LAX parking ticket: contest or pay?
April 10, 2017 10:33 AM Subscribe
On Friday night my SO (N) and I got a red zone parking ticket at LAX. It sounds like a doozy, and I'm debating whether to contest or just pay up. This is our first citation in LA, and I have questions. (YANAL, YANML) Snowflakes inside.
What happened: N and I were taking two friends to the airport on Friday night. Just as we entered the LAX perimeter traffic, I developed a sudden and urgent need to pee. First I thought, it's fine, we can hit a Starbucks on the way home. But Google Maps said the nearest ones were all closed, and as the crawl went on it became clear my bladder wasn't going to make it out of the airport anyway. I came up with an insane, stupid plan for N to drop me off with our friends on the upper level and then circle around and pick me back up on the lower level. I was irrationally married to this plan by the time we gained the terminal, and N, probably seeing the urgency on my face, didn't argue. (It's clear in retrospect that parking would have been the answer, but this literally never occurred to me. Is Bladder Derangement Syndrome a thing?)
I used the restroom and then headed downstairs. After a few minutes I saw the car drive past on the outside road (not the inside one that runs against the arrival area. I ran forward to catch up, in case there was a pull-in to the inside road further up. N obviously hadn't seen me, so I was surprised when he pulled over - yes, in a red zone. N seemed surprised when I jumped into the car. Right after I sat down, a dude in a yellow vest walked up, practically grinning with glee, and said, "What color is that curb? Huh? Huh? What color is that curb?" N answered, "Red," and started to say something else, but the officer(?) cut him off. "That's the first question on the test. You got good taste, though. For a $350 ticket you got good taste." N apologized, and said he would take the ticket, because now he really wanted to GTFO of LAX.
Why he pulled over: N had tried to pull in to the white zone side of Arrivals, but another car cut him off and blocked the entrance, and he had no choice but to keep going on the red side. He was driving slowly, looking for another way in, when the dude in the yellow vest started flicking his flashlight at N. He thought the officer was signalling for him to pull over, so he did. He'd been waiting for the officer to come by and explain why he'd flagged him down when I got into the car.
Questions:
1a. The officer took a picture of the license plate but didn't give us anything. I assume the ticket will be snail-mailed to us?
1b. About how long does delivery usually take?
1c. What's the payment window like? 7 days? 14? 30? Is there a chance the ticket will accrue late fees before we receive it?
2. $350 seems really high. Based on the "test" comment, N thinks the officer might have assumed he was driving for a ride-sharing service. (Neither of us does.) Is this fine so high because he was fined as a commercial, rather than private, driver? Or is this just the going rate for an LAX parking ticket?
3. The officer didn't ask to see N's license or any car documentation, so this is just a parking ticket, right? It won't impact my insurance rates or accrue points on my license (the registration's in my name)?
4a. N wants to pay the fine and be done with it. Given the amount (which we can afford, but still) and the reason he pulled over my impulse is to contest the ticket. Obviously it would be N's word against the officer's; what are our chances? Should we even bother?
4b. How would we contest the ticket? Can we write a letter, or would we have to appear for a hearing?
4c. Based on my Googling, it sounds like if we do contest we'll have to pay the fine up front anyway to prevent late fees and interest from accruing. Is prompt payment an admission of guilt? If so, is there a way to pay under protest?
4d. Should I bother talking to a lawyer, or would that cost more than the ticket?
4e. If I should consult a lawyer, can you recommend one?
5. What did he mean by "good taste?"
Thank you for even reading all that. I would very much appreciate any and all insight you can offer, especially if you've had a similar experience. YANAL, YANML. Please be gentle. This is the first car I've owned, the last time I got a parking ticket was in my tiny hometown over a decade ago, and I'm swimming in anxiety and depression for reasons completely unrelated to this damn ticket.
Yes, my impulse to fight this correlates to feeling directly responsible for it. N's not a finger-pointer, though, and he's declined my offer to pay half or all of the fine.
Everybody went before we left the house. Next time we'll just park.
What happened: N and I were taking two friends to the airport on Friday night. Just as we entered the LAX perimeter traffic, I developed a sudden and urgent need to pee. First I thought, it's fine, we can hit a Starbucks on the way home. But Google Maps said the nearest ones were all closed, and as the crawl went on it became clear my bladder wasn't going to make it out of the airport anyway. I came up with an insane, stupid plan for N to drop me off with our friends on the upper level and then circle around and pick me back up on the lower level. I was irrationally married to this plan by the time we gained the terminal, and N, probably seeing the urgency on my face, didn't argue. (It's clear in retrospect that parking would have been the answer, but this literally never occurred to me. Is Bladder Derangement Syndrome a thing?)
