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What do you do when a parking ticket creates an ethical dilemma. |
 | By Drew Olson   Senior Editor E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Drew Olson |
| Published Jan. 19, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. |
|
One of my favorite features in The New York Times Magazine is "The Ethicist" -- a column/blog/podcast devoted to interesting personal ethical dilemmas that we face in our daily lives.
Here is one from Milwaukee.
A friend (it's always a friend, isn't it?) was attending a social function on a Thursday evening at an establishment on Brady Street. The event started at roughly 7:30 p.m., but my friend had trouble finding a parking space. After a few trips around the block, my friend decided to park in a city lot behind Apollo Cafe and other businesses.
The lot was nearly full on this particular chilly, somewhat snowy night, but my friend parked and walked to function without incident.
Upon returning to the lot, my friend discovered that the meters in the lot need to be fed during evening hours. My friend learned this via the parking ticket affixed to the windshield. The time on the ticket indicated that it had been written roughly 7 minutes before my friend arrived.
After cursing the misfortune, my friend pocketed the ticket, said "My mistake" and vowed to pay it in a few days.
As a worker who frequents businesses both Downtown and on the East Side, my friend is not a stranger to parking tickets and has found that paying them online is the least painless method for disposal and has bookmarked the site for easier access
This is where the fun starts ...
My friend visited the city's parking Web site, entered the vehicle's license plate number and saw there was no ticket recorded. No big deal. Sometimes, it takes a day or two for the transgressions to hit the computer system.
A couple days later, my friend returned to the site, entered the plate number and again found nothing. At this point, my friend grabbed the hard copy of the ticket and realized that the parking checker had made a mistake. Though the make and model were accurate, the license number as recorded on the ticket was off by one number -- an honest mistake probably prompted by the reduced visibility of a snowy night.
Here is the question -- Since the city has no record of my friend violating the parking ordinance, should said friend pay the ticket in question? Or, should the friend use the "no harm, no foul" defense by saying "they city screwed up."
Use the Talkback feature to let us know what you think.
|
8 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by GrassHopper on Jan. 20, 2009 at 3:36 p.m. (report)
When it comes to tickets Milwaukee is not forgiving, and as many of the readers have commented the meter maids are not nice. I agree you should make sure the ticket isn't going to cause someone else hardship if you ignore it, but if it doesn't consider it that silver lining on your cloud for the day. I wouldn't pay it.
| Rate this: |
Posted by woraz13 on Jan. 20, 2009 at 11:11 a.m. (report)
MZH- I agree. I honestly have more respect for prostitutes than for parking checkers. The Journal ran a story about the amount of towed cars on the eastside after the snowstorm on Dec 22nd and 23rd. They went around the neighborhoods and not only gave tickets for "snow covered vehicles" (keep in mind we just got like 10 inches of snow), but also issued permission to tow these vehicles. Everyone I knew had their vehicle in a legal spot, with a night pass, and most were in angled parking so there was no way they were parked on the wrong side of the street. Merry Xmas from the meter maids! I felt like moving out of the city after this.
| Rate this: |
Posted by rnzh102 on Jan. 20, 2009 at 10:17 a.m. (report)
There is NEVER any dilemma, ethical or otherwise, when dealing with parking tickets. Get out of them any way you can, no questions asked. Parking checkers are the most unethical group of bastards that walk the earth today. I have gotten tickets with broken/missing meters, so much snow that you can't pull all the way up and my bumper is 1 inch past the line, during the day when I was home sick.....etc, etc, etc. I have talked with numerous members of The Milwaukee Police Department and the general opinion is that people who are parking checkers have no soul. I once saw a parking checker call a tow truck because a handicapped person's permit fell down off the rear view mirror and they were too lazy to look at the license plate in the back(this person was a disabled war vet) I could go on for hours but I think everyone knows where I stand.
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Posted by Milw Luvva on Jan. 20, 2009 at 8:31 a.m. (report)
Your friend made and honest mistake -- he/she didn't flaunt the law, just didn't know that meters had to be plugged at night; that's fairly uncommon -- and the parking checker made an honest mistake. Even Steven.
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Posted by repoman on Jan. 20, 2009 at 8:17 a.m. (report)
If you pay that ticket you are a moron. Every one of us has been screwed by Milwaukees absurd parking laws. I have had tickets after the meter has been expired for less than 5 minutes, its as if those jerks just stand there waiting. I had that happen to me once, where thy put the wrong license plate number on there and there was no way in heck I would pay that.
| Rate this: |
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