“No Stopping 9pm-5am” – D.C.
August 14, 2010 by Capitals90 · 214 Comments
I was in town to attend a gathering on K Street and knew the parking attendants would be out at 9:00 PM to enforce “No Stopping” 9pm-5am. I left the gathering at 8:55 and walked out to my car as the attendant was writing the date on the ticket. I asked if I could leave without getting a ticket, since I was going to pull out. He said no, because he had already started to write my license plate (as he was saying this, he started – he hadn’t started to write it before i asked). The ticket was written at 9:00 PM, not 9:01 or anytime after. I still left at that time, having to pull around the ticketwriter’s partner.
I have a question for all the DCites, since I am from out of the area. How is the process of denying the ticket? Are they usually open with listening to the reasoning of the person ticketed? Do they ever throw out the ticket without having to make another trip down to DC? Do you think since ticket was written at 9:00 PM, it would make a difference?
Any information anyone can provide is greatly appreciated. I know it’s only $50, and it could have been much worse, but I seriously did try to leave the spot before 9:00, yet still got ticketed.
Churches Told They Have a Friend in Fenty on Parking Woes
June 28, 2010 by Capitals90 · 4 Comments
On Monday a coalition of Baptist ministers held a debate between council member Kwame Brown and former council member Vincent Orange – both of whom are running for the D.C. Council chairman’s post. Much of the debate focused on parking enforcement during church services – which, according to the pastors has become increasingly aggressively lately. “The mayor doesn’t know people are being ticketed like this,” said Blondine Hughes, a volunteer in Mayor Adrian Fenty’s office. Brown and Orange both claimed to be sympathetic to the church leaders’ complaints. “When I go to U Street or Georgetown, I don’t see the same aggressiveness. We shouldn’t drive our churches out because of parking,” said Kwame Brown whose mother is a minister. Orange also claimed that “parking restrictions should be relaxed on Sundays, but that it would be imperative to find an alternate source of revenue.”
College Park Will See Increase In Parking Fines
May 11, 2010 by Capitals90 · 6 Comments
Drivers parking in College Park may soon want to be more cautious due to a proposal to raise ticket fines by an additional $2.50 each. According to public officials, the city issues around 25,000 parking tickets each year, generating approximately $380,000 annually. A city official estimates that the proposed increase would generate an additional $80,000 per year for the city. The revenue is badly needed, as the city’s $9.3 million parking garage, which is only 9 months old, has proven to be a bust in regards to its expected revenue generating capabilities. The City Council will vote on the proposal in two weeks.
D.C. DUI Machines Not Calibrated Correctly
March 2, 2010 by Capitals90 · 6 Comments
The Metropolitan Police Department serving the Washington D.C. area is in possible legal trouble in connection with thousands of DUI convictions from October 2008 to February 2010. The problem stems with the accuracy, or lack thereof, of their breathalyzer machines which measured suspects’ BAC. During a recent audit, eight out of ten machines were found to be defective.
