I Fought The Law...

[Smit-Dog]

I just got back from court after contesting 3 different parking violations - all for parking in front of a fire hydrant. The fine for each ticket was $30, plus a $20 late penalty, so I was looking at a total of $150 in fines.

I have been parking along this street at a customer site for the past 3 years. I can't park in their lot because I drive a foreign car. There is a fire hydrant near where I park in front of the building.

I never received a parking ticket until suddenly I received 3 within a 5 week period last winter. The odd thing was that I never got a ticket on my windshield, just a notice in the mail several weeks later, with the $20 late fee tacked on. Knowing that I wasn't very close to the hydrant, and thinking it odd that I never received a ticket on my windshield, I fought each of the 3 tickets.

Well today I went down to plead my case. Fortunately I got there after everyone else had already signed in, and was able to sit through and listen to about 10 other parking violation cases in front of mine. This guy was not sympathetic to anyone's excuses or reasons. One guy dropped his car off to get fixed, and the mechanic racked up a bunch of tickets driving this guys car around downtown. The mechanic destroyed all the tickets, and the owner of the car knew nothing of it until he got several late notices in the mail. The magistrate upheld the violation and fines, and told the guy to take it up the mechanic if he wanted.

By the time I got up there, my only hope was that he would waive the $60 in late fees since I never received a ticket on my windshield. After pleading my case, the magistrate realizes that all my citations were issued by the same officer, and that the officer was currently under investigation for issuing fraudulent tickets!

Based on that, he dismissed all 3 tickets on the spot. I filled out a citizen's complaint against the officer, and I was on my way!

The parking officer being investigated was writing bogus tickets so that he could goof off all day. The thing is, he was too lazy to get out of his car to actually put the ticket on the windshield!

 

[oldguy]

:thumb: if he was truely that negligent in doing his job hang him.
It is amazing how going to court with a true story will usually end up in a justified end

 

[Jon K.]

Ok; I'll bite;

Why can't you park a foreign car in this guys lot?

 

[Okiewan]

He's in DETROIT ....

 

[jboomer]

Please tell me you're kidding Okie! Right?

 

[Okiewan]

Back in the day ... when I sold electronic component stuff in the Detroit area, it was/is commonly known not to show-up in a foreign car if you were selling to business related to the auto industry. I don't think I was ever told not to park, it's just an unwritten law.

 

[rickshaw]

Billy, driving your import to a customer site??? :think:

As Okie said, it's an unwritten rule about driving an import to a customer site. Think of if this way; you are seeking business with American Honda and ride you Harley to the meeting....doh!!!

He's lucky things are better know...my buddy used to drive his Audi Fox to the GM Hydramatic plant....never saw so much "creative" pin striping!!!

rickshaw
02' Avalanche
98' SHO
for a reason!!!

 

[Jon K.]

Ahhhh. . . I see. Duh!

 

[Smit-Dog]

In this particular case it's an explicitly written rule, displayed on a very large sign at the entrance to the customer's lot:

"Foreign Vehicles In This Parking Lot Are Forbidden. Park At Your Own Risk!

They are not involved in the auto business directly, but they are a local trades union.

And it's "Day-Twa", not "Dee-Troit"! ;)

And Ricksmall - Would you rather I drive a dual-sported Austrian bike onto the lot?!?

 

[G. Gearloose]

That sounds better than this alternative...

 

[Smit-Dog]

Originally posted by G. Gearloose
That sounds better than this alternative...

:)

That exact picture was posted on the wall outside the cashier's window!

 

[flynbryan]

Originally posted by G. Gearloose
That sounds better than this alternative...

:laugh: ........so thats why they say no parking............ My uncle sent me that same picture once before. Pretty funny stuff.

 

[G. Gearloose]

Thats such a great story..expect the worse, come out shining & satisfied..
BTW, did they also show a picture of what used to be a car next to a tower truck?

 

[Tony Eeds]

Originally posted by Smit-Dog
In this particular case it's an explicitly written rule, displayed on a very large sign at the entrance to the customer's lot:

"Foreign Vehicles In This Parking Lot Are Forbidden. Park At Your Own Risk!

They are not involved in the auto business directly, but they are a local trades union.

Sooooo .... If you are at a foreign car plant in Mississippi, does the "Trade Union" require you to drive the "appropriate" foreign car? :laugh:

 

[Smit-Dog]

I can park in the lot with either a Ford or Chrysler minivan built in Canada, but not a Honda sedan built in Ohio (at a plant employing 13,000 BTW)?

:think:

As old as this union is, the sign may have been put up in the early 70's during the early stages of the domestics losing market share. Regardless of how much the playing field has changed today, the sign still stands. Not worth a key gouging however to test the waters...

 

[ktmboy]

And that brings up the controversy Toyota will be stirring up by racing one of their American built trucks in the NASCAR Truck Series next year!

 

[Jon K.]

We in the deep south just can't understand such blatant prejudices.

 

[Tony Eeds]

Originally posted by Jon K.
We in the deep south just can't understand such blatant prejudices.

Naw Jon ... We understand it.

Some of us can't understand why so many folks think it is only defined as prejudice only if you south of the Mason Dixon line and conservative.

 

[squeaky]

Originally posted by G. Gearloose
That sounds better than this alternative...

I'll never park in front of a hydrant again...I swear!

 

[JasonJ]

This whole parking thing has me amazed.
Now, what happens if you drive say an Eagle Talon? Can you park in the lot?
If than a Dodge laser should be ok right? Whell then is a Mitsubishi Eclipse not ok? I mean, they are the same car!
Now that I think of it I did get chased by a pit bull when I was riding my VFR though Detroit on a rode trip! Looked like the dog ripped the leashe from the owners hands, or maybe not? :O

 

[Smit-Dog]

Yet they have tradesmen perform work at a local Nissan facility. Nissan is helping to pay their wages.... should Nissan post a sign that reads "No domestic cars allowed in parking lot"?

Although I drive a Toyota built 100% in Japan, Toyota recently invested $220 million in a U.S. engine plant, which currently employs about 300 people who will produce 120,000 engines annually for the Tundra pick-up truck made in Indiana.

:think:

 

[BadgerMan]

Originally posted by rickshaw
Think of if this way; you are seeking business with American Honda and ride you Harley to the meeting....doh!!!

Funny thing, I used to visit the Honda of America Auto and Motorcycle plants regularly and they would never ever hassle you about what you drove. Heck, many of the employees I knew drove "domestic" cars.

On the other hand, drive a Honda to the Torrence Ave. or Lorain Ohio Ford plants and you may not make it out alive!

Funny story. I used to also call on the Hardly Ableson plant in York, PA. I was walking around the plant one day with the HD buyer and we walked by a crate of Showa suspension components. I said........."hey, isn't Showa owned by Honda"? Wrong thing to say.................. :laugh:

 

[70 marlin]

Hey guy's you all know the saying! "When in Rome act like a Roman!"

 

[Jon K.]

:silly: Yankees :silly:

 

[Smit-Dog]

Originally posted by 70 marlin
Hey guy's you all know the saying! "When in Rome act like a Roman!"

... Or the more obscure but equally absurd Swahilian proverb "When you go among one-eyed people, put out your own eye."

:confused: