Parking Fines

[Serenity_Now]

I am in the process of fighting a couple. We parked on Toorak road to do some work at the the Como building near the corner of Chapel street. My guys set their phone alarms and every hour, just before the hour was up, my guys moved the cars. It did not stop the city of Stonnington papering our vehicle. I initially sent a letter (along with an invoice for my time that I had wasted dealing with the fine) disputing the fines along with a copy of a GPS tracker report from one of the vehicles and received a letter back saying that the inspector's notes had mentioned that the chalk on the tyre was unbroken and I would have to pay! I have since sent them a letter accusing the council of an abuse of power and have asked them to cancel the fine or organise a hearing in court… I have also sent another invoice that takes into account the time I have spent dealing with the issue. Fair enough I reckon.

 

Friend of mine took them to court and right before the hearing, they withdrew the ticket.  He still had to take an annual leave day to go to court.

 

He had a car logger that showed he moved.  It was no match for their 'detailed notes'.

 

As a rule, if you're writing a letter of complaint, ask for their notes in the first letter.  I don't believe they allow for subsequent letters to be sent.

[Zebba]

Haven't had a parking fine since I realised that the signs mean what they say

I've only received one - from a private mob. Sign said "Free parking all day Sunday" in big letters. Then in the terms and conditions it said you still had to display a ticket for the free parking. They tried to invoice me for $80 in damages, plus another $80 late fee because I never actually got the invoice until 2 years after the event. Certainly never got a ticket on the car, although I was in a share house so it's entirely possible someone else had been driving my car and just threw it out.

 

I told 'em to ■■■■ off. They offered to waive the late fee. I told them to stay ■■■■■■ off. Got a call from Dunn & Bradstreet a few months later, told them to ■■■■ off. Then when it got reported to the credit agencies just sent in a stat dec saying I never incurred any such debt and they were welcome to fight me in court.

 

Good times. Good. Times.

[SMJ]

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

[benfti]

move to Adelaide, parking fines there are 18 bucks. You could park in the middle of rundle mall and thats all you would get.

[Jefferson]

move to Adelaide, parking fines there are 18 bucks. You could park in the middle of rundle mall and thats all you would get.

I would rather pay the $$$ in parking fines than have to live in Adelaide.

[wimmera1]

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

 

 

...almost makes it sound worth it.

[Jefferson]

 

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

 

 

...almost makes it sound worth it.

 

Could you imagine a world without lawyers?

 

[SMJ]

 

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

 

 

...almost makes it sound worth it.

 

Look, obviously I'm going to find running a case fun (as a lawyer), but I know lots of schmoes who have gone and run (and won) their own cases in the MC without lawyers (and had a ball doing it...) 

[SMJ]

 

 

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

 

 

...almost makes it sound worth it.

 

Could you imagine a world without lawyers?

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMUEqRx-C-g

[wimmera1]

 

 

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

 

 

...almost makes it sound worth it.

 

Could you imagine a world without lawyers?

 

 

 

To be honest, the way I'm imagining things would get me in a lot of trouble.

'Your worship, ladies and gentlemen of the court, clearly my learned friend is a ■■■■.'

[Bacchusfox]

I am in the process of fighting a couple. We parked on Toorak road to do some work at the the Como building near the corner of Chapel street. My guys set their phone alarms and every hour, just before the hour was up, my guys moved the cars. It did not stop the city of Stonnington papering our vehicle.

 
Strictly speaking, movement is held to be irrelevant. The vehicle must exit the length or area covered by the same sign or series of repeated signs. If there‘s an adjacent single space that breaks up the restriction (e.g. disabled or loading space) you could move just two spaces to the other side — but if the same restriction goes on for a few hundred metres, no such luck.

Where does it say that on the sign?

 
205 Parking for longer than indicated[/size]
(1) A driver must not park continuously on a length of road, or in an area, to which a [/size]permissive parking sign [/size]applies for longer than the period indicated by information on or with the sign or, if rule 206 applies to the driver, the period allowed under that rule.[/size]
 
Before you start picking at “continuously”, I understand this has been thrashed out and the interpretation I gave above applies.

In some parts of Melbourne, you can now pay for parking over the phone with an app, and set an alarm to tell when it expires. I emailed City of Melbourne if I could just extend the parking over the phone, and they said that was OK. So I sit in a restuarant drinking and eating and just add more when times goes off. If they book me then I will produce the email sent to me.

[Jefferson]

 

 

 

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

Sometimes, if your circumstances are particularly compelling, you will get off at this point, by the council advising you that the fine has been withdrawn. If not though, you will receive a letter saying that your review has been rejected and you have to pay the fine or potentially have the the matter heard in court. Most people cave in and pay at this point, but they shouldn't. Instead, send another letter, clearly stating again your reasons that the fine was issued in error, and state that you are unwilling to pay the fine. Further state that if the matter is heard in court, it will be rigorously contested.

