3 Mistakes to Avoid when Parking in NYC

Last Updated on November 28, 2014 by Lawrence Berezin

Don’t get caught in a parking ticket trap when parking in NYC

The New York minute you stop paying attention to parking signs, you’ll end up being a notch on a warrior’s scanner. Do your best to avoid the myriad parking ticket traps set for unsuspecting members of the driving public.

• Have the perseverance to say ‘no’ to an empty space when you’re unsure if the No Standing Anytime sign regulates the parking space.
• Don’t forget when there are more than one parking sign on a gotcha pole, the stricter rule prevails.
• Don’t park in a general No Standing zone while making a delivery or service call to your customers. VC 14 is the enemy of a free enterprise system!

Here are some other mistakes to avoid when parking in NYC.

Knowledge is power

 The parking ticket warrior said you parked 6 feet from a fire hydrant, and you’re certain you parked at least 12 feet away

The fight is not between your estimate and the warrior’s guess of how far away you parked from a fire hydrant. The driving public has the burden of proving by substantial credible evidence that they did not park their chariot within 15 feet of a pump.

A warrior is required to enter his guess of the distance you parked from a fire hydrant. If she’s wrong, but you fail to persuade the judge you parked more than 15 feet away from the hydrant, you are parking ticket toast.

When a warrior enters a non-sensical guess, and solid proof is available to demonstrate that our client parked more than 15 feet from a hydrant, I’ll use the ridiculous guess to impeach the warrior’s credibility. Please, don’t get caught in the trap of arguing the warrior’s guess was wrong. Spend your energy proving you parked 15 feet from the pump.

 You pick up your friend in a bus stop zone, and remain in the danger zone while you plan your next destination

I urge you, and all the members of the driving public, to avoid standing in a bus stop zone at all costs (or at least at $115 costs). Beating a bus stop parking ticket is very difficult. How do you prove you stopped temporarily to expeditiously pick up or drop off a friend, and left immediately when the parking ticket warrior says, no you didn’t. Hope there’s an omitted, misdescribed, or illegible required element. Or, the warrior makes a mistake in a comment he enters on the parking ticket.

You park in a No Parking, authorized vehicles only zone, and get a parking ticket

Besides the usual required elements to check, there are two additional “get out of jail free” required elements to look for. The No Parking sign must display the name of the agency whose vehicles are authorized to park there. And, a warrior must enter the identity of the authorized vehicles on the parking ticket. What’s wrong with the, No Parking except authorized vehicles parking sign in the picture below?

 Commentary

There is so much to learn about how to beat NYC parking tickets. As Aaron Rodgers said to the media and fans a few weeks, ago…Relax. We’ll all be fine. Same is true about learning how to take control of the NYC highways and your wallet.

Start with required elements. [Tweet “An omitted, misdescribed, or illegible required element will set you free”].

Next learn the rules and defenses for the most common parking violations; bus stop, fire hydrant, and the 3 No’s (no standing, no parking, and no stopping). Remember, every one of the 99 parking violations has a defense (and it’s not “how dare you!”).

We’ll talk about how to acquire a more advanced understanding of the parking rules, regulations, laws, and customs later.

Park safely.