulling in and out of the spot didn't seem any more dangerous than making a left/right turn. But yes, I was parked on the left side of the street, opposite from most cars. Do I have any chance in contesting this? And, slightly relevant, I read on the ticket that it could be adjudicated (appealed) online. Anyone done this?

Comments

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Do you have any sources on that information? I remember parking this way in the past and have never gotten a ticket until now. I wonder if I could plead my case -- I used to be able to do it and now I can't. I won't do it again but please don't make me pay $30 based on confusing rules. It's times like this when I think Somerville should have a warning ticket for a first-time offense. But of course that would mean less $$.

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Sources for "that information" meaning wrong direction parking "used to be allowed in Somerville"

[ron_newman]

The change was quite a few years ago, not recently. Dorothy Kelly Gay was the mayor then, not Joe Curtatone.

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I thought maybe there would be a grace period after the rule change. Because I hadn't been ticketed before (within the past few months) I thought maybe the rule change was recent (along with many other recent parking rules!)

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I don't think you can use the defense "I broke the law before and noone ticketed me, therefore I should always be able to break the law". The police can't be everywhere at all times. If you haven't gotten a ticket until now, you've been lucky.

Look at it this way. If you shoplift and don't get caught, should you thereafter always be able to openly shoplift? If you commit murder and aren't caught, should you thereafter always be able to openly kill people? If you speed on a highway, should you thereafter always be able to openly drive at whatever speed you choose?

[ron_newman]

Well, those things are a bit different, since parking on the left side of a small dead-end street doesn't hurt anyone.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yes, but the principle still applies; and as they say, ignorance of the law is no excuse.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Hurting anyone has nothing to do with it -- for right now, he parked the wrong way and got a ticket for it. Whether or not you think the law is valid doesn't change the law itself (there's a different process for that).

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying I should be allowed to do it because I have done it in the past. I am saying that because a) I didn't know it was illegal and b) I have done it before and never been ticketed, I was surprised to find out it was illegal. Even on the Somerville government website I cannot find a description of this violation other than "wrong direction $30." I would have assumed this had something to do with a one-way street. And the police didn't do anything, the traffic officer did. Next time I get a $30 ticket for murdering someone, I won't contest it -- happy?

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I would have assumed

And we all know what assuming does!

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I have to remember not to get on your bad side! :)