Got parking tickets? no license for you!

Was just reading the news today, This is interesting.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/michigan/new-Michigan-parking-ticket-law

Wood TV news said: 3 unpaid tickets = no license renewal Updated: Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 10:39 AM EDT Published : Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 10:20 AM EDT LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) - Changes to Michigan's parking ticket law begin Wednesday -- a bill Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law in February. You will not be able to renew your driver's license if you have more than three unpaid parking tickets. Previously you could have as many as six unpaid parking tickets before your license was affected. The change is an effort to get you to pay off those old tickets and collect that revenue. Since 2006 there has been more than $3 million in outstanding parking tickets in the City of Grand Rapids. But the statute of limitations on parking tickets is six years. Now, this new law will help to collect some of the tickets that go unpaid. Otherwise, your driver's license won't be renewed. As for out-of-state drivers, the city clerk's office has hired a private firm to track them down. These drivers account for about $300,000 in revenue. Only time will tell how much of that $3 million the city will be able to collect from unpaid tickets.

I got a parking ticket once. I paid it...

I have no problem with govt going after criminals and scofflaws. Don't like the ticket? Write city hall. Don't like the fine? Don't do the crime!

Sure, parking laws are a pain in the butt every so often, but they exist for a reason.

$3 million the city will be able to collect from unpaid tickets.

$3M in parking tickets is what blows my mind

I'm surprised New York hasn't done this. Albany (the Capitol) is NYS headquarters for all things administrative, but surrounding these mongo office buildings are quaint cobblestone streets of brownstones (OK, not all)

The people that pay taxes there can't park in front of their own home, and the visiting workers just blow off the tickets.

Dan

Ontario has had a similar law for several years - except I believe it's broader in that any unpaid ticket (not just parking) can be held against you.

Trick is to not loose the citation before you pay it....or not get one in the first place...

I know parking tickets are unfair sometimes, but there are a lot of E36 M3heads out there that think they can park anywhere and when they get a ticket, they throw it out.

If anyone watches Parking Wars, they would know how many people don't have a problem breaking the law.

I think this is a good thing. Money for the state.

I think 3 is plenty. I have no problem with this. Many people get that one stupid ticket that was unintended or you're pissed about paying... but 3 is more than enough room for the unintended exceptions. At that point just pay your ticket or quit parking illegally.

Memphis has been trying to do something similar for years. But because they go out of their way to give folks a break there, if you have tickets and can't pay them you are allowed to appear and get a payment "system" worked out. Heck, they even reduce the fines/fees by half, if necessary.

And $3 MILLION dollars in unpaid parking tickets isn't all that much, there are larger cities with more.

I don't have a problem with that law, it's kinda logical.

But I have heard of any number of weird parking ticket scams (there's no other word for it) and towing scams by the cities near nightclub areas. So that means in certain circumstances I'd be against that law.

This is why I'm glad that I live in a small rural community. Here you'll only get ticketed for parking in a Handicapped spot, and even then it's if the fuzz feels like it. No meter maids, hell the meters were taken out over 20 years ago.

So will this result in more people paying tickets, or more people driving without a license?

Unintended consequences and all that.

Son writes parking tickets in Wrightsville Beach. Fifth time is a boot. He loves putting boots on cars. He loves cars, btw. Memorizes cars from last year and started the season looking for them. Cities like WB rely on parking tickets to meet their annual budgets.

I almost left a bare shell in a parking lot when I was threatened with a boot. I LOL'd because it was private property and enforcement was by rent-a-cops that failed out of the academy. No, seriously, I know a guy that worked for them about a year later, and they really did flunk out.

I still think it would have been fun to watch. Scrap was down at the time, so I wouldn't have been out much, and they would have had to take care of it.

It wasn't so much an issue that I was parked legally and he gave me a fit, but it was that the guard was an idiot.

In downtown Grand Junction, we have some free parking and some metered parking. People drive around and around to get the free parking. But here's the thing - parking is $0.10/hour (it went up a few years ago). And it's free other than 9 am-5 pm M-F.

If you do the math, that means that each meter will bring in a maximum of $4/week. Why would anyone drive more than a couple of car lengths to look for free parking when parking for a week is about the same price as a gallon of gas? I don't imagine there are a lot of parking tickets written around here, but people do surprise me.

