Anonymous wrote:Definitely try to dispute.

Do not breastfeed/loiter in any corridor.

Yep contest, we've done it a few times successfully. And definitely start online if you have a good argument. I'm in the process of contesting online a photo speeding ticket but don't know the outcome yet.

Also, I recently went down to the DMV to contest the fact that we accidentally parked in handicapped street parking in our neighborhood (Dupont Circle) which I didn't even know existed and then received 4 tickets at $250 each. All I did was plead for mercy because it was an honest mistake and got 2 of them dismissed. Still a ridiculous $500 mistake but better than $1000. I've also successfully contested getting multiple tickets for expired tags when they occurred over the weekend and the office wasn't open to allow us to get the registration renewed after we received the first ticket.

Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, if you go downtown to contest the ticket, don't breastfeed your baby while you're there.

Awesome! LOL

Anonymous wrote:i admit this is only anecdata, but i know NO ONE who's ever gotten a dc ticket dismissed.

dc uses ticketing as an involuntary taxation system. if you've ever seen their ridiculously confusing signage for street parking or gotten caught by a mobile speed camera on a HIGHWAY, you'd know. they just want your money. it'll be hard to get anything dismissed or reduced.

I just did! I was in the car and the sign said no parking (not no standing!) contested it online with pics. Op please ccontest!

Anonymous wrote:I contested a ticket once. I took a half day off work to do it, just on principle. I was ticketed for parking in a loading zone, while I was unloading a rented keg and returning it to the store. I had a letter from the proprietor and everything. I left my car for less than 2 minutes.

When I got to the office, I waited all damn day. Then I got in the room with the official and he said, were you parked there? (Yes, but I was unloading.) But that doesn't apply to you - just commercial trucks. (But the sign doesn't say that. And I was unloading.) Yes, but it doesn't apply to you. (How are people supposed to know that?) I agree it was unclear, but now you know. So don't do it again.

He reduced it by half. I was furious. I'd just pay it and move on.

I'm sorry nobody told you not to waste your time. Of course a loading area is not for you - I thought everybody knew that. Someone really should have told you before you decided to waste a morning.

Whatever you do, DON'T BREASTFEED IN THE HALLWAY.

;=P

Anonymous wrote:i admit this is only anecdata, but i know NO ONE who's ever gotten a dc ticket dismissed.

dc uses ticketing as an involuntary taxation system. if you've ever seen their ridiculously confusing signage for street parking or gotten caught by a mobile speed camera on a HIGHWAY, you'd know. they just want your money. it'll be hard to get anything dismissed or reduced.

Not sure how ticketing people for breaking the law is unfair. Hey, guess what? When you come into my city? Slow the fuck down asshole.

Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, if you go downtown to contest the ticket, don't breastfeed your baby while you're there.

I contested a parking ticket and won -- they must have written the tag number incorrectly on the ticket. The ticket was for a weekday, at Eastern Market, and at the time I walked to work so I KNEW my car had been innocently sitting in front of my house. When I called the office to ask them to fax a copy of the original ticket to me (this was years ago, maybe this service is now available on line?), the make/model on the ticket was wrong, and probably the make/model of the actual car they tried to ticket. They may not have made this particular error in your case, but they may well have made a different one if you truly never received a ticket in the first place.

Whatever you do, if you go downtown to contest the ticket, don't breastfeed your baby while you're there.

OP- no need to sit through any hearings. DC parking tickets can now be contested on line. I have had MANY parking tickets dismissed. Once i got a notice to pay for a dc parking ticket from 6 years ago for a car i never owned! They make lots and lots of mistakes. I got it dismissed on statute of limitations alone . Look for ANY errors on the mail you received regarding the ticket itself- your tag, make and model of car, the year, etc Try to remember who may have driven that car on the alleged date/ time of ticket. If nothing rings a bell, contest it ASAP and also state that you never received the ticket, never recieved notice until now after ticket doubled, and you didn't loan the car to anyone on that date. It's the governments burden to prove it. You have nothing to lose. Except $200.

I am the op of this thread and still didn't get an update from the DMV regarding that ticket.

I just received a parking ticket for an expired meter. However, it was 7:30 pm and I checked both the signs right above the meter as well as what was printed on the face of the meter. The signs stated nothing about parking after 6:30 pm, nor did the label on the meter so I assumed that I could park without feeding the meter after 6:30 pm. When I came out 2 hours later I had a $25 ticket on my car, as did most of the other cars on my side of the street. Apparently others had the same impression that I had.

Now my guess is that DC changed the parking regulations re parking after 6:30 pm because I can remember parking in the past without restrictions in the area of 17th and M streets. However, it seems to me that DC is obligated to change the signs to reflect this new policy. It also occurred to me that DC may have deliberately not changed to signs to entrap people into parking illegally.

Does anyone know of a lawyer interested in filing a class action suit against DC that would require the city to refund all of the fines it has collected from motorists that were misled by the inaccurate signage? I am not interested in just getting my little ticket dismissed, I want DC to pay big time for its negligence, or worse for it deliberate effort to trick people. I can be reached at rbindc@aol.com

Anonymous wrote:OP if you have to wind up paying the ticket, I'd snail mail a check in to the DMV. But make sure to wipe your ass with that check first before sealing it in the envelope. F DC, their usorious charges and their convoluted laws and regulations.

Dude, i get the setiment, but some poor $8.50/hour worker opens that check. don't take it out on the little guy.

Anonymous wrote:i admit this is only anecdata, but i know NO ONE who's ever gotten a dc ticket dismissed.

dc uses ticketing as an involuntary taxation system. if you've ever seen their ridiculously confusing signage for street parking or gotten caught by a mobile speed camera on a HIGHWAY, you'd know. they just want your money. it'll be hard to get anything dismissed or reduced.

ME!! i got $300 worth of bogus tickets dismissed! it took a half day and required going to court, but the judge agreed the parking person was out-of-line and dismissed all the tickets outright!