Additions & Corrections

It takes a while from when a book is written to when it hits bookshelves, and in the meantime things can change. Below are a few additions and corrections to the printed edition; please contact us if you have any other feedback.

• Repeat tickets for status violations (inspection, registration etc.): if you received an identical ticket for a status violation within 7 days, the parking bureau used to reduce the second ticket to $20. I've been told that this is no longer the case - it's now full price for both tickets. (The PVB giveth and the PVB taketh away).

 

• Settlement offers: I've been asked whether, in general, it's a good idea to accept the offer of a reduced fine in return for not having a hearing. The honest answer is that there is rarely a surefire answer to this question. If you were only interested in mitigating the fine - then you've gotten what you want, and take their offer. If you believe you have a legal defense to the ticket (and the book should help you judge whether you do) then the question becomes one of calculated risk and psychology - how much do you want to win? Be heard? Take the chance of not being believed? Considering how personal a choice this is, I can't say more than that.  Although I will say this: if the only defense you have is a technical defect of the type that is obvious and you are already at a live hearing and the clerk there offers you a settlement - then take it, because he's already looked at the ticket and didn't think the obvious defect was relevant (this doesn't apply if the defect is one such as the wrong registration date, which you'd have to prove by showing the judge the correct info). 

 

• There's been a great court case, Sanford v. Young, which clarifies how the process should work when you submit a believable defense and the judge merely states that your defense was "not persuasive." Check it out here.

Hope these help!