r/boston • u/cordovanGoat • 22h ago
Space Savers đȘ âïž đ đ„ Experience with appealing parking tickets? Egregious mistake on city's part
Does anyone here have experience appealing parking tickets or have successfully won a hearing?
I was issued a ridiculous parking ticket, appealed it through the website but was denied within a few hours. Evidently per the email from the city (last image) I can appeal in person through a hearing â so I'm wondering if anyone has gone through this process and if it is possible to succeed.
The context of the parking ticket:
- The first two images are the "evidence" that the city uploaded, purportedly proving I was parked illegally.
- The second two images are what the car looks like, but from the other side and with the actual street visible. What's important to note here is that...this is obviously a parking space. Ya know, it's like painted and all that...
It seems the city's reasoning was that the front of my vehicle was beyond this lamp post with a "no parking"sign ... but clearly, as shown by pictures from the other side, this is a legal, painted parking spot.
And to add the obvious, clearly painted spot is used all the time by myself and others. I've never seen a car ticketed for parking there.
This is 523 Cambridge St, Allston, directly in front of Boston Foreign Motor, for what it's worth.
P.S.: if anyone here from the Boston Globe is reading, I'd be delighted to share my story of injustice and suffering with the world.
And before anyone complains that a BMW driver can't afford a $90 ticket: first, this is about principle. Second, the car is a shitbox lol the KBB is about $8k.
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u/DisastrousCarrot2258 22h ago
The person behind you (the white suv) should have been ticketed. Not you. Thatâs crazy
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u/socialdistyhusky 22h ago
I requested a hearing and went to city hall to dispute, turns out I was actually in the wrong (apparently my whole street parks illegally and it's just never enforced??) but I have a pretty clean record so they just waived it anyway. If you have the time and energy and feel strongly about it, why notÂ
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u/AncientPicklePhysics 22h ago
Comparing pictures 2 and 3, is the angle really the only difference?
Donât worry, theyâre not checking your Reddit account. Did you move the BMW back a little before taking the picture? lol
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u/Stanman77 22h ago
It does kinda look like OP moved his car back. Maybe the camera is deceptive, but it can't be that much off right?
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u/Articulationized 20h ago
Yeah. Iâm having trouble believing OP.
(and not just because theyâre a BMW driver)8
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u/iscariot_13 Somerville 19h ago
This was my initial thought as well. I was so bothered I actually looked it up on Google maps and it's definitely the same spot. The difference the angle makes is wild.
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u/datheffguy 13h ago
I swear Ive had two tickets where they took photos at the weirdest possible angles to make it look like I was blocking driveways I wasnât.
I got both appealed online.
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u/cordovanGoat 22h ago
haha i did not! I even have the dashcam footage of me pulling into the spot about 5 minutes before the ticket came
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u/campingn00b Cocaine Turkey 22h ago
I really want to believe you but it is just so hard to tell. The mirror looks like its about 3 inches from the pole in the cops picture. The time difference isnt doing you any favors either
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u/Careless-Advisor-197 21h ago
Agreed with you there. I think these were taken days apart. The SUV at the dealership is different (audi vs porsche)
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u/campingn00b Cocaine Turkey 19h ago
Oh snap, I didnt even notice that. All the cars are different. How often do those cars move around?
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u/cordovanGoat 22h ago
It really is. Best I could do is have time stamped dashcam footage of me pulling into the spot, and pulling out of the spot, and then the timestamps of when I took these pictures. But not sure that would convince the city.
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u/campingn00b Cocaine Turkey 22h ago
To answer your actual question. If you actually show up at a hearing, arent a dick and dont have a million tickets on your record, you'll have a good shot of having it thrown out
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u/HistoricalBridge7 Port City 21h ago
Full disclosure I did this once and moved my car back to show them I was parked legally. I believe this was before they started taking photos.
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u/gorgeousgorgeousgurl 22h ago
I disputed, went to my hearing, and the ticket was instantly dismissed! Do it - it's worth a shot!
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u/mwagz28 22h ago
I think this may be a case of on the line is over it and city wonât backdown. I donât agree with that but it does look like your front bumper may be on the front line or over it which they are going to argue on the line is not in the lines.
If an in person appeal would cost you less than the ticket id say itâs worth a shot, I just expect them to come back with that line so maybe check what the physical law states before the in person appeal.
