Conundrum

Say you went out to move your car and saw a Cushman parked directly alongside. You looked at the ticket and said, but Officer, I wasn't parked here at that time. And the officer said, too bad, all the cars were checked at that time. And you said, but I wasn't parked here at that time. And the officer said something unintelligible about a grace period, 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock and started to drive away. And you ran after the Cushman saying, I'm sorry, what did you say? And the officer stopped the Cushman. And you said, I'm sorry, I honestly didn't understand what you said. And the officer took the ticket out of your hand and said, when did you park? And you said, after the time that's on the ticket. And the officer said, are you sure? And you said, absolutely. And the officer took out a pen and said, GO! with a wave of the hand...

Would you then consider the $40 citation to be voided, and therefore rejoice? Or would you steel yourself for a delinquency notice in the mail in a month bumping the fee up to $60 or $80?

(Either way, you'd have to move the car again in 2 hours.)

Comments

[cedichou]

What has he got to lose: your word against his. Half of the cars he cited were guilty anyway and won't contest, and the other one can appeal as much as they like, the citation will be upheld.

I was cited for being parked on the sidewalk a couple blocks away from my house, even though my car was in my driveway. Strange, I thought. Luckily, the address on the citation does not exist (street number in the 80s for a street which tops at 54), otherwise how can I argue I wasn't there? The meter maid's word or mine: they win.

[Michael]

Weird! Lovely communications skills there, huh.

But wait: doesn't the first notice leave the fine as is? I thought the first notice was a threat, and then the second (and third) increase the fine. If I'm right, then you can just hang out and see what happens.

By the way, in my first brush with the DPT 13 years ago, I WON! I had just moved from Washington, D.C. and had D.C. plates. The genius parking controller put "WA" in the "state" field, so I knew they would never find me. How I cling to this memory.

[Sr. R-]

no question: you're getting a delinquency notice.

[jr]

how about next time leave the car at home and walk or take the bus or ride your bike and stop polluting the air and clogging up all our public space?

[M. C-]

Hi Justin,

Thanks for the comment. In truth, my transportation takes many forms: I walk whenever I can, take MUNI a good chunk of the time, and drive when I have to. (I have a real phobia about bicycles, and I'm not joking. I really am profoundly uncomfortable on bikes; I can't really articulate why.) However, I have found that, for my transportation needs in the SF Bay Area as it currently exists, public transit does not suffice for all situations.

When I moved to SF from New York a decade ago, one of the SF's major draws was my belief that I could rely exclusively on public transit. I had never owned a car and had absolutely no desire to. I love urban public transit systems -- exploring them is always a high point of traveling for me -- and SF's extensive network indicated nothing different.

I quickly discovered in my first several years here that relying on MUNI, a shockingly inefficent and unpredictable system, is fraught with major problems. My schedule often demands multiple destinations each day, hopping from rehearsals to performances to jobs to meetings in different parts of town. I can't count how many times I had to turn down work because I simply couldn't guarantee I would get there in time. And with rehearsals that regularly end at 10pm or later, sometimes in areas not well serviced by MUNI, just one bus transfer would often put me home past 11:30pm. For example, imagine waiting for MUNI at 1am after a Christmas Eve service, knowing that you have a bus transfer in the Western Addition projects waiting for you.

And so eventually I was convinced I had to get a vehicle of some sort. I admire cyclists and your devotion to bicycles, but I simply am not and will never be one. Whenever I'm on a bike I am filled with a horrible sense of dread. After much deliberation, against all of my instincts I decided to buy a car. I had never spent so much money on something, much less something I didn't want, and I have witnesses to vouch for the fact that I was basically sick to my stomach when I bought the thing.

I bought the smallest car I could find (a two-seater) with comparatively OK gas mileage. And suddenly the Bay Area opened up in ways I could not believe. I was shocked -- and dismayed! -- that intra-SF trips that I used to budget a hour and a half for on MUNI only took 15 minutes in a car. I went through a period where I admit I drove more than I needed to, mostly because of my heightened level of disgust at MUNI's utter incompetence.

Now, in part because of the major inconvenience of parking, I've settled into a combination of walking for everything walkable, budgeting time for MUNI whenever possible, and driving when my schedule doesn't have enough room to accommodate MUNI's vagaries. I still get a MUNI pass every month, and some days I use it and some days I don't.

I hope this provides a more complete picture.

Sincerely,
M. C-