Return-Path: Received: from CMU-RI-FAS.ARPA by CMU-CS-A.ARPA; 30 May 85 15:04:24 EDT Date: 30 May 1985 14:54:52-EDT From: Michael.Peshkin@CMU-RI-FAS To: bovik@a Subject: parking tickets There seems to be nothing in the Bovik files about parking tickets and whether to pay them. Here are responses (names removed) to a query of mine about a ticket I received at the airport. My conclusion was that the City will give you the 'boot' on the third (fourth?) unpaid ticket, but the County will come after you on the first. The airport, unfortunately for me, is under County jurisdiction. $32.50! --- About City of Pittsburgh parking tickets: there was once a discount for paying promptly that reduced the ticket to $10 or even less-- I don't remember what the amount was exactly. But it was affordable, and I had less money then than I do now. Now there is no discount for paying promptly and it is freely acknowledged that cars will not be booted unless they have >4 tickets. You can call up traffic court and ask how many tickets your license has (or how many tickets anyone's license has: I wasn't asked for any confirmation that I was the owner of my license). I have 4 unpaid tickets and intend to keep it that way. If they manage to boot all the cars that have >4 tickets and start on the cars with 4, I will pay one of my 4. In my experience, the only reason not to have a small # of unpaid parking tickets is that you can't go to Traffic Court and protest one unjustly given ticket without being required to pay the others. To expound on parking tickets: I forgot that the airport is not in the City of Pittsburgh. I've never gotten a County parking ticket, just City ones. It seems to me that the County is more likely than the City to hold up a renewal of an auto registration because of unpaid *parking* tickets-- but that still doesn't seem very likely. I've never heard of it happening, and most of the people I know are not people who believe it's immoral or unethical not to pay a parking ticket-- they have tickets and it's never happened to them.. Speeding tickets are another matter, for sure. The City of Pittsburgh standard ticket is >$30 and <$40, but I forget exactly how much. The oldest one I have is about 10 months old. (I bought my current car less than a year ago.) I did receive a letter for each of the 4 tickets saying I would be arrested if I didn't pay, but I have learned to not take that seriously. City of Pittsburgh doesn't raise the cost if you pay late, so there's no economic reason not to-- just as there's no longer an economic reason to pay early. One person who responded to you seemed to think that the ante had been raised for late payment and took the arrest threat seriously-- s/he's wrong on both counts. Another said "a $5 ticket turned into a $32.50 ticket because I ignored it..." There is NO SUCH THING as a $5 parking ticket in the City of Pittsburgh any longer. This is what a person who answered the phone at Traffic Court told me. Technological improvements may have made it possible to follow up on all parking tickets, but from what I've seen, I don't believe it's police policy to do that. It seems to me that they're willing to treat the first one or the first few as a warning, and let you alone if you cease to park where you get tickets. I don't think I am any less catchable than anyone else-- the opposite if anything. ********************** I received a ticket issued by Allegheny County Police (Port Authority) at the the airport and ignored it. Well, they checked with Texas (my car is registered there) and sent a nasty note saying something bad would happen when I tried to renew the car registration. I paid the ticket promptly. It appears that these guys are serious! ********************** I ignored two! No problems yet. I've heard that the meter maids carry lists of license plates of cars that have > 4 unpaid tickets. Such cars get boots on the 5th ticket. When you are booted, you pay *all* back tickets, plus some large fee for rental/removal of the boot. Until you pay this, your car is inoperative, *and* rental fees continue to accrue, *and* you are still parked illegally. I have VA plates. Got the tickets about 14 and 18 months ago. First one was on Frew street (in back of Hunt Library) -- no money in the meter. The other was in front of my house in Oakland -- didn't move car for street cleaning. I didn't hear a thing about either of them after I got them. I did yell at the meter maid as she wrote the one out for failure to move my car for street cleaning; the city was working on the other roads in the area, and there was no other place to park. She ignored me, and continued writing more tickets. I ignored the ticket, and heard no complaints from the city. ********************** I got one on Frew Street for 'Facing the Wrong Way'. In fact, I backed into a head-on parking space. It was the end of the month, an quotas needed to be filled, so... Anyway, I ignored it for a month. Then I got a form letter saying that the City would issue a warrant if I didn't pay. Since they raised the ante, I paid. 32 (or in your case 37) bucks is a small price to pay to avoid MAJOR hassles with our overworked trafic and judicial systems. p.s. It is not clear if they would actually have carried out their threat. On the other hand, I generally take threats seriously. It was around $32. The follow-up did not raise it, but I assume that the City could tack on 'court costs', etc. Also, the fine for removing a boot is something like $50. Face it, I'm a natural coward. ********************** I've ignores 2 tickets (total about $50) for over a year now. Of course, I have out of state plates. IF your car is registered in PA, forget it. They'll track you down very easily. ********************** It is not good. They are REALLY following up on parking tickets. A $5 ticket turned into a $32.50 ticket because I ignored it. If you ignore the ticket, chances are high that they will sent a registered letter to you announcing the fact that the ticket is unpaid and taking on an enormous fee to it. They claim that if the ticket isn't paid within 10 days, you will be arrested (!). Good luck. ********************** These messages should not be forwarded to Bovik. I have ignored a 5 dollar ticket for meter expiration and not had any problems. ********************** Michael, My wife got a ticket at the airport (for a similarly outrageous amount). That was about the beginning of October. There has been no action taken and, yes, this is our only outstanding parking ticket. If you get any explainations as to why the dollar amounts are so high, would you please forward them to me? Thanks. - No, we do not have PA plates. I didn't think of that at the time, but I guess that might explain the amount of the fine. - ********************** If your car is from a state far away (like CA), they won't come after you. But if you get stopped for speeding, etc., you're in trouble. If your car has plates of nearby states, they'll get you come registration time. The technology may have improved in recent years. got a ticket on a car with Alberta plates and they came to his house in Pittsburgh! ********************** I got a ticket from the meterd lots at the airport a while ago and blew it off. I haven't heard from them at all... (I have Massachusettes plates, though -that could make a difference) **********************