I used the restroom and then headed downstairs. After a few minutes I saw the car drive past on the outside road (not the inside one that runs against the arrival area. I ran forward to catch up, in case there was a pull-in to the inside road further up. N obviously hadn't seen me, so I was surprised when he pulled over - yes, in a red zone. N seemed surprised when I jumped into the car. Right after I sat down, a dude in a yellow vest walked up, practically grinning with glee, and said, "What color is that curb? Huh? Huh? What color is that curb?" N answered, "Red," and started to say something else, but the officer(?) cut him off. "That's the first question on the test. You got good taste, though. For a $350 ticket you got good taste." N apologized, and said he would take the ticket, because now he really wanted to GTFO of LAX.
Why he pulled over: N had tried to pull in to the white zone side of Arrivals, but another car cut him off and blocked the entrance, and he had no choice but to keep going on the red side. He was driving slowly, looking for another way in, when the dude in the yellow vest started flicking his flashlight at N. He thought the officer was signalling for him to pull over, so he did. He'd been waiting for the officer to come by and explain why he'd flagged him down when I got into the car.
Questions:
1a. The officer took a picture of the license plate but didn't give us anything. I assume the ticket will be snail-mailed to us?
1b. About how long does delivery usually take?
1c. What's the payment window like? 7 days? 14? 30? Is there a chance the ticket will accrue late fees before we receive it?
2. $350 seems really high. Based on the "test" comment, N thinks the officer might have assumed he was driving for a ride-sharing service. (Neither of us does.) Is this fine so high because he was fined as a commercial, rather than private, driver? Or is this just the going rate for an LAX parking ticket?
3. The officer didn't ask to see N's license or any car documentation, so this is just a parking ticket, right? It won't impact my insurance rates or accrue points on my license (the registration's in my name)?
4a. N wants to pay the fine and be done with it. Given the amount (which we can afford, but still) and the reason he pulled over my impulse is to contest the ticket. Obviously it would be N's word against the officer's; what are our chances? Should we even bother?
4b. How would we contest the ticket? Can we write a letter, or would we have to appear for a hearing?
4c. Based on my Googling, it sounds like if we do contest we'll have to pay the fine up front anyway to prevent late fees and interest from accruing. Is prompt payment an admission of guilt? If so, is there a way to pay under protest?
4d. Should I bother talking to a lawyer, or would that cost more than the ticket?
4e. If I should consult a lawyer, can you recommend one?
5. What did he mean by "good taste?"
Thank you for even reading all that. I would very much appreciate any and all insight you can offer, especially if you've had a similar experience. YANAL, YANML. Please be gentle. This is the first car I've owned, the last time I got a parking ticket was in my tiny hometown over a decade ago, and I'm swimming in anxiety and depression for reasons completely unrelated to this damn ticket.
Yes, my impulse to fight this correlates to feeling directly responsible for it. N's not a finger-pointer, though, and he's declined my offer to pay half or all of the fine.
Everybody went before we left the house. Next time we'll just park.
(We used to live near LAX)
It will possibly cost you more to contest the ticket, if you receive one, than it will to pay it. You won't know what kind of citation you've been given, or what impacts it will have, until you receive one.
But if you didn't get any paperwork handed to you on site, though, I'm not so sure you'll get a ticket. You mention the yellow jacket, so this may have been a Traffic Control Unit officer whose main interest is keeping traffic moving rather than issuing citations. It's LAX, and confusion abounds, and it sounds like this enforcement officer might have chosen to humiliate and shame you instead of taking the time to further slow down traffic in the loop by having you sit idle while he wrote a ticket.
I got a ticket in the LAX loop once, for a burned out headlight, and a police officer on a motorcycle pulled me over, wrote me a ticket, had me sign it, and left me with a copy. For what it's worth, she was a jerk for no reason, too.
I don't think the officer in your situation was making reference to a commercial driving service assumption, I think he was being a frustrated and impolite person who has to spend hours directing LAX traffic (which... ugh, I can't imagine, what a soul-sucking place).
If you want to be proactive, you can call the LAX police department's Office of Operations and ask what's going on.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:50 AM on April 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
It will possibly cost you more to contest the ticket, if you receive one, than it will to pay it. You won't know what kind of citation you've been given, or what impacts it will have, until you receive one.
But if you didn't get any paperwork handed to you on site, though, I'm not so sure you'll get a ticket. You mention the yellow jacket, so this may have been a Traffic Control Unit officer whose main interest is keeping traffic moving rather than issuing citations. It's LAX, and confusion abounds, and it sounds like this enforcement officer might have chosen to humiliate and shame you instead of taking the time to further slow down traffic in the loop by having you sit idle while he wrote a ticket.
