Parking ticket mistake

3 Parking Ticket Mistakes to Avoid at all Costs

ByLawrence Berezin
This is a major parking ticket mistake. Never park on top of another car. Right?
This parking mistake happened on an NJ residential street!

Parking ticket mistakes range from the bizarre to the sublime

I have analyzed countless parking ticket mistakes over the past 14 years. In the same vein, I am stupefied by the melange of parking laws and regulations that rogue warriors and judges enforce unpredictably.

I wonder:

  • How many consecutive days you can navigate the mean streets of NYC without getting a parking ticket?
  • Similarly, how many tickets can a warrior or cop issue without an error?
  • And, how many rogue judges get away with mistakes of law or fact?

Most importantly, here are some things you can do to avoid these expensive blunders.

The bus stop parking ticket mistake

This parking ticket mistake is an oldie but goodie that I have begged my readers to avoid.

A bus stop starts at the bus stop sign and extends in the direction of the arrow(s) on the sign until the next parking sign or the end of the block.

  • “I parked far from the bus shelter so a bus can easily stop in the bus stop zone.”
  • “I only stopped for a ‘NY Minute.”
  • “I was waiting for my Aunt Tillie to get off the bus.”

You can only drop off or pick up people, and not their property.

“No person shall stand or park a vehicle other than an authorized bus in its assigned bus stop when any such stop has been officially designated and appropriately posted except that the operator of a vehicle may temporarily stand therein for the purpose of expeditiously receiving and discharging passengers provided such standing does not interfere with any bus about to enter or leave such stop.

Notwithstanding the aforementioned, an authorized bus shall not park at an assigned bus stop when such stop has been officially designated and appropriately posted.”

If a warrior or cop passes by and sees your car standing in a bus stop zone, he’s not going to bother checking if your daughter was walking to the bus. Or, that Aunt Tillie was the last passenger off the bus and slowly walking to your car. They will simply issue a bus stop ticket and let you and a judge sort things out.

This is not a winning strategy.

Is a picture worth 1000 words?

How about a video? My eyes work better than my ears. How about you?

The bus lane and bike lane confusion and blunders

Many parking ticket mistakes happen in bus lanes and bike lanes. These perplexing traffic paths have a plethora of special rules that give me a headache. How about you?

Here’s a video that accentuates the negative to help you avoid mistakes while navigating these special lanes.

How are you doing with the comprehensive series of new parking meter laws?

Two of the costly parking ticket mistakes my clients make are:

  • Remember that you can no longer transfer parking time from one blockface to another.
  • Only purchasing parking time from a parking meter in the same blockface as their parking space.

Commentary

A “good mistake” is not an oxymoron. For example, Albert Einstein said, “The only mistake in life is the lesson not learned.” In other words, how many $115 parking tickets do you need to get before you learn not to park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant (subject to a myriad of exceptions).

I urge you not to stand in a bus stop zone because it is too easy to get a $115 parking ticket. But, do you still park in a bus stop zone?

Learning takes relentless repetition. However, a driver needs to apply their knowledge when they actually park in NYC. Knowledge without experience will not go far in Parking Ticket Land. Therefore, how many costly parking tickets does it take to persuade you to learn the rules?

What’s the difference between a choice and a mistake?

Choice is our ability to make decisions when presented with two or more options. The psychology of choice explores why we subconsciously make the decisions we do, what motivates those decisions, and what needs these decisions are meant to satisfy.

Hubspot

While a mistake is:

An error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, insufficient knowledge, etc.

Dictionary.com

Can you tell the difference?

  • A driver parks their car 10 feet from a fire hydrant instead of searching for a different parking space
  • Joe drops his daughter off near the bus stop instead of standing in a bus stop zone
  • Joan sits behind the wheel of her car in a no-standing zone with the motor running

I hope the satisfaction of making a good decision and the right choice trumps the temporary delight of finding a vacant parking space (that is too close to a fire hydrant).

Park safely.

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4 Comments

Tim •

Who can the public complain to when rogue judges DON’T follow the laws? I am thinking about filing a complaint to the City Councilman/woman of the area where the ticket was issued.

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Eric Trachtenberg •

I recently got a notice in the mail with photos (clearly taken from a bus)showing that my car was observed parked in a bus lane on 1st Ave & 57th St in Manhattan on May 21st around 9:00am. The ticket/fine was for $50.
The parking and the bus lane signs all said no parking M-F. May 21st was a Saturday.
I went downtown to 66 John St. with photos of the signs and claimed not guilty, and the judge dismissed. When I asked the judge how this could error happen, she guessed that the bus forgot to turn off the camera on Saturday. She said a lot of people probably just pay the ticket.I can’t imagine how many cars parked on1st Ave that Saturday got the same notice and fine? Just thought you might want to inform your subscribers of this oversight by the city, or, as I would called it, a scam!

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Lawrence Berezin •

Hi Eric,
Wow! Nicely done.
I love that you took action to right a wrong.
I will certainly notify our community.

Thanks so much for the heads up and job well done.
Regards,
Larry

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