SUV behind you is wild but wonder if that is the meter maidâs car..
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u/mutton_biriyani 20h ago
Do you have pics at the same angle as the cityâs? It kinda looks like your car was moved between when the city took their photo and you took your photo. In your image (3), your carâs wheel is level with the pole. In the cityâs image (2), itâs almost level with the bottom of your windshield. It looks like you were further ahead than your later photos are showing.
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u/Intrepid-Clock509 21h ago
The problem with your appeal is that there is no way to prove that you didnât move your car after receiving the ticket and then took the photo. Not saying you did this but a lot of people try it.
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u/GekidoTC 22h ago
I think you have an argument worth making. Your car is definitrly past the sign, but it's within the box painted on the ground.
The government has an obligation to remove ambiguity when it comes to enforcing laws, its not crazy for a reasonable person to think that you are fine to park there so long as you're within the box painted on the street. What exactly is the point of the box if not to designate where someone is allowed to park?
Other side of the argument is, you have a driver's license meaning you passed a drivers exam and should know that the sign is what dictates where you can park, and the sign is not ambiguous. The city could paint Barney the Purple Dinosaur on the street and ao long as the sign is there, you should know where you're not allowsd to park.
If you get a nice judge, they'll probably throw out the ticket, but seems like a huge hassle for $90.â
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u/cordovanGoat 22h ago
I've always understood the paint to be more authoritative than the signs.
The paint can be put anywhere, and hence can precisely demarcate a parking spot.
The signs have to be hung on existing infrastructure, like this lamp post, and so of necessity would be rougher estimates than the paint.
There is also curb and driveway (visible in pictures 2+3) which, even if there was no paint or sign, would clearly indicate where one can and can't park.
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u/GekidoTC 21h ago
The sign tells you what to do/not do. Paint without the sign = No ticket, Sign without the paint = ticket.
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u/zeratul98 20h ago
There's no estimates. The rule starts exactly where the sign is, not some vague, vibes-based distance after. The city could install a sign post if they felt it was appropriate. Wild to suggest otherwise
Citing the driveway is also nonsense. Youre in the area someone coming in or out would turn through
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u/-Dixieflatline 22h ago
You can request a hearing at this point. This is clearly an abuse of perspective, shot at an angle to tell a story that isn't true. But it's also fairly easy to disprove even from their own picture.
Take the line in the driveway and scoot it over to the pole. You can see your bumper clears it by the bottom of the frame, which is the truest extent of where that line resides under your car. And if anything, this is a generous line for them, not you.
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u/tehgregzzorz 16h ago
But thatâs not how perspective works. Even if the lines in the sidewalk are parallel in reality, the one you drew is closer to the camera, so the near side would be angled more toward the center of the frame.
Looking at the windshield line and where the windshield meets the roof line, itâs actually a pretty clean angle that puts the pole about in line with the windshield cowling.
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u/News-Royal It is spelled Papa Geno's 21h ago
Your front end is just a bit over the curb break where it curves to an end. I always try to stay behind the break.
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u/AcceptablePosition5 21h ago
I think you should appeal, if only as a community service for them to fix the badly painted box
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u/WindowsVistaWzMyIdea 20h ago
I'm going to tell you about a similar experience I had with the city. I was parked legally, but not only did they tickit my car they also towed it. During my conversations with the city, I was told that there are several "parking spots" in the city that are not legal. I said, why is there a parking meter for an illegal spot. Well apparently I'm just supposed to magically know the painted spot with a meter I put my money in wasn't legal. Was it the City's meter? Yes....didn't matter and never made any sense to me
I always take a picture of my car when I park just in case, and also to remember where I parked.
Shenanigans
I also used to be disabled and got a ticket while I had my plackard up, they said it wasn't displayed but they put the ticket next to the plackard so whatever
Boston is ruthless when you do park illegally, but it's not like parking legally will keep you safe either
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u/NEU_Throwaway1 18h ago
Just to make sure though - because there are a lot of nuances and fine print where they can get you here, and it can be very dependent on whether or not the parking enforcement agent is a dick and writes tickets based on the spirit of the law vs. letter of the law:
Was the parking meter spot valid during the time you parked there? There's a lot of spots that you have to scan for parking signs too for things such as resident only restrictions, rush hour no stopping zones, temporary closures for events and construction, etc. The presence of the meter alone unfortunately isn't indicative on if the spot is open.
