Parking Ticket – Do I have a case?

[jadeboy]

Well.. went to Church today at Saint Michael and parked in the alley. It seems I violated, Traffic ByLaw 27(2): “In alley, leaving less than 3M clear”, officer ticket said it measures 2.8M. Three other vehicles were also ticketed.

Alley

|---------------|
|1-------------|
|-------------2|
|3-------------|


Vehicle 1 was me, vehicle 2 was a SUV beside me a little ahead and behind then the picture showed (limitation of my picture).
Vehicle 3 is an Honda SUV behind me (all 3 of us were ticked). I do believe it was probably less than 3 meters between 1 vs 2 and 3 vs 2.

BUT when I first drove to park there was neither vehicle 2 nor 3, thus there were EASILY more than 3 meters clearance.
But 2 shows up (never saw it until after I got off Church), it causes the the clearance to be less then 3 meters.

Do I have a case? Any advice? The ticket is $40 but I don't want to pay for something that I don't think I committed an offence.

[topmade]

You are interpreting the ticket wrong. It's for not leaving enough room for another vehicle to pass, not parked behind or infront of you. The ticket is for: block or obstruct alley traffic

[jadeboy]

Please read my post

What you are referring to is 27(3): In alley, block or obstruct alley traffic. Not 27 (2), which is what I was ticketed.

http://www.calgaryparking.com/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=85944&folderId=139075&name=DLFE-8.pdf

[topmade]

It's basically the same thing.

Taken from http://www.calgary.ca/DocGallery/BU/cityclerks/26m96.pdf

27.
(2) No operator or owner of a vehicle shall cause or permit the vehicle to be parked in an alley in such a manner or in such circumstances so as to leave available less than
three metres of the width of the roadway of the alley free and clear of all obstructions to allow the free movement of other vehicular traffic therein.
(3) No operator or owner of a vehicle shall stop or park or permit the stopping or parking of a vehicle in such a manner, location or circumstances that it blocks an alley and impedes the use of the alley by another vehicle.

[jadeboy]

Even.. so. I didn't block or obstruct alley traffic.. once SUV 2 shows up and parked on the other side.. then there was less than 3 meters between our car.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by jadeboy
BUT when I first drove to park there was neither vehicle 2 nor 3, thus there were EASILY more than 3 meters clearance.
But 2 shows up (never saw it until after I got off Church), it causes the the clearance to be less then 3 meters.

The parking guy can't tell who got there first.

I think you may have a chance if you fight it. But it'll probably take half a day so you'll need to decide if your time's worth it.

[topmade]

Originally posted by jadeboy
Even.. so. I didn't block or obstruct alley traffic.. once SUV 2 shows up and parked on the other side.. then there was less than 3 meters between our car.

Sorry, my bad. I thought you were all in a line, but I get it now. Suv 2 is a dumbass and you should definatly fight it. Only way I see it going against you is if they measured from the fence or whatever to minus 3m first, then taking another measurement from there since it sounds like a 2 lane alley?

[FraserB]

Was there more than 3m between the side of your vehicle and the side of the alley?

[Jim Rome99]

Consider it a ticket for being a dumbass who believes in god and wastes his time at church.

[Vanner]

From what I see by your graph example... it is the SUV #2 that create the problem - thus is why you got ticketed! Had the SUV parked in the same side where you parked in the first place ... I would image there will be more than 3M space to allow the alley traffic.

Well, that's life for you on Sunday!

[jadeboy]

Originally posted by FraserB
Was there more than 3m between the side of your vehicle and the side of the alley?

There were at least 5+ meters. People parked in the alley all the time during mass.

[jadeboy]

Originally posted by Jim Rome99
Consider it a ticket for being a dumbass who believes in god and wastes his time at church.

Amen.

[Feruk]

I'd take that straight to court. Not your fault and you can't be expected to check on your car every 5 minutes to see if someone else had put you in a position where you were illegally parked. I think you've got a decent shot at winning.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Jim Rome99
Consider it a ticket for being a dumbass who believes in god and wastes his time at church.
Wow you're an ignorant tool. I'm not religious by any means but what's it to you what other people do with their time? Lots of things other than religion occur at churches. Volunteer work, rallies etc. :rolleyes:

[Dilmah]

Originally posted by Jim Rome99
Consider it a ticket for being a dumbass who believes in god and wastes his time at church.

:rofl: Maybe it's that Karma thing that people talk about for going to the wrong church...

[jadeboy]

Originally posted by Dilmah


:rofl: Maybe it's that Karma thing that people talk about for going to the wrong church...

It was probably Karma.. I didn't make any $$ contribution during mass (I usually don't anyway).. I thought about it after I saw the ticket...

[jadeboy]

Got an email this week for the CPA... the ticket was cancelled..

I requested CPA to do an administrative review, which usually take about 10 days. I bug after a month.. it was still not done... so I asked what is going on.. CPA said they will check it.. and within 1 hour.. I got an email cancelling the ticket.

They probably cancelled the ticket so they don't have to do any more paper work.. and to reduce their headache.. probably the same reason a lot of people just paid their tickets.