How do I fight a parking ticket in Toronto?
November 22, 2011 6:17 AM Subscribe
Disputing a parking ticket in Toronto.
Yesterday afternoon, I was parked on Elizabeth St. in Toronto in the exact same spot as the small silver car as seen in this street view. I admit a small bit (25% at most) of my car's back end was in the no parking zone (same as the car in the streetview). I received a $60.00 ticket - Code No. 9 - Stopped Signed Highway During Prohibited (Time/Days).
I see this as a pretty debatable infraction. What options do I have to dispute it - and, how likely am I to beat it? I live over an hour from Toronto, so giving up a day to appear in court isn't terribly appealing to me. Am I screwed? Also, am I wrong to even think this infraction is questionable?
Yesterday afternoon, I was parked on Elizabeth St. in Toronto in the exact same spot as the small silver car as seen in this street view. I admit a small bit (25% at most) of my car's back end was in the no parking zone (same as the car in the streetview). I received a $60.00 ticket - Code No. 9 - Stopped Signed Highway During Prohibited (Time/Days).
I see this as a pretty debatable infraction. What options do I have to dispute it - and, how likely am I to beat it? I live over an hour from Toronto, so giving up a day to appear in court isn't terribly appealing to me. Am I screwed? Also, am I wrong to even think this infraction is questionable?
In Toronto, a ticket can be issued if one third of total length of the car is in the prohibited space. If it was less than that, you might do well in court if you had a photo with you.
posted by Jairus at 6:41 AM on November 22, 2011
posted by Jairus at 6:41 AM on November 22, 2011
I live over an hour from Toronto, so giving up a day to appear in court isn't terribly appealing to me.
Doesn't this render everything else irrelevant? Cost of your time + costs of travel probably outweigh $60 by a large margin, even if you could be certain of getting the ticket thrown out.
posted by jon1270 at 7:04 AM on November 22, 2011
Doesn't this render everything else irrelevant? Cost of your time + costs of travel probably outweigh $60 by a large margin, even if you could be certain of getting the ticket thrown out.
posted by jon1270 at 7:04 AM on November 22, 2011
Best answer: Actually, disputing the ticket would be two trips into the city for you. You can only set a court date by making the appointment in person.
There are services that will do this for you, for a fee.
Setting a court date is a common tactic because there is such a backlog that many tickets just get thrown out. (Though given the loss of revenue this causes, the city has huge incentive to get its act together on this issue. Your mileage may vary.)
Whatever you do, don't just let it sit there. You won't be able to get new stickers for your license plate until the fine is paid.
The instructions on the back of the ticket are helpful. Good luck!
posted by thenormshow at 7:29 AM on November 22, 2011
There are services that will do this for you, for a fee.
Setting a court date is a common tactic because there is such a backlog that many tickets just get thrown out. (Though given the loss of revenue this causes, the city has huge incentive to get its act together on this issue. Your mileage may vary.)
Whatever you do, don't just let it sit there. You won't be able to get new stickers for your license plate until the fine is paid.
The instructions on the back of the ticket are helpful. Good luck!
posted by thenormshow at 7:29 AM on November 22, 2011
Response by poster: Is this service legit? It's a $10.00 fee to request a trial, which would be worth it to me. The gamble is that the ticket would be thrown out before actually going to court. How likely is that?
posted by davebush at 8:25 AM on November 22, 2011
posted by davebush at 8:25 AM on November 22, 2011
pay it and move on. thenormshow is right. I recently had $200 of violations which I could easily have disputed in court, but I had just moved out of the city, so I would have had to lose a half day to apply for a date, and another half day to go to court. If my tickets were going to incur points, that would have been different, but in the end it was going to cost me more to fight it. I did fight tickets before, but back then I worked 5 minutes from the courthouse.
posted by Frasermoo at 8:38 AM on November 22, 2011
posted by Frasermoo at 8:38 AM on November 22, 2011
« Older Web-based self-serve tool to manage existing... | This anger - it's soul killing and I can't take it... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:33 AM on November 22, 2011