Hi Geek,

Yesterday, I received a ticket for parking during rush hour on a street where parking is not allowed from 4-6pm.

Clearly my fault.

However, the officer who issued the ticket forgot to mark which state my license plate was from, which is Wisconsin.

Can I use this mistake to get out of the ticket? Please let me know if there is any hope for me.

Thanks!

Ramsey

Dude,

You totally dodged a bullet on this one…

If they didn’t mark the state on a handwritten ticket, it’s assumed it is an Illinois plate. For any out of state plates, the state of the license plate MUST be listed otherwise, the ticket is invalid.

You definitely need to take advantage of the numbskull ticket writer’s mistake.

Just argue that they forgot to list any state, you have Wisconsin plates and therefore it’s an incomplete and improper ticket and should be dismissed.

Case closed.

The Geek

Dear Geek,

Thanks to your wonderful site I now know I have till the end of July until I have to get my 2010 parking sticker. But at the end of August I’ll be moving away from the city.

I don’t want to pay the $75 fee for 1 month of parking in the city. Is there any pro-rated rates I can get a sticker for? Or any way around not purchasing a sticker?

Thanks.

Shawn

Shawn,

First thing I did was ask Kristine Williams, from the City Clerk’s office, what she would recommend in this case.

“We do not have a temporary annual sticker,” said Williams who gets this question a lot as the Information Officer for the Clerk’s office. “If the person lives in a residential parking zone, one suggestion is to purchase enough daily guest passes to park on the street for that month. If they don’t live in a residential zone, they should purchase the annual sticker at the regular rate to avoid getting any tickets.”

I think the daily guest pass strategy is a good one.

But if you’re not lucky enough to live within an RPP zone, I also have a few other ideas.

Try expediting the change of address on your auto’s registration. If you know your new address, you can change that with the Illinois Secretary of State and then, technically, your car is not registered in Chicago anymore. Therefore, there’s no need to get a Chicago city sticker.

If you move out of state, this might be mildly more difficult, but with the ability to call long distance and this new fangled invention called the “internet,” it may be easier than we think.

In the month you’re still in town, remove all city stickers from prior years off your windshield. This will throw off any ticket writers who may then be unsure if your car is actually registered in Chicago.

Keep your car parked off the street as much as possible. Maybe you can rent a garage or a private parking spot for a month. Even if you have to pay a few bucks, it would hopefully be less than $75 or a $120 ticket or at worst, you’re not giving the city that money.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

The Geek

Dear Geek,

I’ve been continually ticketed for for 9-76-160D:

“shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible. No registration plate shall be covered by any tinted or colored screen. “

In other words, I have a license plate cover on my car’s back plate.

But my cover is clear. Since the law stated above only mentions tinted or colored, can we persuade the DOR to inform their agents to stop writing these in instances like mine?

I fight each one and win, but am getting tired of the process.

Steve

Dear Steve,

You are a smart guy. In fact, I’m really impressed how you researched the law and fight these tickets.

And I’m ecstatic you keep kicking the city’s ass on this one.

I would encourage you blow a call into the Dept. of Revenue Street Operations office and tell them about your problem. The number is 312-744-4500.

Usually, they have very responsive people over there and they will take time to listen if you have a legit beef. Be polite and respectful in return and you may get somewhere with them.

Perhaps DOR management will have a sit down with the parking enforcement aides and perhaps pass on the same reminder to our friends working for SERCO–the private ticket writing company the city employs.

But, just to clarify, your license plate cover is actually illegal under state law. This was changed a few years ago to cover ALL plate covers–clear, tinted, colored–whatever.

I have no idea why. Perhaps it was because of some of the plate covers out there that allegedly obscure red light cameras and tollway cameras and speed cameras from photographing your plate.

However, that’s a different violation than what you were cited for, and it is my understanding PEAs cannot write a state violation. Cops could probably write that ticket though. But, it’s one of those violations that are not heavily enforced within Chicago city limits.

Try you luck with calling Street Ops, but I would also be prepared to fight a few more of these BS tickets.

Thanks Steve. Seriously, keep up the great work.

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