Almost 12 years driving - 0 speeding tickets - 1 warning - maybe 10 or so parking tickets, one of which was ridiculous.
I apologize in advance for the length...this is my longest post in my 5 year tenure. Obviously the pain is still fresh.
I remember this injustice like it was yesterday.
I was working at a telecom company on a coop workterm back in 1997, January. I decided to drive to work as it was pretty cold outside and I didn't feel like taking the bus. Unfortunately by the time I got to work, there were no spots in the "pay for spot all day" parking lot, so I had to park at a meter, which of course had a 2 hour time limit.
"No problem" I thought to myself, I'll just come down check for an open spot in the lot, if none, then I'll plug the meter. Almost 2 hours go by, and it's time to go check...Nope no spots, I guess I plug the parking meter. Unfortunately, I have to do this all day as it looks like nobody is going to give up a spot. I go down to plug the meter for the last time that day and behold, there is an envelope tucked under one of my wipers.
Note: At no time did it cross my mind that this could with any remote possibility be a parking ticket.
I pull the envelope and to my shock, it's a parking ticket! I look over at the meter, yup still time on the meter. Surely, this must have been a mistake of some kind, an opinion reinforced by fellow city dwellers as they walked by: "You still got time on the clock, looks like they screwed up. Time for a visit to the cop shop". I agreed.
I went to the police station, and waited for my turn as it was busy. With ticket in hand I threw in the counter in disgust, "I think a mistake was made in issuing this ticket. I found this on my windshield, but I still had time on the meter" I said in firm, but fair voice, fully expecting him to apologize and beg forgiveness for their error and wasting my hard earned tax dollars. Instead he looked at the ticket and said, "Sorry son, that'll be 20 dollars".
Stunned, I said, "There was still time on the meter. What the...?". He replied, "Yes, but you filled it more than once without crossing an intersection. Don't worry, I've gotten a ticket for this as well." Which of course didn't make me feel any better. So, they got to keep the money I deposited in the meter *and* the money I paid for my ticket.
Apparently there is a traffic law that states when parked at a meter for 2 hours, one can only plug the meter again, once the vehicle in question has crossed an intersection. Why didn't they ticket me earlier, I'm guessing they wanted to maximize the amount of money they could pry out of my wallet, but I'm not bitter.
Oh, and on the way out of the police station, the guy behind the desk says "See you soon!" with a sunny smile on his face. Now, I'm thinking, "What does *that* mean?"
1. He thinks I get lots of tickets or break the law quite a bit so I'll be back
2. He knows me from somewhere and thinks he'll see me around somewhere, or was just being polite
3. He's a stalker, has been following me around for months and made a Freudian slip
Anyway, the moral of the story is to always brush your teeth before going to bed...and by that I mean cross an intersection (with your car) before plugging the meter.
Guess what the most common parking infraction is?
http://www.city.winnipeg.mb.ca/police/Traffic/infractions.htm
Probably because a.) Next to nobody has heard of it, and b.) Stupidest. Traffic. Law. Ever.
