Parking ticket, sign behind tree branches. Worth requesting mitigation hearing via written statement?

Can’t hurt. Maybe it will at least give you more time on the ticket

Why not? if you have the energy. $35 sounds pretty dire.

If you have the time.. no reason not to. I would take pictures of the sign before they decide to move it.

@susanc You’re not being sarcastic, right? :/ I only ask because I have a friend who got a $300 ticket; that’s downright morose.

You can certainly try. I contested a parking ticket once, and they decided to eliminate the fine but keep the points on my record. Since I was a penurious grad student at the time that helped, but I still don’t agree (and never will).

You can’t afford $35?
Pay up and be done with it. Do what you need to do. You won’t win this fight.
Not paying it will result in much more fines.

Money has a consistent denominal value. That does not mean has the same value to all of us.

I am unemployed right now. $35 is almost a batch of groceries. Two tanks of gas. A phone bill plus some.

If it’s your first ever offense, you may be able to get off. They usually allow a mercy on the first one.

It’s BS that the sign was blocked, and you can/should lodge a complaint about that. But I doubt they’ll revoke the ticket just because of that. Simply because they know there’s nothing you’ll do since it’s just 35 bucks.

Lots of time you win because the police officer may not show up.

@PandoraBoxx As a minor parking infraction, I don’t know if you can even contest it too court.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Not the most compassionate response ever but then again I don’t know you so what can ya do. Not to be all proletarian, but $35 is a decent chunk of change, maybe not to you, but to billions of people who work their ass off for a shot at making more, and to whom a $35 parking ticket is a major blow in the face when they realize it’s a half a day’s work down the drain, when they already had a shitty day for various miscellaneous reasons, and not even for something that matters but perhaps to help mitigate the city’s overall losses perhaps tangentially related to multi-million dollar annual fireworks displays, and in hopes of bolstering civic loyalty, all marketing and/or media costs therefor

@mirifique The reason I think you’re screwed is because depending on the city you’re in, they no longer care about the small guy. Bureaucracy and budget shortfalls (especially that) supersede common sense and decency.

For example in my home town of Toledo, they recently began enforcing a very old law that forbids people from parking on none-paved surfaces. Ok sounds great right? Except the problem is they’re enforcing it to peoples private homes who simply have unpaved driveways.

The reason? Toledo has a massive budget shortfall. They’re trying to make it up however they can.

@mirifique We all deal with parking tickets. Now it’s your turn.

Your hardship is little compared to the hardships of others in the world. You have my compassion in so far as I don’t want you to suffer. So don’t bring undue suffering upon yourself by dwelling over something as trivial as a parking ticket. Good luck to you.

Ask yourself “in my heart of hearts, do I REALLY think it was NOT my fault?” and go from there.

Just the same, will going to court cost you a day’s pay? Gas? Will you have to pay a sitter on the day you go to court? Cab fare? Lunch? These things might make the $35 ticket the better option.

I would fight it and they will more than likly throw it out.