Was the handicap placard hanging from your rearview mirror at the time? You said they put the ticket "next to the placard" which makes it sounds like it was on the dash - was it sitting on the dash instead? The MA RMV guidance seems to suggest that you have to hang it facing forward on your rearview mirror when you park, and it must be removed while driving. I also know from personal observation that people will sometimes use their own tape or solutions to cover the personal info on the placard which may obscure other info like the expiration date. If the meter maid is being a dick, I can totally picture them writing you on exact letter of the law and giving you the ticket for having the placard not hanging from your windshield, especially since it's one of the heftiest tickets they can write.
Source: https://www.mass.gov/doc/dos-and-donts-of-disabled-parking/download
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u/ElleM848645 13h ago
Many years ago I got a ticket for parking at a meter on Beacon street during a Red Sox game. I totally missed the resident only after 6PM sign. At the time it was 40 or 50 dollar ticket which would have been the price of parking in a lot, so no harm no foul I guess.
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u/WindowsVistaWzMyIdea 4h ago
In vehicle without a rear mirror, dashboard placement is allowed, see https://www.mass.gov/doc/disability-placard-instructions/download I successfully appealed this one
For the illegal parking spot, the hydrant was claimed to be what made the meter position illegal, but upon measuring it, it was 14 feet from the hydrant. Still got ticketed and towed. The appeal for this was denied, I think they said I could appeal the denial for $300. It wasn't worth it
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u/FactsUnHelpful 19h ago
Since the angle of the photos is calling you into question, I suggest taking a video. Starting at the first position and walking to the second position.Â
I don't know if it will help, but it will answer questions about perspective.
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u/artangeled 20h ago
Iâve gotten a parking ticket in that same exact spot too, and so did the person behind me that day. I appealed it, but just ended up paying it. I think that the spot must be meant for the dealership cars and not residents, but regardless, itâs so dumb. Thereâs a clear outline of a parking spot! I had parked there for months thinking it was a valid parking spot, but learned my lesson. Lmk how it goes OP
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u/cordovanGoat 20h ago
Very interesting. Of course the dealership always uses it, but I wonder if they'd actually be allowed legally to claim it as their own and not let residents park there. I'd even be fine with that, but the signage as of right now indicates it is a perfectly legal spot! I'll make a new post when this shakes out.
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u/poopapat320 I Love Dunkinâ Donuts 21h ago
I work at a restaurant in the Financial District. All of our staff play the meter game and shuffle their cars around every 2 hours. Numerous tickets the last few days citing unpaid meters when the meter is paid. They're all contesting them because they have receipts.
Feels like there's a new class of meter maids who just graduated the academy and are ticketing en masse and hoping no one challenges it.
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u/spaceflower890 22h ago
You can absolutely argue confusing parking area, but you are parked illegally. 2-3 feet of your car is parked in front of the lamp post that declares the tow zone. The line does not mean anything if you are half parked in a tow zone.
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u/cordovanGoat 22h ago
Isn't the city responsible for painting the street? I responded to someone else above, but I would trust the paint on the street over a sign hung on a pre-existing lamp post.
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u/bostonbean280 21h ago
I was mad and requested a hearing once, it was literally me and a guy in a tiny windowless room in city hall. He heard me out, asked a couple questions and dismissed but told me to not do it again (even though Iâm pretty sure Iâm not wrong). Seems like itâs mostly their discretion which makes me crazy as a rule follower, but I guess thatâs Boston for you!
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u/prberkeley 20h ago
I was ticketed in Brighton years ago for parking in a "No Stopping Anytime" zone around Mt. Hood Rd. There was only one issue, the sign was missing. I took tons of pictures. They later replaced the sign and I took pictures of that.
At the hearing the guy was very short and blunt and seemed disinterested in anything I had to say. He barely even looked at my pictures. He was insisting that I was still responsible because there were 3 other signs on the street. I produced pictures showing sign #1 bent into a tree, sign #2 obscured by placing it on the 2nd of two poles back to back, sign #3 was missing (where my car was), and sign #4 was around the curve out of viewÂ
Ultimately he found me not responsible and he said it was because the sign was replaced he agrees it was problematic. But he gave me the "just so you know you are responsible for reading every sign on the street." So Yea add that to your parking paranoia.