I got a ticket in the LAX loop once, for a burned out headlight, and a police officer on a motorcycle pulled me over, wrote me a ticket, had me sign it, and left me with a copy. For what it's worth, she was a jerk for no reason, too.
I don't think the officer in your situation was making reference to a commercial driving service assumption, I think he was being a frustrated and impolite person who has to spend hours directing LAX traffic (which... ugh, I can't imagine, what a soul-sucking place).
If you want to be proactive, you can call the LAX police department's Office of Operations and ask what's going on.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:50 AM on April 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I don't think you are going to receive a ticket, either. I think you should breathe a sigh of relief this person was being a jerk to you to get you all worried. You can mail yourself an account of the exchange (yelliw jacket flagged driver with a flashlight so driver pulled over) and leave the envelope unopened when you get it in the mail. Presrnt it to a judge to open if/when you contest the ticket.
posted by jbenben at 12:16 PM on April 10, 2017
posted by jbenben at 12:16 PM on April 10, 2017
Best answer: 1a. Yes, you will probably get a ticket in the mail.
1b. Depends. Some ticketing agencies in my area sit on them for weeks before sending them out for processing. Others have them in the system immediately.
1c. Probably thirty days from the date the ticket is mailed. Most likely this will occur once the plate info is verified with the DMV. Per above, this process can be instantaneous or can take awhile, depending on how automated the particular agency's procedures are.
2. $350 for a red zone ticket at a major airport doesn't sound abnormal to me. Commercial/private shouldn't factor into it.
3. In California, parking tickets attach to vehicle registration only (meaning you will have to pay any tickets and their accrued late fees etc to renew your registration) and won't affect your insurance or driving record.
4a/b. Sure, contest it. You can probably do it in writing. Worst that happens is you still have to pay the ticket.
4c. This is not the way the municipalities I am most familiar with handle contested parking tickets, but none of those are LAX. When you get the ticket in the mail, it should have information (or at least a number you can call) about contesting procedures.
4d/e. You do not need a lawyer at this point. It is possible that if you contest the ticket and it is upheld, you would have an opportunity to appeal the ticket in superior court where legal representation might be appropriate (though not necessarily worth the expenditure, since the parking ticket should have no repercussions beyond the fine itself).
5. The guy was being a jerk.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:33 PM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
1b. Depends. Some ticketing agencies in my area sit on them for weeks before sending them out for processing. Others have them in the system immediately.
1c. Probably thirty days from the date the ticket is mailed. Most likely this will occur once the plate info is verified with the DMV. Per above, this process can be instantaneous or can take awhile, depending on how automated the particular agency's procedures are.
2. $350 for a red zone ticket at a major airport doesn't sound abnormal to me. Commercial/private shouldn't factor into it.
3. In California, parking tickets attach to vehicle registration only (meaning you will have to pay any tickets and their accrued late fees etc to renew your registration) and won't affect your insurance or driving record.
4a/b. Sure, contest it. You can probably do it in writing. Worst that happens is you still have to pay the ticket.
4c. This is not the way the municipalities I am most familiar with handle contested parking tickets, but none of those are LAX. When you get the ticket in the mail, it should have information (or at least a number you can call) about contesting procedures.
4d/e. You do not need a lawyer at this point. It is possible that if you contest the ticket and it is upheld, you would have an opportunity to appeal the ticket in superior court where legal representation might be appropriate (though not necessarily worth the expenditure, since the parking ticket should have no repercussions beyond the fine itself).
5. The guy was being a jerk.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:33 PM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I've heard that the fine for Ubering with no placard is $1,000 so it's not that.
posted by acidic at 1:39 PM on April 10, 2017
posted by acidic at 1:39 PM on April 10, 2017
Even if you decide to pay the ticket, in many places you have the option of including a note of "mitigating circumstances" for the judge to consider that could result in a refund of part/all of the fine. If this is an option, it will be explained with the ticket when (if) it comes in the mail.
posted by tacodave at 3:31 PM on April 10, 2017
posted by tacodave at 3:31 PM on April 10, 2017
If you are getting a ticket, it will come in the mail. You can pay it online.
I got my one and only speeding ticket in California. It came in the mail about a month later, and late fees weren't an issue. They did take my license information down, which is where the address came from, so if they didn't do that, you might be lucky, but it was a BC license plate so that could have been a factor. To the best of my knowledge, it did not effect my insurance or license in anyway, but again, Canadian license etc.
