Ask me anything about TORONTO Parking Tickets

[Amadeus1]

Hi everyone,
I will be going to court in April to fight my ticket for parking in a "Disabled Parking Spot" on a side street ($450 plus the car was towed and impounded for $200). Originally, I was going fight on the basis that one of the signs was completely blocked by a very large bush. I have photo evidence of that below. But I have now decided simply to go the "11b" route because my first trial date will be over 18 months from the date that I submitted my 'intention to appear in court' (I did not delay the trial date in any way). I'm very confident that the 11b will work for me and the charges will be stayed.

However, I have suffered a loss of $200 from the towing. Assuming the charges are dropped at court, I am considering making a claim against the city of Toronto for their negligence in failing to keep the sign clearly visible. The shrub is right next to the curb and is therefore considered city property. I know that the other disabled parking sign on the utility pole is visible, but I will argue that the sign is not very noticeable because it's clustered with other signs, one of which is a large yellow sign. There are several other disabled parking zones in this neighbourhood where I live, and ALL of them have a dedicated pole and are ALL clearly visible with no shrubs blocking or other signs camouflaging. (See photo evidence below). In all honesty, I had absolutely no idea I had parked in a disabled zone and it wasn't until I got my car out of impound and saw the ticket that I discovered this. I know this won't count as an argument, but I will argue that if the city is going to charge $450 for a parking ticket and have the car towed for another $200, then it's their responsibility to make ABSOLUTELY certain that BOTH signs are CLEARLY visible.

Immediately after this incident, I called the city to report what happened and that one of the signs was covered by a shrub. Upon a follow up several months later, they informed me that the shrub in question has been pruned way back from the sign and it is now clearly visible. I have not yet taken a photo but will do so shortly. Since they went to the trouble of cutting the shrub, this is an admission on their part that there was a problem with that disabled parking zone, and I feel that should be able to prove the city was negligent at the time when I was towed.

I spoke to somebody at the city of Toronto about filing, and they recommended I wait until after the trial before I make a claim.

This is from the City of Toronto website:

"If the City did not exercise a reasonable standard of care, the City may be found to be negligent. In that circumstance, the City will attempt to resolve your claim. Any compensation paid to you will be based on proof of damage that has arisen as a result of the City's negligence"

I'm wondering if anybody has been in a similar situation and has made a claim against the city. Please let me know what you think about my situation and any advice and comments would be much appreciated.


This is where I got the ticket. Photo taken two days after incident.



The following two photos are of other disabled zones in my neighbourhood. There are several other photos I took but I decided only to upload these two so I didn't clog up the thread too much. As I stated before, all of these zones have signs that are on dedicated poles and are all clearly visible.

[dsquirrels]

I received a parking ticket on the 19th of January. I elected to pay today, 16 days after the ticket was issued. The ticket clearly says that a payment must be made within 15 days of the infraction or I will "be deemed not to dispute this charge and a conviction may be entered against" me.

However when I went online to pay my fine (on the 16th day) the server responded reading "Ticket number 6******0 has already been paid."

Has it mistakenly been paid for by someone else or was it simply not entered into the system or what's the deal here?


Thanks in advance

[bandersnatch]

I received a parking ticket on the 19th of January. I elected to pay today, 16 days after the ticket was issued. The ticket clearly says that a payment must be made within 15 days of the infraction or I will "be deemed not to dispute this charge and a conviction may be entered against" me.

However when I went online to pay my fine (on the 16th day) the server responded reading "Ticket number 6******0 has already been paid."

Has it mistakenly been paid for by someone else or was it simply not entered into the system or what's the deal here?


Thanks in advance

I'd double check everything and try again. This is a tricky situation because who likes paying for a ticket but the balance due on an unpaid ticket can accumulate significantly.

[Quiying]

help should i pay?

[teruo313]

Hi everyone

I received a parking violation back in November 2011. Since there wasn't a ticket on my windshield, I only became aware of it when I was sent a notice in the mail in December. On December 15 I paid for this parking ticket for $30. Now just the other week I received another notification in the mail that stated I owed $45 for the same violation. I double checked my credit card history and I indeed paid for the amount back in December.

My question is could this be a computer error? If so would they be able to determine that I did in fact pay for the ticket back in December? Does the infraction number stay the same? Unforunately I do not have the original ticket (since I never received it) and the first letter I threw out after paying. How would I prove to them that I actually indeed paid for it aside from giving my credit card statement, which of course shows no information regarding what the payment was for.

Thanks!