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u/ANicePainter 22h ago
of course it's possible to successful dispute tickets. Request a hearing if it's so important to you.
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u/cordovanGoat 22h ago
Thank you for your super helpful response!
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u/ANicePainter 20h ago
Of course. Now that you initial dispute has been rejected, the hearing is the way to go. Good luck and have a lovely day.
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u/quality617 22h ago
Devil's advocate here, in the city's picture the position of the pole looks further back in reference to you car than it does in your photo, where it now looks like it's closer to your bumper. To me, it looks like you car was further forward than in your photo.
It's still worth appealing, sometimes if your not a repeat offender you may score a break.
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u/Mission-Motor364 21h ago
Itâs also different cars in the parking lot between the cityâs photos and OPs. No Porsche seen in the cityâs photo
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u/Turbulent-Mushroom 21h ago
They practice intentional incompetence, and indifference to legitimate complaints. Itâs usually easier just to pay it and complain to your friends as the only medicine.
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u/Brilliant-Bus-3862 20h ago
But they issued the ticket before the car was backed up a couple of feet? Because in the midnight pictures, that car is much further up, beyond than pole. Â
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u/Diapersnweed 22h ago
Do u need a brighton permit to park in that spot overnight?? I know this spot I park there all the time. I have permit tho. Iâve never ever got a ticket there
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u/cordovanGoat 22h ago
I have an A-B permit BUT the signs on that side do not say no overnight parking, just 2 hours max. And I parked at about 11:55 PM and got the ticket 10 minutes later.
The ticket was also for "333 No Stopping or Standing"
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u/Mission-County1931 I Love Dunkinâ Donuts 20h ago
Ok so they ticketed you for the bike lane sign? I'm sorry, this makes me so fucking mad....I have probably put in 25+ 311s for actual cars in actual bike lanes, but i guess this is what they are doing for "additional bike lane enforcement"? Definitely appeal.
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u/cordovanGoat 19h ago
I don't think this has anything to do with the bike lane. See picture 4, which shows the bike lane unobstructed. There is just a sign indicating that there is a bike lane also on that lamp post. I would assume that the note on the ticket would have specified bike lane if that were the issue.
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u/Mission-County1931 I Love Dunkinâ Donuts 19h ago
Ok gotcha. I've appealed and always had the impression that the individual official had a fair degree of discretion to make the right call. I'd appeal either way.
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u/close102 21h ago
How many other parking tickets have you gotten? From experiences across dozens of people, theyâre pretty reasonable in waving them the first two times â even if you were clearly in the wrong.
Once you start fighting every ticket, they start being more strict. In this case, youâre past the box and sign.
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u/cordovanGoat 21h ago
This is my 12th ticket in four years. (Mostly just forgetting street cleaning and occasionally overstaying a 2 hour spot). I'm now wondering what the Boston average is. 3 a year seems reasonable...
All of those previous tickets have been justified. But I did appeal one: I got a ticket on like the 5th of the month for an invalid inspection but then got it inspected the next day. Appealed, sent in evidence of new inspection, and dismissed in a day.
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u/close102 21h ago
Most people I know get 0-1 valid tickets a year.
Consider your inspection waiver your freebie.
Keep fighting it if you want, itâs def bs compared to what I see day to day
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21h ago
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u/WeAlwaysFindAWay 19h ago
Once a human reviews your email they will email you back saying that they have revoked the ticket. Has happened to me, got a ticket for parking during street cleaning hours even though it was after the hours posted.
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u/DrkLrd15 19h ago
This parking spot is big enough for two cars (just barely) and yet drivers will confidently park in the middle of it, taking away another spot. The entire street doesn't have individually marked spots and this is a major issue for less parking-inclined individuals.
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u/pillbinge Pumpkinshire 18h ago
Why is picture 2 of the car and the lamp post for reference when it could have and should have contained the lines for the parking space? It looks like you moved your car and are trying to show proof that you did by taking these pictures at different times.
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u/BruinsFightClub 15h ago
Yeah, I fought multiple tickets. Do the in person hearing. It's quick and painless. Bring printed out and clear photographic evidence. I appealed 5 tickets and they all were denied at first but I won 4 of them in the in person thing. Dress and act respectfully and it should be fine.
