Putting money in the parking meter of a stranger’s car when you see the meter police coming so that person won’t get a ticket.
why is that illegal?
Never done it but I think I am a cool enough guy who would if I had an extra quarter.
I know about the sentence fragment
I don’t know for a fact that it’s illegal to do that, but I’ll take your word for it.
My understanding is that part of the purpose of parking meters is to get people to LEAVE the parking space when their time is up, so that others can make use of it. Metered spaces aren’t intended for all-day use; the city’s position is that if you’re going to be there all day, say for work or whatever, find an all-day lot and use that. The metered spaces are intended for people who have less than all-day business there. Putting money in other’s meters basically facilitates them taking up that space all day, which in turn makes the short-timer have difficulty finding a space, which in turn hurts the business near the metered spaces.
I’ve heard about someone getting in trouble over this only once. Some old lady noticed the meter reader giving out a ticket at one end of her block then walked ahead and put quarters in all the expired meters. Those cars WERE illegally parked and more or less deserved whatever ticket they got, however she covered up the violation by dropping in a bit of change when the meter reader came by.
I think the reason it’s frowned upon is the thought that you are covering up a violation rather than making everything right.
Please…
The reason it’s frowned upon is because if you go ahead and put quarters in expired meters, the city won’t make any big fine money off of the drivers. The same reason it’s frowned upon to flash your lights on the highway to warn of a speed trap. Money. Money. Money.
If any of this were true, then it must also be illegal to put money into your own expired meter. Right?
BTW, apparently in many states and countries it is illegal to flash your lights to warn others about speed traps. (Also, speeding makes your stopping distance longer [making it easier to crash] and crashes are more severe - going 50% more than the speed limit makes the impact 1.5x1.5 = 225% of the normal impact)
Correct.
Putting quarters in expired meters, and flashing headlights to warn of speed control on the highway facilitates lawbreaking.
Without law anarchy rules.
The money seldom meets expenses of the courts and associated facilities.
Ja vohl…
Putting quarters in expired meters when the stated reason for them being there is to generate revenue does not promote anarchy, it generates revenue.
My parking meter experience, however, is from San Francisco, where they have a habit of installing new meters next to parked cars; rather than bag the meters so the cars don’t get ticketed, then come by at 2 in the morning and take the bags off so they start generating revenue the next day, they have a meter maid follow along behind the installers and ticket the cars while the concrete holding the meters in place is still fresh. Imagine parking your car at a blank curb (score!); you come back after work and there’s a brand, spanking new meter next to your car, and a parking ticket!
I have never heard of this (i.e. "Putting money in the parking meter of a stranger’s car… ") being illegal anywhere ever. Sounds pretty silly. The idea of the parking meter is that you pay for the time you are parking there, nothing more nothing less. It shouldn’t matter who pays.
There is a town near me with signs that say “No parking for more than two hours in the [color] zone” which applies Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm. so the goal is to prevent people from using the metered lots for parking all day. That way, those who want to park all day (office workers, usually) will leave these metered spots available for those who need them for a short time (usually those visiting retail stores or restaurants).
Let me see if I get it:
It would never be illegal to put money into a parking meter before the time has expired, regardless of whether it’s your car or not.
In some places it is illegal to add money to the meter after it has expired, because this is essentially hiding the fact that the meter had expired. Again, whether it’s your car or someone else’s doesn’t matter.
Right?
Technically, I guess, you’d be interferring with law enforcement. In this case, the meter is the law.
In the '90s, Anchorage, Alaska was home to two sisters known as the “parking fairies.”
From this article about the selling of their family business (a gas station):
Can only speak for NYC- you can get a ticket for being parked in one space past the allowable time, whether there is time showing on the meter or not, and no matter when the money was put in. Streeets wth parking meters here also have signs saying how long parking is allowed for- 1 hour parking, two hour parking, 12 hour parking etc. Say I park at 11 am in a two hour space and I put two hours worth of time on the meter. I’m not entitled to stay parked there until 2:30 if money is added at 12:30, whether I add the money or someone else does. Am I going to get a ticket every time I do this? Of course not. If I do get the ticket is it valid? Yes. Is it going to be for putting money in an expired meter? No, it’s going to be for parking past the permitted amount of time.
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dof/html/parknyc7.html
if someone else feeds my meter, could that person get a summons? I suppose it’s possible, but it wouldn’t be a parking ticket- it would be a summons for “obstructing governmental administration” or something like that.
I once put a coin in a meter right before a campus cop got to someone’s car back in my college days. He gave them a ticket anyway and noted on the ticket that he saw a passerby put a coin in the expired meter.
Haj
Some newer meters are designed with sensor and adding more coins with out moving the car won’t help you. I don’t know exactly how it works, but people were complaining on the radio a couple of years ago.
In New York City the practice of putting extra money in the meters is called “feeding the meters.” Feeding the meters is not illegal, but it won’t prevent you from getting a summons for overtime parking.
In short, in NYC, if the sign says “2 hour parking” then you may only park there for two hours. So, if you park there and put in enough money for an hour, you can go back and add money for another hour. But you cannot do so again after the second hour. If you do, you can still get a ticket for being parked there more than two hours. Traffic agents have been known to write the time they first observed a vehicle parked in a location in chalk on the tires so that they will know when they come back if the person has “overparked.”
FTR, my wife will frequently put quarters in stranger’s meters. I also do so on occassion, but not nearly as often as she does.
Zev Steinhardt