[helenhelen]

i was issued a parking ticket for parking before the permitted parking time of 10am (the sign posted said it was 1 hour parking between 10am and i think 7pm). my ticket indicates i got the ticket at 9:56am - 4 minutes before the permitted parking time(!). other than that, i had parked for under an hour. i filed for a trial. do i have a case of any sort?

[Fox1971]

i was issued a parking ticket for parking before the permitted parking time of 10am (the sign posted said it was 1 hour parking between 10am and i think 7pm). my ticket indicates i got the ticket at 9:56am - 4 minutes before the permitted parking time(!). other than that, i had parked for under an hour. i filed for a trial. do i have a case of any sort?

There is no offence worded "parking before the permitted parking time of 10am". What is the actual offence code on the ticket and the wording? I'm going to guess Code 5 or another "Prohibited Parking/Stopping/Standing" related offence. The specific date, time and location you received the ticket would also be useful. Provide that information and I will explain why you were ticketed.

[Fox1971]

Hi everyone

I received a parking violation back in November 2011. Since there wasn't a ticket on my windshield, I only became aware of it when I was sent a notice in the mail in December. On December 15 I paid for this parking ticket for $30. Now just the other week I received another notification in the mail that stated I owed $45 for the same violation. I double checked my credit card history and I indeed paid for the amount back in December.

My question is could this be a computer error? If so would they be able to determine that I did in fact pay for the ticket back in December? Does the infraction number stay the same? Unforunately I do not have the original ticket (since I never received it) and the first letter I threw out after paying. How would I prove to them that I actually indeed paid for it aside from giving my credit card statement, which of course shows no information regarding what the payment was for.

Thanks!

Take the Notice of Conviction and your credit card statement with you to one of the Parking Tag Operations offices. You won't be able to do this over the phone so don't even ask and I provided the link below with the addresses. Explain your situation to the staff there and they can probably help you sort it out. I'm guessing that you paid the ticket online or by telephone. When you pay tickets with those methods you receive a confirmation number as your receipt and you should hold onto it because of situations like this. Good luck.

http://www.toronto.ca/pay-toronto-ti...s/inperson.htm

[Fox1971]

help should i pay?

No. Private parking tickets are NOT legal in Toronto and are completely unenforceable. These private ticketing companies prey on the ignorance of the public to compel payment. Only police officers or special constables can lay charges under the TPA, not civilians working as private parking enforcement agents. They cannot send this matter to collections, it will not affect your credit rating and non-payment of these "fines" will not be referred to the MTO for plate or license denial. Throw it away, do not make any further contact with the company and ignore any other letters or notices that they send you. Here is a link below to put your mind at ease.

http://creditmantra.blogspot.com/200...ctors-and.html

[Fox1971]

I received a parking ticket on the 19th of January. I elected to pay today, 16 days after the ticket was issued. The ticket clearly says that a payment must be made within 15 days of the infraction or I will "be deemed not to dispute this charge and a conviction may be entered against" me.

However when I went online to pay my fine (on the 16th day) the server responded reading "Ticket number 6******0 has already been paid."

Has it mistakenly been paid for by someone else or was it simply not entered into the system or what's the deal here?


Thanks in advance

It was probably paid by someone else accidentally. The other guy probably paid his ticket online or by telephone and made a typo when entering the infraction number. If you get a Notice of Impending Conviction at some later date just deal with it then. Otherwise don't worry about it because there isn't really anything you can do.

[Fox1971]

Hi everyone,
I will be going to court in April to fight my ticket for parking in a "Disabled Parking Spot"...blah blah blah...stayed.

However...blah blah blah... visible.

Immediately...blah blah blah...towed.

I spoke to somebody at the city of Toronto about filing, and they recommended I wait until after the trial before I make a claim.

This is from the City of Toronto website:

"If the City did not exercise a reasonable standard of care, the City may be found to be negligent. In that circumstance, the City will attempt to resolve your claim. Any compensation paid to you will be based on proof of damage that has arisen as a result of the City's negligence"

I'm wondering if anybody has been in a similar situation and has made a claim against the city. Please let me know what you think about my situation and any advice and comments would be much appreciated.

I'm not going to respond in detail to your wall of text because that would be too ponderous. Let me boil it down for you. Even though one of the signs may have been covered there were actually two signs posted at either end of the space. One of them was clearly visible by your account and that's all that matters. If one sign was completely missing or if both signs were obstructed then you might have a defense but by your own account that was not the case. If you try to fight this, not only will you lose at trial, you will be on the hook for the full $450 fine plus court costs. And if the JP decides that it is warranted he can actually increase the fine up to $5000 so don't bank on coming out ahead. I think that you parked there knowing full well that it was an Accessible Parking Space but though that you had a loop hole in the law to keep you out of trouble but it backfired. You might have missed one sign because it was obstructed but you expect us to believe that you missed the other one in plain view? Sorry but I have no sympathy for you at all and hope you end up paying as much as possible because only ***holes park in accessible parking spaces without permits.