Meanwhile, you should have seen me trying to figure out how to park/store/load my two-car trailer in downtown Ottawa over a week last fall. Even if you can find 50' of parking space, you can't stay in it for more than an hour. That was a challenge. Managed to do it without getting a ticket, but I did have to play "My big truck has a push bar and low range, so your Civic will wait for me to get this thing moved or I will squash you in the process" game a couple of times.

I got one when I was 18.. and it was not my fault. Guys at work picked up and moved my Beetle over into the no parking spots at work so they could park their car

N Sperlo wrote: I got a parking ticket once. I paid it...

Do you have proof? If it was in Philly you might want to save that receipt for the rest of your life. Zombie parking tickets are a big revenue enhancer; um, I mean common clerical error in Philly.

Will wrote: So will this result in more people paying tickets, or more people driving without a license? Unintended consequences and all that.

I see that as a lose/lose situation for the driver.

Stupid people have to pay either way.

I got a parking ticket in Montreal back in the 90's. It was for something like C$35. Being young and dumb, I figured I'll be out of the country in a few days and I'm getting rid of this car soon so this plate will never be in Montreal again. I'm not gonna pay it.

About 2-3 years later I get a letter from Montreal. It politely reminded me that I never paid the ticket. Expecting huge late fees and extra fines I slowly read down the letter to find that they want me to pay the exorbitant fee of C$35??? Years later and they want nothing more than the original ticket charge?? And they were nice enough to give instructions on paying with US$. I paid it within the week.

Keith wrote: If you do the math, that means that each meter will bring in a maximum of $4/week. Why would anyone drive more than a couple of car lengths to look for free parking when parking for a week is about the same price as a gallon of gas? I don't imagine there are a lot of parking tickets written around here, but people do surprise me.

What I would be asking is, why go to all the trouble for $4 a week? That's a small thinking town.

Keith wrote: I did have to play "My big truck has a push bar and low range, so your Civic will wait for me to get this thing moved or I will squash you in the process" game a couple of times.

Typical American

ggarrard wrote: Ontario has had a similar law for several years - except I believe it's broader in that any unpaid ticket (not just parking) can be held against you. Trick is to not loose the citation before you pay it....or not get one in the first place...

The real trick is not to lose your receipt. I tried to renew my license in the early 80's and they said I had an unpaid fine. I didn't. Everything was paid and up to date. Nonetheless, I didn't have the receipt, so I had to pay it again, as my wife gave me E36 M3 for not paying it the first time. A month later, I got a cheque in the mail. When they went to process my payment, it came up as paid on time.

Hocrest wrote: I got a parking ticket in Montreal back in the 90's. It was for something like C$35. Being young and dumb, I figured I'll be out of the country in a few days and I'm getting rid of this car soon so this plate will never be in Montreal again. I'm not gonna pay it. About 2-3 years later I get a letter from Montreal. It politely reminded me that I never paid the ticket. Expecting huge late fees and extra fines I slowly read down the letter to find that they want me to pay the exorbitant fee of C$35??? Years later and they want nothing more than the original ticket charge?? And they were nice enough to give instructions on paying with US$. I paid it within the week.

Parking fines are an institution in Montreal. Everybody gets them, and the locals don't give a crap & just treat them as fees for the parking space. I once parked overnight (legally) on a one way street, sauntered out the next day to find I'd been issued a ticket because they changed the direction of the street at 6:00 that morning. I guess it was a weekday/weekend thing that you were just supposed to know. I'm sure having an Ontario-registered car didn't help.

Zomby Woof wrote:

Keith wrote: If you do the math, that means that each meter will bring in a maximum of $4/week. Why would anyone drive more than a couple of car lengths to look for free parking when parking for a week is about the same price as a gallon of gas? I don't imagine there are a lot of parking tickets written around here, but people do surprise me.

What I would be asking is, why go to all the trouble for $4 a week? That's a small thinking town.

Whaddya mean? We have meters like a big city! And they're not the 5 cent/hour meters we had 10 years ago. No, these ones bring in big bank.

I'm not sure anyone's ever done the math before.