I got a parking ticket. According to the time it was issued, the
parking meter was twice as fast as it should be. I complained to
Parking Authority, but they reply that the meter was fine.
Because it already happened to me many times and I have to park there
every day, I am preparing to fight this case in court. I would really
appreciate if somebody helps me to answer following questions.
1)	Do parking meters record number of coins and time when they were
deposited? What they record?
2)	Is statistics on broken parking meters or complains about it
available to public? If yes, how I can obtain it?
Thanks in advance.
Alex

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Request for Question Clarification by thx1138-ga on 07 Jun 2002 11:13 PDT

Which country are you in? If you are in the USA which State?

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Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 07 Jun 2002 11:16 PDT

Do you know the brand name and/or model number of the parking meter?

Greetings!

I hope I can help you with your parking meter queries. 

Although I was not able to find a specific document containing
statistics concerning broken meters or public complaints, I did come
across information claiming that most parking meters usually give an
extra 1-9 minutes of additional time past what the customer's allotted
time.

Many sites said that you should contact the department in your city
that handles parking meters, if you feel that you have been shorted
your allotted time.  The city should send someone to check the meter
to see if it is malfunctioning.  Most cities prefer that you make
contact the same day you feel you were shorted.
 
You will need to contact the specific manufacturer of the parking
meter in question, to obtain information on the inner workings of that
specific meter.  The manufacturer would also be able to provide the
information about whether the coins, and the times they were
deposited, would be recorded and available.



Links to the leading manufacturers of parking meters:
The Parking Meter Page, dedicated memorial website of Ron
Luttrell(1956-2000)
http://www.ionet.net/~luttrell/links.html

Comments about time shortage:
Parking meter FAQs:
The Parking Meter Page, dedicated memorial website of Ron
Luttrell(1956-2000)
http://www.ionet.net/~luttrell/meterfaq.html



parking meter+mechanism
parking meter+facts


regards,
madsky101

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Clarification of Answer by madsky101-ga on 07 Jun 2002 19:10 PDT

Greetings! 
 
I apologize if I misinterpreted your questions. 
 
I listed the links to the manufacturers so that you could contact the
appropriate one to answer your first set of questions.  The
manufacturers could give you the information about the mechanism,
electronic or old fashioned timer, and the information each would
possibly record.
 
Although I searched, I was unable to find hard statistics available to
the public, or studies that have been done addressing the accuracy of
the parking meter.
 
After reading your response, it seems that in actuality you were
searching for strategies to aid you in your defense instead of the
workings of the parking meter mechanisms.
 
If I misinterpreted your questions in any way, again I apologize. 
 
 
Thank you for sharing your feedback. 
 
madsky101 

I asked for a specific information. The answer I got does not answer a
single question.

no one question was answered. I am afraid that madsky101-ga  did not
even read my text, otherwise he would notice that I already submit a
complain.
Comments, especially from weisstho-ga were usufull.

Alexdruk-ga,

There are two types of meters in widespread use, mechanical meters and
electronic meters. The mechanical meters have a dial with an arrow,
the electronic meters have an LCD like a digital clock. Older
mechanical meters do not keep records, newer digital meters have the
capability, but some cities may not use it. One of the primary reasons
for cities to change to the new meters is that they can monitor their
meter colletion employees to see if they are stealing.

You may be interested in the NYC comptrollers report, which states
that only 2% of broken meters were repaired within a day of the
failure report, while 13% weren't repaired for 3 to 11 more weeks.

http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/press/archive_releases/98-06-035.shtm

In this report from Columbus OH, which uses many new electronic
meters,

"The team lauded Columbus’ installation of electronic meters to
replace the 5500 older mechanical ones – a process which began before
either incident of employee theft was known. The new meters allow
hand-held electronic devices to extract information from each meter
and record the exact amount of money collected, creating an audit
trail of parking meter receipts."

http://council.ci.columbus.oh.us/news/press/pr_sat.htm

According to Yost of Intelligent Devices Inc, a seller of new
"aggressive" meters, about 15% of mechanical meters are broken at any
given time.

http://www.govtech.net/magazine/gt/1995/aug/dept/trends.phtml

However, if your meter was a new digital meter, and if it had time
left on it when you pulled up, the meter may have dumped that time on
purpose (same article).

In any case, you want to go back to the meter that cheated you, as
discussed in the comments, and make a note of which type it is. Taking
a picture of the meter, having a witness watch the clock run when you
put in money, or doing a video, as I suggested earlier in the
comments, would all be a big help in court. You can win this, I have.

Search terms used

"parking meter" records

Thank you for using Google Answers

Hey Alex,

Just another thought: Perhaps having another person witness you're
depositing the money and then, later, revisit the meter with you to
witness how much time is remaining. If there is a discrepancy, they
could either (a) testify on your behalf, or (b) submit an affidavit
(some places call them "declarations"), which is a statement under
oath, of what they saw.

You could even spice up the presentation with a nice photograph taken
of the meter with an alarm clock in the picture (do they still make
wind up alarm clocks?) and include the pictures with your
confederate's affidavit.

