Last Updated on January 11, 2018 by Lawrence Berezin
The wacky world of parking rules
I have been asked about parking rules, regulations, and how to fight parking tickets in other cities besides New York City. I thought it would be interesting to compare another large city with New York City. Can we gauge the level of pain caused by parking tickets around the globe? Is NYC the gold standard for parking ticket pain? Or, are other cities as bad or worse?
The City of Toronto
The City of Toronto has a population of 2,631,725 (2006 Census). 2,767,175 parking tickets were issued in 2010.
In April 2011, the City of Toronto introduced:
“…an option to dispute parking tickets electronically, via email or fax. The only tickets that will qualify for this service, however, are parking-meter violations, according to Anthony Fabrizi, manager of parking operations for the City. In many cases, the customers have proof that they’ve paid.
Fabrizi said. “Either the officer didn’t see it, or the customer walked away with the ticket in their pocket or the machine is broken.
Toronto issues about 600,000 tickets for parking meter violations (emphasis added) each year and about 40,000 of those tickets aren’t actual violations. Now those customers will be able to fight those tickets in the comfort of their pajamas from their living rooms, any time of day.”
Prior to creating this option, Toronto required the driving public to appear in person to fight all parking tickets. Yikes!
Toronto Parking Ticket Cancellation Guidelines
City of Toronto-Parking Ticket Cancellation Guidelines
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New York City
NYC has a population of >8M. Approximately, 10M parking tickets were issued in 2009. 1.2M of the 10M parking tickets were disputed, resulting in a dismissal of half the disputed tickets.
Following a whole bunch of hoopla, NYC recently announced the driving public can now dispute a parking ticket online with documents and photographs. Prior to this innovation, you were permitted to dispute parking tickets online without photographs and documents. You could always dispute a parking ticket in-person or by mail.
Relevant chapters and sections are 4-01(Definitions) and 4-08(Stopping, Standing, and Parking rules)
NYC traffic rules & regulations
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Commentary
It was very interesting and fun to compare the by-laws (parking rules) and procedures established by Toronto with the parking rules and procedures of NYC. For example:
- Take 1 minute and check out the FAQ for Toronto parking tickets.
- Stopping, standing and parking means the same thing in Toronto and NYC
- You are prohibited from parking within 9.99 feet of a fire hydrant in Toronto. 15 feet in NYC
- The fine for a fire hydrant violation is $100 in Toronto (much higher than fines for other parking violations). $115 in NYC, and not eligible for fine reduction
- Toronto considers “exceptional circumstances” to award a “cancellation” of a parking ticket; such as disabled vehicle, and medical emergency
- NYC considers these “defenses” and may award a “dismissal” of your parking ticket
- You are permitted to stop and drop-off a passenger in a NO STANDING ZONE in Toronto
- Same in NYC
- You are permitted to stop and drop-off a passenger and personal property in a NO PARKING ZONE in Toronto
- Same in NYC
- Regardless of where you fight your parking ticket, you must present the proper proof, properly to win a “cancellation” or “dismissal” of your parking ticket
Here is a video report of a recent scandal in Toronto, where secret guidelines were issued to the parking ticket review staff for canceling (dismissing) parking tickets and only made available to lawmakers. Click on this link to view the short (1.44 minute) video. Here is a link to view the secret guidelines.
Are you moving to Toronto to save your parking ticket dollars? Please comment. Your opinion and ideas matter to all of us.
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