9 December 2016

Ask RiotACT: Parking ticket on Constitution Avenue

| toadstool
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Ask RiotACT

Hi Rioters.

Last week I got a parking ticket on the new Constitution Avenue. I was about 20 minutes over the one hour permitted time limit. The interesting thing is that my tyres were not marked. Does anyone know what methods they might be using to identify cars that have overstayed the limit? Another interesting thing is the ticket was not in a yellow envelope, just stuck on the windscreen with tape, but around the corner on Allara Street they are using the envelopes. What’s that all about?

Is there any requirement, legal or otherwise, for the inspectors to mark your car as proof of the time they saw your car?

Has anyone successfully disputed a parking ticket for overstaying the limit by a small amount of time?

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No_Nose said :

dungfungus said :

toadstool said :

I just noticed that the parking ticket I received has an error on it. It states the make of vehicle is a Toyota whereas my car is a Nissan. Is this grounds for disputing the ticket?

Yes, I believe so.

I got a parking ticket 20 years ago which had the day before date on it. I sent them in a photocopy of my airline ticket to Sydney and return where I was on they same day of the alleged offence.

The fine was waived.

Lucky you!

I tried a similar thing Townsville, Queensland, when I got a parking ticket with errors on it. About three weeks later I received a reply thanking me for the pointing out the errors and telling me that the issued infringement notice had been cancelled.

Unfortunately the letter then went on to say “please find attached replacement infringement notice with the correct details.”

Well, mine was 20 years ago so maybe they have changed the laws everywhere so there must be legislation to support it somewhere. Why don’t you ask them for the relevant details.

Of course, if you contested it in court any reasonable magistrate would support you. But then, this happened in the Deep North so you could end up with a custodial sentence.

I would be writing to the local Townsville newspaper about it though.

HenryBG said :

To give you some idea of the fun that’s in store for people who dispute fines, have a read of this one:
http://courts.act.gov.au/supreme/judgments/burridge-v-chief-magistrate-of-the-magistrates-court-of-the-australian-capital-territory

Any idea what the costs would have been?

dungfungus said :

toadstool said :

I just noticed that the parking ticket I received has an error on it. It states the make of vehicle is a Toyota whereas my car is a Nissan. Is this grounds for disputing the ticket?

Yes, I believe so.

I got a parking ticket 20 years ago which had the day before date on it. I sent them in a photocopy of my airline ticket to Sydney and return where I was on they same day of the alleged offence.

The fine was waived.

Lucky you!

I tried a similar thing Townsville, Queensland, when I got a parking ticket with errors on it. About three weeks later I received a reply thanking me for the pointing out the errors and telling me that the issued infringement notice had been cancelled.

Unfortunately the letter then went on to say “please find attached replacement infringement notice with the correct details.”

toadstool said :

I just noticed that the parking ticket I received has an error on it. It states the make of vehicle is a Toyota whereas my car is a Nissan. Is this grounds for disputing the ticket?

Id be surprised if it was. That would mean that (legally) de badged cars can park illegally everywhere and not get pinged. Did they get the rego number right ? If so, just pay up. You did the wrong thing and got caught.

toadstool said :

I just noticed that the parking ticket I received has an error on it. It states the make of vehicle is a Toyota whereas my car is a Nissan. Is this grounds for disputing the ticket?

Yes, I believe so.

I got a parking ticket 20 years ago which had the day before date on it. I sent them in a photocopy of my airline ticket to Sydney and return where I was on they same day of the alleged offence.

The fine was waived.

I am assuming the correct rego number was on the ticket? I would write to them stating you do not own a Toyota and leave it at that.

I just noticed that the parking ticket I received has an error on it. It states the make of vehicle is a Toyota whereas my car is a Nissan. Is this grounds for disputing the ticket?

To give you some idea of the fun that’s in store for people who dispute fines, have a read of this one:
http://courts.act.gov.au/supreme/judgments/burridge-v-chief-magistrate-of-the-magistrates-court-of-the-australian-capital-territory

Ten_Inches said :

Two things guaranteed in life…death and taxes.

If they don’t get your money through parking infringement notices, they’ll still get it some other way. Rate rises, admin fees, speeding tickets……..

Speeding and parking tickets are easily avoidable of course.

Two things guaranteed in life…death and taxes.

