Dear Parking Ticket Geek,

I live in Lakeview and there are a couple of meters at the start of my block. Aproximately six, three on each side of the street. Normally the rates stop at 9 p.m. and free on Sundays.

Today I come home after the Shamrock Shuffle to find two tickets slipped under my wiper. I immediately ran upstairs, grabbed my camera, and started snapping.

After a few shots I noticed that the labels on my meter were gone as well as the meter behind me (the car directly behind also had 2 tickets).

Do I have a case to contest? Any help would be appreciated!

Keep up the great work and F**CK the city and LAZ!

Jonathan

Jonathon-

Obviously, you know now, there is no such thing as free Sundays at parking meters anymore.

But, If there are no stickers telling you when you have to feed the meter, than how would you know when to feed them?

My guess is that the decals peeled off. We’ve had MANY reports of these stickers peeling off the meter heads. Not only are they about 1/4 inch too big for the indented portion of the
meter designed for decals AND, more importantly the adhesive on the decals sucks. The old rectangular yellow decals the city used couldn’t be peeled off unless someone used power tools. But these decals LAZ purchased, according to many e-mailers, come off with just an easy pull in some cases.

Photograph the meter AND the back of the meter head to show the meter number on that little metal plate.

But also, call LAZ at 877-242-8901 and report the missing decals so they have a record. I would call 312-744-PARK and report it to the city as well.

Make sure you mention that lack of stickers meets defense #3 of the city’s “seven accepted defenses” at your hearing or in your contest letter:

3-The relevant signs prohibiting or restricting parking were missing or obscured;

Good luck, keep us posted.

The Geek

Dear Parking Ticket Geek,

I received a ticket for “Park/Standing prohibited anytime” on a residential street. The parking area is a trapezoid shaped spot with 3 car spots. The front ~8ft and rear ~8ft has a sign that says “No Parking”. I received a ticket on Friday for parking over the line.

Is this disputable? Does it matter that only a small portion of my car was over?

Here is the pic:

It’s pretty ridiculous to have a portion of the parking area deemed as unparkable when it serves no other purpose.

Thanks,

Don

Dear Don,

Yeah, I agree, by your photo and description, it does seem supremely ridiculous.

Unfortunately for yourself, you’re screwed. Four feet, one foot, one inch, it doesn’t matter–especially if they have photographic evidence. Your photo showing only a few feet,  still shows you in violation.

Yeah, this sucks. But it’s the law. Fight it anyways, you never know what might happen.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

The Parking Geek

Dear Geek,

I’m sure this has been asked, but after browsing your site for some time, I haven’t found an answer.

Do Chicago parking meters accept the golden dollar? I seem to remember seeing a picture of the dollar coin on some meters.

Do some take it and others don’t? I was thinking about getting some dollar coins from the bank instead of quarters.

Rich

Dear Rich,

Multiple calls to LAZ’s help line came leads me to believe all the meters have been changed to ONLY accept quarters–despite the fact some meters still say they accept the dollar coins.

“We were told that the meters only accept quarters,” one LAZ operator told me. “We have had calls from people complaining they deposited the dollar coin but didn’t get a dollar’s worth of time. So we encourage only using quarters.”

So, while I like your thinking, in my opinion, you could be spending $1 for only 25 cents worth of time. So don’t screw yourself. Stick with jamming your pockets full of quarters. Ultimately, the weight of the quarters will strengthen your legs, saving you money on working out at the gym membership that you can’t afford anymore.

Very truly yours,

The Geek

Dear Expired Meter,

I got a petty ticket while parked for having a plastic cover over my back license plate. $50.00!

Can I pay that ticket in person with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters?

No wait, I need the quarters.

Any law prohibiting it that you know of?

Thanks for any comment, and nice work on your blog.

Thanks,

Mike

Dear Mike,

I quickly breezed through the municipal code and find no restriction for paying in whatever denomination of U.S. legal tender you would like to use. In fact, I don’t see how they can refuse any form of legal U.S. coin or currency.

Very creative thinking on your part. If your or others are so inclined, show your frustration by paying in pennies. Make them count it in front of you. I’m sure that will make the cashiers VERY happy to count 5000 pennies!

Very truly yours,

The Parking Ticket Geek

Ask The Parking Ticket Geek is a weekly parking ticket advise column here at The Expired Meter.

If you have a question for The Parking Ticket Geek, please e-mail the Geek with your query at: askthegeek@theexpiredmeter.com