Hello Geek,

I let a friend borrow my car and he got a parking ticket.

I have gotten several letters about it saying it needs to be paid and I give them to him. After the last one he claimed he paid it and then left town. Now I just got another letter saying it isn’t paid and it will be going to collections.

My questions is if I contact the city and give them this license information (which I have) will they transfer it to him?

I am wondering this because if he had gotten a ticket while driving it would be under his name not not mine. Do I have any hope of this or am I going to have to eat the cost of this and use it as a valuable lesson in friendship?

Always Delivery

Dear Always,

Sorry to say, your alleged “friend” isn’t acting like one and you will be stuck paying the ticket.

Before we start, I have some advice for people who borrow the car of a friend.

First, when you’re done, gas up the car. Not just a few piddly gallons, but fill up the tank. It costs money to own a car (registration fees, insurance, gas, parking, tickets, etc.) and you should return the favor by leaving the gas tank full.

Not only will your car owning friend appreciate it, but they’ll readily let you borrow the car in the future.

And, if you somehow get a parking ticket while driving their car, don’t be a douche. Fight and/or pay the ticket. It’s common f@#king courtesy.

Back to the matter at hand, there’s no question YOU are on the hook for this now doubled parking ticket fine and the collection costs. That’s because the person responsible for the ticket is not the person driving the car, but the registered owner.

This is a situation that drives the parents of college students crazy when they start getting parking ticket notices from the city or college their child attends for the vehicle they own, but their progeny was actually
driving at the time the ticket was issued.

Your attempt to convince the city to assign responsibility for the ticket to someone else would probably get laughs in response.

Once you pay the ticket, you could try sending a bill to your friend, just to be a jerk. Or, of course, you could be the better person and eat the ticket. At the very least, depending on how much you value your
friendship, you might consider sending a heartfelt note about the situation because this was pretty uncool.

The Geek

Hi Geek,

I got a ticket on Wednesday afternoon for “Road Obstruction”.

As I was attempting to parallel park, my front passenger side tire rod busted rendering the car virtually useless. The back of the car was against the curb, the front was about 2 ft. off the curb. I left a note in the
windshield that I was attempting to call for help two buildings away.

Of course when I got back (less than an hour later), there was a nice $75 ticket. I have proof with pictures that the tire rod was broken, I have a receipt from the parts and labor, and I have pictures of the labor (is it even legal that it was repaired on a City street? I don’t even know.

Is it possible to get out of this one?

Thanks!

Kait

If the violation is for 9-64-020, I do not see any purely legal defense for the ticket Kait.

At least there’s nothing in the municipal code I could see that specifically will aide you in this situation.

However, considering the circumstances, if you have an in-person hearing and explained the circumstances, and provided all the evidence you had, the hearing officer might (and should in my opinion) dismiss the ticket.

That’s not a promise they will, but if you were trying to parallel park correctly and in good faith and your tie rod broke…what the hell are you going to do? You tried to pull over and NOT obstruct traffic. You got the problem solved and removed the vehicle ASAP. If your car breaks down in a situation like this should you also be ticketed?!? I don’t think so.

In addition, I’m kind of a pansy when it comes to fixing cars, but I believe when a tie rod breaks you can’t even move that side of the vehicle.

Request an in-person hearing–your chances are better because it’s kind of a strange case, and see how it plays out. Keep us posted.

The Geek

Dear Geek,

I am from out of state and received a parking ticket in Chicago for an expired parking meter receipt.

This happened at 9 pm when supposedly the meter had a different fee past 9 pm. I didn’t realize this and
when I tried to add money to the meter it did not accept money past 9:02 pm. We pressed the button twice and it didn’t add more money so we thought we didn’t have to pay past 9 pm.

We both wrote a written statement contesting the ticket via mail and they still find me accountable for the $50 parking ticket. I don’t feel like I should have to pay this at all considering the machine was faulty. I also called in the next morning to report the faulty machine.

Is it worth it to spend the time and money to appeal this in court? Does this sound like something I could win? Since I have an out-of-state license could I just not pay the ticket at all? What is the worst that could happen to me if I didn’t pay it? Will it affect my credit rating?

Thank you so much for your help,

Adrienne

Blow it off paying the ticket Adrienne,

If you had a witness backing up your story AND reported the meter broken, I’m confounded on how you could have lost this one. That doesn’t sound right.

Based on what you’re telling me, you may have a good chance on appeal.

However, if you live out of state, and don’t spend a lot of time in Chicago, I don’t see why you should pay it or go further with this. The appeal process takes a lot of time, costs $125 to file and requires you to spend some at least part of a day or two downtown Chicago in court.

But if you just don’t pay a single parking ticket, it will not (I repeat NOT) hurt your credit rating and the city can’t boot your car for one unpaid ticket or if you live out of state.

I say tell them to stick it!!! At least, that’s what I would do.

The Geek

Ask The Parking Ticket Geek is a semi-regular parking ticket advice column.

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