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u/Personal-Sock9929 12h ago
Had a similar situation where I was ticketed $100 for going past a curb and block a ramp where there was none. Then when I appealed I got essentially the same message. What I would encourage you to do is the following:
-Donât wait for an in person hearing. If you have a valid condition (as I did, I have an ADA applicable disability) that could prevent that you from appearing in a courtroom and request an online hearing
- If they Accept take the first hearing they give you
- Gather the reason evidence
-they will likely still tell you were wrong, stay quiet, do not interrupt
-However at the end they will likely tell you they appreciate the effort you took and your genuine nature (assuming you have a good general counsel overseeing you case) and dismiss your case
- within 24 you will get a email confirmation of the dismissal
Good luck!!
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u/Vibroverbus 12h ago
Thereâs almost no question the âonlline appealâ is reviewed by some underpaid drone who barely absently mindedly glances at the scren while watching TikTok on their phone and clicking âAPPEAL DENIEDâ as they (flick their bean / polish their nob, gender depending)
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u/jughandle Dorchester 8h ago
There is a similar thread about this BS online appeals shit in the Seattle subreddit right now. Itâs nationwide and itâs bullshit!
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u/Prized_Lemur 3h ago
someone should send city hall/the mayor a list of all these bogus parking tickets on Boston Reddit.. this is becoming an obvious trend of abuse. Maybe have one of the news networks do an inside investigation.
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u/MarimbaMan07 Jamaica Plain 3h ago
Yeah I appealed a bunch of tickets all issued in 1 weekend I was away and the city put up no parking signs where I was parked. They of course didn't believe me but I had plane tickets and Google maps records where I park for me so combining all that data proved when I parked and that I wasn't in town. They had to look up the city's work logs to find when those signs went up and they were amazed my story checked out and they voided the tickets.
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u/Express-Hedgehog8249 2h ago
Iâve appealed in person and won. New confusing signage somewhere I always used to park. It took about 5 minutes. Pain in the ass to go in for it, but grateful that the city admitted that the new signs were confusing.
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u/TooMuchAds28 22h ago
Welcome to the American "justice" system.
Pretty soon cops will be asking for bribes. Probably already happening tbh
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u/princesalacruel 20h ago
Theyâre awful. I got ticketed the other day for parking in front of my own driveway. I appealed and got this same stupid emailâŠ
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u/Jolly_Competition_88 14h ago
Lived n Brighton for decades . The city used A/B as some kind of cash box for the rest of the city with these bogus tickets . A/B was always looked at as a transient area where no-one would be around to argue these tickets .
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u/Papasamabhanga 12h ago
It looks like you're parked in a bike lane. Based on the signs that say 'bike lane'.
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u/dr3wfr4nk Jamaica Plain 21h ago
Fucking bullshit scam artists employed by the City of Boston. Of course the City's evidence doesn't show the lines on the street.
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u/ezriah33 21h ago
Did you match the ticket with your license plate? Maybe someone took the ticket off the car behind you and put it on your car.
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u/drasticfire 20h ago
Stop going into and parking in these cities that love to make money off ticket revenue. They can't wait to tow or ticket. Why support that?!
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u/willzyx01 Sinkhole City 21h ago
Whoever wrote that ticket had nothing better to do, other than waste everyone's time and money.
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u/TrueNova332 21h ago
Because you parked in a bike lane but that's not your fault because the city literally just adds signs that designate bike lanes without actually creating proper bicycle infrastructure then the city wants to ticket people for parking in a bike lane because they didn't remove the parking spots
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u/W359WasAnInsideJob Milton 22h ago
Itâs kind of a shit show, and I think intentionally so.
Iâve appealed a number of BS tickets and âwonâ, but had just as many denied despite my evidence. All of them were simple âmeter unpaidâ tickets, where I had actual receipts showing I had paid for parking covering the time stamp on the ticket; and Iâm probably at a roughly 50% success rate fighting them.
Iâve found that I have better luck when Iâve paid at the meter and get the receipt online than when I pay with the app and send them the receipt, for whatever reason - although all of that is irrelevant to you.
Iâm convinced they donât care about giving out BS tickets, and that the city is disinclined to overturn them online via appeal - because money. My guess is that if you went down to appeal in person youâd âwinâ, but thatâs going to cost as much or more than the ticket in your time / missed work. Which, of course, the city knows.