[Fox1971]

there are most certainly restrictions. the limits are prescribed in the bylaws. of course, this assumes that PEO's will not lie about why they are parked where they are...i am sure they will say they "are working"...again, when a PEO is carrying out non-work related activities, they must comply with the same parking laws as everyone else.

I believe that is what I have been saying all along. The difference comes from how those violations are enforced. You obviously are not understanding the legal issues regarding parking tickets. Parking tickets are attached to the registered owner of the vehicle not the driver. Even if a parking enforcement vehicle could be ticketed, it would go back to the registered owner which would be the Toronto Police Service, not the PEO who was driving. That is why violations are regarded as matters of internal policy. If your friend got a parking ticket while driving your car and then declined to accept responsibility, you as the registered owner would be on the hook for the fine. It's the same thing for any employee driving a company car, including PEO's. That is why there is an internal policy for dealing with PEO's who park in a manner that is not consistent with TPS policy. There is also the matter that POA Part II parking tickets must be issued at the time of the violation. Even if you took a picture or video of a PEO double parking to buy coffee and reported it to TPS, they couldn't issue a ticket if they wanted to. It would be handled as an internal discipline matter.

[teruo313]

Take the Notice of Conviction and your credit card statement with you to one of the Parking Tag Operations offices. You won't be able to do this over the phone so don't even ask and I provided the link below with the addresses. Explain your situation to the staff there and they can probably help you sort it out. I'm guessing that you paid the ticket online or by telephone. When you pay tickets with those methods you receive a confirmation number as your receipt and you should hold onto it because of situations like this. Good luck.

http://www.toronto.ca/pay-toronto-ti...s/inperson.htm

Thanks Fox1971 for the reply!
I called in earlier today (this was before I saw your reply) and the lady on the phone said that the reason was I was in fact issued 2 tickets that night, exactly 10 mins apart from each other, at 12:08 and 12:18 to be exact. So I in fact paid for only 1 of the tickets that I received. My question is would it be possible for the second ticket to be waived if possible, if I went in person? I was only sent 1 notice back in December and thus I was only aware of the first ticket. If I was sent another notice regarding the second ticket I would have surely questioned it earlier.

I understand and admit fault on the one ticket, but to be ticketed again for the same offence and not even be notified of the second offence until the penalty jumped to $45 leaves a somewhat bad taste in my mouth and I would certainly like to at least inquire further about it. The lady on the phone said that she would send in a request to cancel the second ticket since I paid for the first, and to call back by the end of the month. However if I wait until then I will only have 2 days left to pay or take it up in person.

Thanks again

[helenhelen]

There is no offence worded "parking before the permitted parking time of 10am". What is the actual offence code on the ticket and the wording? I'm going to guess Code 5 or another "Prohibited Parking/Stopping/Standing" related offence. The specific date, time and location you received the ticket would also be useful. Provide that information and I will explain why you were ticketed.

sorry, i no longer have the ticket (i brought it in when requesting trial date). basically, on that street (small side street), you are allowed 1 hour parking between certain hours (10am to 7pm, i believe) and can park there otherwise with a permit at other hours. i received a ticket at 9:56am for parking without a permit. however, i was only 4 minutes before the permitted parking time of 10am even without a permit. i was also parked for under an hour (though cannot prove this).

[helenhelen]

i have one other ticket i had requested a trial for but not sure if i have a case at all. i parked on a side street (2 way street) after checking to see if there was any signage. i did not see any. i had driven in from one end of the street and then parked a few metres from the entrance to the street. i got a ticket for parking without a permit. it turns out there was a sign all the way at the other far end of the street (around the bend) which no one would see if they entered from harbord st. and then parked by the entrance (which is what i had done).

here is a map of the street and approximately where i parked. from the map, it appears to be a one way street, but in real life, there is no sign indicating this anywhere on the street at any end of it.. so people drive in and out all the time. the street itself is the L shape with the arrows (from clinton st. to harbord st.). the other straight line below is actually an alley with garages, not a street.

http://bit.ly/AxGur2

i just wanted to see if i have a case if there is no signage indicating one way street (if googlemaps is right and it is indeed meant to be a one way street) and no parking signage at the entrance to the street from one end, or anywhere nearby. if i do, would photos be sufficient proof?

there used to be a sign saying permit parking only but when i saw there was no sign, i thought maybe the rules had changed.