Okay, so I have a court date tomorrow. My first one, ever. Disputing a parking fine. Here are the details:
1 hour park, half of it blocked by a courier van. Driver was unloading stuff to the grocery store on the left, and he had parked so because it gave him straight access to the alley leading to the back of the store.
I wanted to park in the 1P, so i stopped behind him. Half my car was in the 1P, the other half in a No stopping zone. I wanted to honk the driver, but instead I got out to ask him if he would move a little bit ahead, so I could park legally. He refused and told me to wait for him to finish his unloading.
I did not want to wait there so I went back to my car and moved on, trying to find another place to park. I had gotten out of the car for half a minute. The engine was still on. My friend was still sitting in the passenger seat. From nowhere in that half minute, a parking officer came, clicked a picture and left. I got the fine in the mail couple of days later.
How is this fair? Aren't parking officers supposed to issue tickets? How is it justified for them to simply click a picture and walk away? Why was the driver of the courier van not fined? Because it was more convenient to fine the car behind him?
The council sent me a picture when I disputed the fine. I'm standing right next to the car in that picture, facing the other side. I tried to explain this to the council officer but they did not listen. So I went to court. It's a $119 parking fine after all. I'm fairly confident that I will win. What do you guys think?
Also, this is the Maribyrnong council I'm talking about. A council infamous for their harsh and excessive fines.