Last Updated on September 21, 2017 by Lawrence Berezin
The arrow on an NYC parking sign indicates the direction of the parking spaces regulated by the parking sign
Sam parked his car on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams near the intersection of 69 Road in NYC. He got out of his car and observed a No Standing parking sign at the intersection. But, the arrows pointed to 69 Road and therefore did not regulate his parking space on the Boulevard.
When Sam returned to his chariot, the first thing he noticed was an orange parking ticket sticking out ominously from under his windshield wiper. Joe grabbed the evil epistle and saw it was a No Standing parking ticket. Sam thought to himself, “How can this be, the arrows pointed to 69 Road and not my car.”
Does Sam have a winning defense?
Sam raised the “Arrow” defense to his No Standing parking ticket
Sam sought help from Larry and his advice (that’s me). After sharing his parking ticket tale with me, I suggested that Sam take some photographs of the ambush while standing alongside the driver’s side door of his car parked on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
I examined the excellent photographs and offered Sam my opinion that we have a winning defense to this parking ticket. I helped Sam prepare and submit his:
- Defense certification
- Defense exhibits
Last week Sam emailed me a copy of the judge’s decision…Parking ticket dismissed!
Joe, too, recently raised the arrow defense to his NYC parking ticket
Joe experienced a similar nightmare. He parked in what he thought was a safe parking space. The arrow on the parking sign did not point towards his parking space opposite 154 Haven. Yet, he still received a costly parking ticket.
We decided to fight this parking ticket and raise the “Arrow” defense. Joe purchased a FULL FIGHT because the exhibits were kind of complicated to formulate.
We presented a series of Google Map Street View grabs and live photographs to give the parking ticket judge a “driver’s eye view” of the place of occurrence. We included captions under each exhibit to use the opportunity to tell our story (in addition to the defense certification we submitted).
Do you think the judge will dismiss Joe’s parking ticket?
Commentary
The best scenario in which to raise the “Arrow” defense is when the miscreant NYC parking sign is located at or near an intersection. This way the misdirected arrow will point to another roadway, and not across a street (or up a hill).
However, the rule is clear. The arrow on a parking sign is required to point to your parking space for the rule displayed on the parking sign to regulate the curb space. In other words, a parking sign regulates the parking spaces in the direction of the arrow on the sign until the next parking sign, or if none, the end of the block.
The tipping point is the photograph you submit to support the “Arrow” defense, and the eye of the beholder (the parking ticket judge).
NYC has recently redesigned its heretofore totally indecipherable parking signs. Currently, the parking signs are just confusing. Here’s how to read ‘em and save your do-re-mi.
Simply click the click me button, and the free E-book is yours.
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