# Can you duck a parking ticket if you had temp plates on your vehicle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003 "2006-03-26T22:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/21 "2006-03-27T21:54:30Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > And just what, exactly, do you propose instead? If there are no significant consequences from not paying a parking ticket or a fine for some other petty offense, then what’s to stop people from just blowing them off? How about life imprisonment? Would that be OK with you? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/22 "2006-03-27T22:08:02Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > How about life imprisonment? Would that be OK with you? Yes, that’s _exactly_ what I’m suggesting. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![bluetrust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@bluetrust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluetrust)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/23 "2006-03-27T22:58:37Z")
> [@Gozu](#): > > I don’t think you read this part carefully. Please do so now and reflect upon it: > > “having their car towed, going to jail, paying a bailbondsman to get released, appearing in court and paying a fine of, perhaps, several hundred dollars, not to mention the towing and impound fees. Then they might have to go though the process of getting their license reinstated and paying higher insurance rates for three to five years.” Gozu’s right. A few years ago, I had a bench warrant served on me for not taking care of a $10 expired registration ticket. The next day at city hall, the window clerk gave me an option, either pay $250, or be arrested and explain it to the judge and pay whatever fines he would assign. I paid the $250. Another incident happened when I sold a car without paying off previous parking tickets. I had forgotten all about it until one Friday when I received an angry note from accounting along with my check. My wages had been garnished for over $100. It was crazy and surreal. Both responses happened years after the original offense. I had moved around a lot. They may have sent me mail in intervening years and I never received it. Still, both were really unpleasant surprises. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/24 "2006-03-27T23:10:27Z")
back in ancient China, it was often common to have extremely brutal punishments for a lot of things. Steal a horse? Beheaded. Insult a government official? Beheaded. Don’t pay your taxes on time? Beheaded. Disorderly conduct? Beheaded. It worked quite well actually. People behaved most of the time. In Saudi Arabia, they cut the hands of thieves. I’m told that theft is low over there. Seriously, get a grip! Being jailed and ordered to pay hundreds of dollars (maybe thousands if bail and laywers get involved) for one unpaid parking ticket is a disproportionate punishment to the crime. Heck, as far as I’m concerned, pretty much all parking / speeding tickets are a really bad thing (I’m excluding reckless driving, DWI, etc. of course). Local governments start depending on them for funding and soon, making money becomes the primary motive. And what you end up having is a flat tax that penalizes the poor. if they’re going to treat these things as informal taxes, then I’d be much happier if they fined people a percentage of their monthly income instead of a flat fee. But this is a subject for great debates. Anyways, my friend paid the parking ticket in case you were wondering. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/25 "2006-03-27T23:19:36Z")
> [@Gozu](#): > > Seriously, get a grip! Being jailed and ordered to pay hundreds of dollars (maybe thousands if bail and laywers get involved) for one unpaid parking ticket is a disproportionate punishment to the crime. You’re missing the point. The punishment isn’t for the traffic infraction, it’s for showing disrespect towards the judicial system. The initial offense is incidental. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/26 "2006-03-28T01:22:45Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Yes, that’s _exactly_ what I’m suggesting. :rolleyes: OK, Mr. Rolleyes, how do you determine which response is disproportionate to the crime, since you’re so smart and I’m so dumb? Obviously you think life imprisonment is clearly excessive. Like **Gozu** , I thought the same about having one’s car towed, going to jail, paying a bailbondsman to get released, appearing in court and paying a fine of, perhaps, several hundred dollars, not to mention the towing and impound fees. Then possibly having to go though the process of getting their license reinstated and paying higher insurance rates for three to five years. You seem to know that one penalty set is clearly _not_ unreasonable and the other _is_, and not only that, but you heap scorn on those who feel differently from you in either direction. So there must be some obvious principle here that you can see, showing you what legal consequences are reasonable and which ones aren’t, that you can see, and **Gozu** and I can’t. So, what is it? Please share. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/27 "2006-03-28T02:55:14Z")
I _think_ I’ve read in some threads about credit reports that some governments will report non-payment of a traffic or parking violation to the credit reporting agencies, so that the friend in the OP might think he’s gotten away with not paying the thirty bucks until he tries to get a loan. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/28 "2006-03-28T04:17:56Z")