For context on the price, the police officer told me he would ticket me for the minimum amount (something like 5mph above the limit) and the fine was $285ish, I think. It was wayyyy more than I expected for the minimum fine, but on that scale, $350 doesn't look unusually high.
posted by raeka at 5:59 PM on April 10, 2017
I got my one and only speeding ticket in California. It came in the mail about a month later, and late fees weren't an issue. They did take my license information down, which is where the address came from, so if they didn't do that, you might be lucky, but it was a BC license plate so that could have been a factor. To the best of my knowledge, it did not effect my insurance or license in anyway, but again, Canadian license etc.
For context on the price, the police officer told me he would ticket me for the minimum amount (something like 5mph above the limit) and the fine was $285ish, I think. It was wayyyy more than I expected for the minimum fine, but on that scale, $350 doesn't look unusually high.
posted by raeka at 5:59 PM on April 10, 2017
Best answer: For what it's worth, I once got a red zone parking ticket (my bumper was hanging about 1-2 inches over a red bus stop curb if you squinted from the right angle) on a not-too-major street in the San Fernando Valley and it that was something like $285 almost 20 years ago. I sent a letter contesting it (this was pre-cameraphone days so I didn't really have much of a case to plead) and got a "LOL too bad so sad! Pay up chump!" letter in reply.
The "good taste" line sounds like the guy was just being a dick, like, "You went for the deluxe most expensive parking ticket, you've got good taste!"
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 6:09 PM on April 10, 2017
The "good taste" line sounds like the guy was just being a dick, like, "You went for the deluxe most expensive parking ticket, you've got good taste!"
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 6:09 PM on April 10, 2017
Can't help with CA ticket advice, but just wanted to commiserate and say that yes, Bladder Derangement Syndrome is definitely a thing.
posted by kate4914 at 8:50 PM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kate4914 at 8:50 PM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
He was driving slowly, looking for another way in, when the dude in the yellow vest started flicking his flashlight at N.
The officer did this because N was driving too slow and it was causing a hazard. He was signaling the driver to hurry up / move along.
I'm LA born and bred and have driven for a living for a long time and I can tell you unequivocally that driving at LAX is the most dangerous place to drive in LA. Stand on the median waiting for a shuttle bus sometime and watch the way people drive there, it's insane. Traffic officers deal with dangerous drivers within the LAX complex all day long, so that's why they're jerks. And to be fair, given what they witness all day long, they aren't wrong to feel grumpy towards people who are putting the safety of others at risk.
I don't know what the good taste comment was, but it's irrelevant, let it go.
I personally would attempt to fight the ticket but that's a judgement call as to how much your time is worth. You could try to argue the case about pulling over due to misunderstanding the flashing light and you just might get lucky with a sympathetic judge, but the bottom line is the ticket was issued for a valid reason. The officer was trying to mitigate a hazardous situation, and the driver created a more hazardous situation by stopping where he did.
posted by vignettist at 9:07 AM on April 11, 2017
The officer did this because N was driving too slow and it was causing a hazard. He was signaling the driver to hurry up / move along.
I'm LA born and bred and have driven for a living for a long time and I can tell you unequivocally that driving at LAX is the most dangerous place to drive in LA. Stand on the median waiting for a shuttle bus sometime and watch the way people drive there, it's insane. Traffic officers deal with dangerous drivers within the LAX complex all day long, so that's why they're jerks. And to be fair, given what they witness all day long, they aren't wrong to feel grumpy towards people who are putting the safety of others at risk.
I don't know what the good taste comment was, but it's irrelevant, let it go.
I personally would attempt to fight the ticket but that's a judgement call as to how much your time is worth. You could try to argue the case about pulling over due to misunderstanding the flashing light and you just might get lucky with a sympathetic judge, but the bottom line is the ticket was issued for a valid reason. The officer was trying to mitigate a hazardous situation, and the driver created a more hazardous situation by stopping where he did.
posted by vignettist at 9:07 AM on April 11, 2017
Response by poster: I just wanted to thank all of you for taking the time to answer so thoroughly and kindly. This probably sounds overblown for a parking ticket, but your answers are a huge help, practically and and for my mental state. Thank you!!!
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 3:57 PM on April 12, 2017
posted by Fish, fish, are you doing your duty? at 3:57 PM on April 12, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
I had to appear in traffic court downtown twice; once to say I wanted to contest, and then once for the actual hearing. Bottom line is that if you pursue contesting, eventually that very cop who gave you the ticket will be summoned to appear with you before a judge. Sometimes, apparently, the cop doesn't show, in which case you win.
My cop showed, but turned out to be an honest cop, who verified my version of events. So the judge dismissed the ticket. It doesn't sound like you would have exactly that sort of experience. But I highly recommend the NOLO book; I would not have had the nerve or the know-how to contest without it. Reading the relevant parts of it would help you decide if you want to go through with a challenge.
posted by bertran at 11:14 AM on April 10, 2017 [1 favorite]