 

It should be noted here that you don't need to elect to take the matter to court - its not your call (this is for parking fines only, traffic fines are different). Basically, you can elect not to pay, for any reason you like, and if they want to collect the fine they need to make the decision to take you to the Magistrate's Court and prove their case.

 

Its at this point where you need to understand that local councils live in the real world, with all the resource and time restrictions that all organisations have. What this practically means is that, for instance. if you have only one fine worth about 70 bucks, and you tell the council that they need to take you to court and prove their case (and you tell them you will contest the matter), the council needs to then decide whether or not its worth the cost and effort of going to court to collect that 70 bucks. Logically, unless they have a rock solid case, or you have a number of fines worth lots of money which can all be prosecuted at once, they are (in most instances) going to choose to withdraw the infringement and just walk away.

 

If they don't and send you a letter saying that your matter has been listed for hearing, then you can turn up un-represented and run your case (fun) or hire a lawyer (expensive) or just pay the fine anyway and avoid the hearing (annoying). But most times it won't come to this.

 

 

...almost makes it sound worth it.

 

Could you imagine a world without lawyers?

 

 

 

To be honest, the way I'm imagining things would get me in a lot of trouble.

'Your worship, ladies and gentlemen of the court, clearly my learned friend is a ■■■■.'

 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDQk4lGSEJQ[/media]

[Lost_Pilgrim]

 

If you only have one fine with a particular council (and its a relatively small one) and you have a reasonable excuse, then push the issue and you'll get out of it in the majority of cases.

 

Send a letter requesting an internal review, clearly state your reasons why you believe the fine has been issued in error, and avoid using any inflammatory or emotional statements. Stick to the facts, lay them out clearly, make your case as persuasive as you can. Try to come across as a normal, logical, intelligent citizen, rather than a crackpot.

 

 

 

 

You had me right up until I read that part.

[The_Mad_Bomber]

I don't get a lot of fines but I did get one for about $70 a few years back.  I was teaching at a school and their carpark is too small for the size of the staff, so I had to park in the street. 

 

I parked on what I thought was the lawn of one of the students in the grade I was teaching after I was told by the kid's mum that I was welcome to park at their place.  It was a quiet, narrow street or court and as far as I knew it was not subject to the parking restrictions that were on the adjoining street (no parking between 8:30 and 3:30 or something like that). I received a letter from the council a few days later saying I was illegally parked and not for the breaching the no parking that was on the signage in the adjoining street.  It said I was on council property or something like that.  My crime was to park my car so as to straddle the road and the grass.  It was one of those flat gutters without a 10-20 cm high kerb and I parked like that so as to not obstruct any traffic.  There was no nature strip so I thought it was the householder's property.

 

I asked a mate who is a lawyer and he said contest it and write this letter blah blah blah, get one of the parents of the kid to sign some letter saying that they permitted me to park on their land. Ask for them to change it to a warning etc.

 

I did that and they refused to change it to a warning.  They sent me a (slightly smart arsey) letter that outlined the actual law (I am no lawyer but I have several tertiary degrees and I found the language difficult to understand), and part of the justification in fining me was that my car could damage underground cables, and pipes etc.

 

The filthy little **** that fined me did so at about 3:11 or 3:12 PM and school finished that day at 3:15 so it was about as much about safety and protecting council infrastructure as it was about revenue raising.  I am still ■■■■■■ off about it to this day.

[theDJR]

Summary of last post: I parked on the nature strip in a built-up area. Rule 197, maybe 198 too.

[wimmera1]

Summary of last post: I parked on the nature strip in a built-up area. Rule 197 and 198.

 

Just wondering, do council workers get dispensation for that?

[theDJR]

Rule 197 allows speed camera vehicles to park on the nature strip. Popular clause, that one.

 

Otherwise, rules 305-313, particularly 308, which mostly require the grey requirements for ‘reasonable care‘ and ‘it is reasonable that the provision should not apply‘.

[darkknightpheonix]

There's a fb page set up for this. Granted you have to crawl through some posturing by self appointed guru's on the matter that think if you don't get all their lingo straight off the bat, you're a moron.

pretty much just imagine the page is run by noonan.

 

anyway has some decent stuff on there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/211871612287035/

[The_Mad_Bomber]

Summary of last post: I parked on the nature strip in a built-up area. Rule 197, maybe 198 too.

I did not know I was on a nature strip, as I have only ever lived in places with a gutter of at least 5 (more likely 10-20) cm in height in which case I would not want my car straddling that high for risk of possibly damaging my car's undercarriage.  In every place I have lived in, except for a flat in Ripponlea and my current residence, there has always been a footpath between the property and the nature strip, so I genuinely did not know when I got this fine that I was even parked on a nature strip.

 

The wording of the law that I was given was not particularly straight forward.  Something I believe is required for laws to be. 

 

*If it were so easily understood it would probably cut 95% of revenue as we would probably always follow the law.

 

So which council do you work for?  Just so I know where not to park my car. :P

[theDJR]

Not a parking officer, I have no power  :ph34r: