Last Updated on February 19, 2018 by Lawrence Berezin
Parking ticket tale
A parking ticket tale begins. I received a telephone call the other evening from an absolutely charming young lady who needed help with two NYC parking tickets. Here’s her story, and I paraphrase.
My girlfriend and I partied into the early morning hours at an NYC club. The drinks were pretty strong. When we left the club at about 1 a.m., we knew we drank too much to drive home. So, we got into our car, which was parked on the street, locked the doors, and fell asleep.
We woke up with a jolt. Our car was careening down the roadway, hooked up to an NYPD tow truck, on the way to the pound. We both started banging on the windows and screaming to get the driver’s attention. No luck.
When we arrived at the pound, there were about 6-7 police officers, including the tow truck operator, standing around.We threw open the door and bolted out of the car. The police officer’s eyes popped out of their heads. The tow operator had absolutely no idea we were asleep in the car.
A Happy ending?
The police officers were very embarrassed, and so were we. A decision was made not to charge us for the tow. We got two parking tickets; both for no parking. The second parking ticket resulted in an NYC cocktail, a parking ticket, and a tow. A deadly combination.
This young lady’s question to me was, “Do we have to pay for two parking tickets in the same space for the same violation?” The parking tickets were issued at approximately 1:35 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. The answer is YES if they are issued MORE than 3 hours apart.
Generally speaking, if a member of the driving public is issued two parking tickets in the same space, for the same violation, within one hour of each other; a hearing officer will dismiss the second parking ticket. However, if the parking tickets are issued more than one hour apart, you are out of luck.
The rationale behind the rule is that NYC DOF does not want the driving public to rent-a-space for the day (or in this case for the evening).
Kudos to the two young women for being wise beyond their years, and not trying to drive home under adverse conditions. However, in the long run, they may wish to consider partying with a designated driver or rent a room for the evening.
A nice gesture by the NYPD. These ladies fared a lot better than the dead body in a van that was issued parking tickets every day for about one month.
Commentary
Great story. Happy ending.
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