If they don’t get your money through parking infringement notices, they’ll still get it some other way. Rate rises, admin fees, speeding tickets……..

devils_advocate4:39 pm 13 Dec 16

toadstool said :

Maybe the strip already has smart parking. Wouldn’t a way around that be to pull out so the meter resets then reverse your car back into the spot?

Not really – you’d have to return to your car every time the designated amount of time ran out, thus destroying any potential enjoyment of whatever it was you were there to do in the first place, aka ‘false economy’.

After-hours paid parking is the reason civic is progressively becoming more and more dead.

I note that the ticket has been issued by the National Capital Authority not TAMS (or whatever ACT Govt agency issues parking tickets). I guess the NCA follows a different set of rules than the ACT govt.

Wouldn’t taking a photo of each car be way too time consuming? It is very quick to place a chalk mark on a tyre over stopping to take a photo that has all the incriminating features such as number plate and parking sign in the same shot.

Maybe the strip already has smart parking. Wouldn’t a way around that be to pull out so the meter resets then reverse your car back into the spot?

devils_advocate said :

It’s about to get a lot worse with the introduction of ‘smart parking’ – apparently there will be sensors in the time-limited car parks to alert parking inspectors when a car has overstayed its allotted time.

Outside of office hours, I refuse to pay for parking on principle. It’s usually fairly easy to find a spot that is untimed and unpaid after 5:30pm, even in the city centre, provided you read the signs carefully and are prepared to walk a couple of hundred meters.

Except that Barr and friends have been systemtically removing free parking areas one street at a time. It won’t be long before they is no free parking in the city/Manuka/Kingston, or surrounding suburbs.

MelonHead said :

Good to see dungers protecting our moral rights. You should ask your self whether you can photograph private motor vehicle in a public place? What if others see the vehicle and memorise the number of wheels on a car? What if the RAPID wagon cruises past an unregistered car? Are they allowed to take photos? Oh the humanity.

Back to the Champs Elysse of Canberra (Constitution Ave). So pay up and move on. Or drop around to Kippax on a quiet Sunday morning and spot the raft of $145 revenue raisers taped to evil criminal type windscreens all over the empty car park. No photos there. Just revenue.

It may be a revelation to you but criminal elements do shop for cars/accessories by scoping car parks.

Suitable stock is photographed and passed on to prospective customers.

You may also be surprised what is available on the internet from searching a “publicly displayed” VIN from a car.

As far as I am aware the RAPID technology only scans number plates.

Why are you being slugged $145 at Kippax? I only got fined $108.

devils_advocate12:48 pm 13 Dec 16

It’s about to get a lot worse with the introduction of ‘smart parking’ – apparently there will be sensors in the time-limited car parks to alert parking inspectors when a car has overstayed its allotted time.

Outside of office hours, I refuse to pay for parking on principle. It’s usually fairly easy to find a spot that is untimed and unpaid after 5:30pm, even in the city centre, provided you read the signs carefully and are prepared to walk a couple of hundred meters.

Good to see dungers protecting our moral rights. You should ask your self whether you can photograph private motor vehicle in a public place? What if others see the vehicle and memorise the number of wheels on a car? What if the RAPID wagon cruises past an unregistered car? Are they allowed to take photos? Oh the humanity.

Back to the Champs Elysse of Canberra (Constitution Ave). So pay up and move on. Or drop around to Kippax on a quiet Sunday morning and spot the raft of $145 revenue raisers taped to evil criminal type windscreens all over the empty car park. No photos there. Just revenue.

Isn’t photographing a private motor vehicle without permission an invasion of privacy?

It could also be considered to be stalking in some circumstances.

Do the “digital” parking inspectors have the right to photograph our cars?

BTW, I got one too in the same area last week – it was in an envelope. They are red hot because they need the revenue as rommeldog56 stated.

Really ridiculous because the car park was virtually empty too.

Why would u want to challenge it ? You admitted that u went overtime. Pay up. The Territory’s budget is deep in the red so the donation will no doubt be appreciated by Barr/Rattenburry and co.

And don’t worry, u wont need to drive soon so chances of getting booked will be less. The Tram will fix it.

The usually do a round, photograph the car in situ and then do another round. If you were only 20 minutes over then you must have timed your Park to their rounds pretty accurately….unlucky.

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