Are you looking for a way to get out of the parking ticket that you received? Do you think you were unfairly given a parking ticket and want to fight it? If so, then you need to learn about how to get out of a parking ticket for future reference.
Doing so can help you pay the fines of the ticket or ensure that the ticket doesn’t count against your insurance charges. It just takes a bit of effort on your part.
Be sure to see below for an in-depth guide on getting rid of parking tickets and not having to pay the fees attached to them.
1. Use Your Parking App to Contest the Ticket
If you’ve ever parked downtown or around an area where many businesses have congregated, you’ve probably seen that most lots use a parking app.
These parking apps allow you to quickly pay for parking time, getting rid of the need for you to run out to the parking meter to add more time. You can pay for a certain amount of time and then quickly add more time as need be.
However, they also come in handy if you’ve been given a parking ticket. There are many times where parking ticket apps have spared someone from paying a ticket. It’s used as evidence to prove that they didn’t deserve the parking ticket.
For example, say a person parks in a spot and uses their ParkMobile app to place 60 minutes in the space. They then come out 58 minutes later to find a parking ticket on their windshield even though they had 2 more minutes left on their time.
By using the app, they can appeal the ticket with the city/county that assigned the ticket to them. Most cities are adopting an online way to contest the ticket, so you may not even have to show up in court to appeal it.
2. Review the Ticket
Too many people make the mistake of just accepting the parking ticket that they’ve been given and paying it without looking at the details.
Any time you’re assigned a ticket, be sure to read the ticket at length. What time was the ticket assigned? Did they enter in your license plate? What color, make, and model did they put down for the car description? Did they mark down the correct parking spot?
If there are any mistakes on it, it could help you fight the parking ticket. Make a mark by any potential mistakes that you see.
For example, say you noticed that you parked in a 30-minute parking zone spot at 1 pm, then came out to the ticket saying that you’d been there for over 30 minutes even though it’s only 1:28 pm.
Mark that on the ticket, then attend the hearing and inform them that you believe there to be a mistake on the ticket.
3. Gather Witnesses
If you find an inaccuracy on the parking ticket, then you might have a fighting chance at getting out of paying for the ticket. However, without any proof of the inaccuracy, there’s little the judge can do to change the fee.
For that reason, you will want to gather as many witnesses as you possibly can. A witness could be anyone involved. It could be the coworker you were driving with, a guy standing on the street by the parking space, or someone that also got a ticket.
No matter who your witness is, be sure to grab their name, number, and email address so that you can reach out to them at a later date.
As long as the witness has credible information and backs up your story, it could help you fight off the ticket without paying it or having it affect your insurance later on.
4. Be Preventative
There will be times where technology will fail you while you park. It could be that the machine in the parking garage was down and let you through without paying. The parking meter might be broken and not keep track even if you put money in.
It’s important to be preventative in those situations. Any time that you think a parking meter isn’t working properly, try to find a new spot. Don’t take the chance.
If there aren’t any other spots and you’re in a rush, then take a video of the meter before you walk away.
For parking meters, always start with one quarter, ensuring that the meter registers the payment before sticking more quarters in. If you’re paying on a parking app, make sure to double-check the duration and total that you paid before walking away from the car.
5. Do as the Ticket Instructs You to
The ticket that you receive will have detailed instructions for how to either pay or appeal the ticket that you’ve been given.
It will let you know which courtroom to appear in, where to pay the ticket, what time your court date is if you’re wanting to fight it, and so on. Be sure to follow those instructions to the “T”.
In order to fight the ticket, you have to follow the instructions they lay out for doing so. Don’t put the ticket off to the side or pay it without fighting the charge if you have reason to believe it was wrongly assigned.
How to Get Out of a Parking Ticket: Make the Effort
The top factor to remember in how to get out of a parking ticket is effort. Most people don’t even take the time to try and appeal the ticket they’ve been given.
The legal system isn’t out to get you. They’ll happily admit their mistake if they made one and will be glad to redact the ticket if you can prove it was wrong.
Be sure to browse our website for more articles on parking tickets, as well as many other helpful topics.
