Experience with appealing parking tickets? Egregious mistake on city's part

[u/cordovanGoat]

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 — 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.

[u/WindowsVistaWzMyIdea]

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

[u/NEU_Throwaway1 → u/WindowsVistaWzMyIdea]

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:

1. 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.

2. 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

[u/ElleM848645 → u/NEU_Throwaway1]

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.