Good luck!

Tom

Evidence is a big winner in courts. I beat a $195 ticket and tow in
NYC once because I showed up with photographs of the spot showing that
there was a meter and that there was no sign saying the meter was
restricted. The judge took me at my word that the photographs were
what I said they were, since I'd gone to the trouble of taking and
bringing them. If you have a bored friend with a video camera, have
them video you putting a quarter in, put a watch or a battery powered
clock right on top of the meter, and video it for a half hour. Even if
it turns out the meter's not that fast, just showing up with the tape
could win it for you.

It happends in Fort Lee NJ

Here is a receint article from MSNBC that gives soem insight about
gathering evidence and fighting tickets issued due to faulty parking
meters. http://www.msnbc.com/local/wews/A1179597.asp

-S

I like your idea, morris-ga. Especially the threat of boring to death
the whole court by making them watch a 2hr video of a parking meter
count down :) I'd let you off to avoid that kind of punishment :)

I found this re California parking ticket dismissal @
http://wwwsa.csuhayward.edu/~dpstest/Conpark.shtml :

"Parking Citation Dismissal Considerations 

A. As specified in California Vehicle Code Section 40202 (f)  “Under
no circumstances
shall a personal relationship with any officer, public official, or
law enforcement agency be grounds for cancellation”.

B. Circumstances that may provide reason for cancellation of a parking
citation
generally includes the following categories. 

1. Administrative error. 

a. Administrative notification procedures and time-tables specified by
the
California Vehicle Code was not followed in issuance or processing of
a citation.

b. Officer erroneously cites a vehicle, or erroneously fills out a
Notice of Parking
violation in a manner that casts doubts as to the identification of
the vehicle.

c. Misinformation by a University parking enforcement official results
in the
issuance of a parking citation. 

2. Failure of the parking/traffic environment. 

a. Parking meter malfunction. 

b. Control devices, signs or signals malfunction. 

3. Emergent circumstances. 

a. Verifiable personal or University emergency. 

4. Policies. 

a. Laws or regulations exercised are not applicable to the situation
or exercised
in error. 

5. When the citation is the result of obvious confusion in regards to
parking
regulations, lot or stall markings and/or signage.  However, ignorance
of the law is not a valid defense.

6. A parking citation was issued for "no permit" because the permit
has been stolen that day.

 7. An individual cited for improper use of a disabled placard and who
can show that
     he/she is the holder of, or authorized to use a disabled placard.

8. In the Interest of Justice - After reviewing all information, the
Parking
Administrator may determine that justice would not be served by
imposing a penalty.

a.  When an individual has shown that he/she went above and beyond in
trying
to comply with the University's parking regulations. "

There is a site, http://www.parkingticket.com/ , that guarantees
dismissal of your parking ticket for a fee, or your money back.

The following is advice from LawInfo.com (
http://www.lawinfo.com/legal-audio/real/5126.htm ):

"Before making a decision to fight a traffic ticket, first consider
the evidence you have to support your version of the facts. For
example, the testimony of a witness can help your case; however, the
judge will consider the reliability of the witness, based on who the
witness is. The judge will probably put more faith in a stranger's
story than if your witness is your best friend or your spouse. Some
people decide to fight a ticket simply in the hope that the police
officer won't appear. While this is more likely to happen on a parking
ticket rather than a moving violation, if it does happen, oppose any
request for a continuance that the prosecution makes, and ask for an
immediate dismissal of all charges. Although you have the option to
appear alone before the judge to dispute a traffic ticket, you may
wish to seek the advice of an attorney for more information. "

Parking meters are not very accurate at keeping time. The following
story got quite a lot of press here in California.

"Sixth-Grader Roots out Swindle: For her sixth-grade science project,
Ellie Lammer decided to conduct a random sampling of parking meters in
Berkeley to find how many could keep time accurately. Her results
showed that while most meters actually gave the parker extra time, 28
percent were short-timing the customer. Her project is putting heat on
public officials and leading to change on a national level. With time
running out on the mechanical parking meter, which are like clocks
that wear out over time, more cities across the country are gradually
turning to the digital parking meter." (source: bottom right corner of
http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/haasweek/20020415/)

Other sources for this story: 
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/nation-world/html98/altmetr_061598.htm
l

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_000628_parkingmeters_feature.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/02/03/p12s3.htm 

Perhaps you could time the meter with a video camera and/or mention
Ellie's experiment when fighting your ticket. Good luck!

Can one ask for a jury trial for a parking ticket? If you request one,
surely your case will be dismissed - no court has enough time for
something like that, ha!

A jury for a parking ticket?

Probably not.

But it depends on the jurisdiction, I assume. You see, a parking
violation (or a speeding violation) is generally not a crime - it is a
"civil infraction" which places the offender in a different status.
You can't get jail, no right to counsel, etc. ("But what about these
guys with 120 parking tickets getting thrown in jail?"  Well, that is
probably for contempt of court.)

Tom