Another datapoint, from twenty years ago at that… When I was 16 and stupidly irresponsible, I got two parking tickets in a short period of time in two different Illinois municipalities. My car (actually owned by my father) had out-of-state plates (legally, as my father was active-duty military). I blew off both tickets. Smart-ass that I was, I said to myself, “How is the traffic division in this Illinois city going to track down my Tennessee registration? Even if they could, would they really go to all that trouble?” I lucked out with one of the tickets. The other one showed up in the mail several months later, along with some hefty penalties and surcharges. :smack: My father was not very happy with me. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/29 "2006-03-28T04:43:32Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > You seem to know that one penalty set is clearly _not_ unreasonable and the other _is_, and not only that, but you heap scorn on those who feel differently from you in either direction. I’m not heaping scorn on anyone because they disagree with me. Never have, never will. What I _am_ scornful of is the attitude that someone ought to just get away Scot free if they fail to honor an obligation; in this case, a parking ticket. The state should just give up and let people get away with it just because it’s initially a petty offense? Sure, if the offense in question is just a parking violation, then throwing them in jail and fining them hundreds of dollars plus the cost of legal fees and time lost from work absolutely _would_ be excessive. But, that’s not the issue here. The issue is the failure to pay the $30 fine in the first place, which IS a reasonable punishment for a parking offense. If you don’t want your car impounded, to be put in jail and fined hundreds of dollars, then I’ve got a brilliant solution: pay the damn ticket in the first place. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/30 "2006-03-28T19:19:22Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > I’m not heaping scorn on anyone because they disagree with me. Never have, never will. Fair 'nuff. I apologize. > [@](#): > > What I _am_ scornful of is the attitude that someone ought to just get away Scot free if they fail to honor an obligation; in this case, a parking ticket. Now there’s the rub: I don’t think **Gozu** was suggesting that, and I certainly wasn’t. There’s quite a range in between ‘getting away scot free’ and the consequences mentioned by **A.R. Cane**. I certainly agree that if you thumb your nose at the original fine, the additional consequences need to be high enough that you’ll get the message that you made the wrong choice. But I’d think a multiple of several times the original fine, rather than several hundred times the original fine, would suffice. There’s no need to be draconian about it. > [@](#): > > If you don’t want your car impounded, to be put in jail and fined hundreds of dollars, then I’ve got a brilliant solution: pay the damn ticket in the first place. Problem is, this argument works just as well (or, rather, poorly) if the punishment for not paying the ticket was being drawn and quartered. That the _ticketed individual_ has a responsibility here doesn’t exempt the _government_ from its responsibility to have punishments appropriate to the crime. It’s not like the one excludes the other. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/31 "2006-03-28T19:37:39Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Fair 'nuff. I apologize. No problem. Fuggedaboudit. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Now there’s the rub: I don’t think **Gozu** was suggesting that, and I certainly wasn’t. No, I suppose you weren’t, upon a more considered rereading. Apologies right back. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > There’s quite a range in between ‘getting away scot free’ and the consequences mentioned by **A.R. Cane**. I certainly agree that if you thumb your nose at the original fine, the additional consequences need to be high enough that you’ll get the message that you made the wrong choice. But I’d think a multiple of several times the original fine, rather than several hundred times the original fine, would suffice. There’s no need to be draconian about it. Here’s the thing: It’s usually not the case that a single failure to pay up straight away results in such a severe punishment. It usually escalates gradually; they send you notices, you ignore them. They up the penalty, you continue to ignore them. Finally, they give up and just arrest your ass. It may come as a shock, especially if you never got the notices, but since it’s your legal responsibility to keep your DMV records current, you can’t use that excuse. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > That the _ticketed individual_ has a responsibility here doesn’t exempt the _government_ from its responsibility to have punishments appropriate to the crime. It’s not like the one excludes the other. Agreed. But, given that the severe penalties mentioned above are only incurred after multiple instances of scoffing at the law and ignoring repeated attempts to collect, I don’t feel they are unwarranted even though they are most definitely disporoprtionate to the original offense. ---
**Author:** ![Bertie\_Wooster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@Bertie\_Wooster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bertie_Wooster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/32 "2006-03-28T19:43:11Z")
With all the talk of beheadings and things, I may have missed it if someone said, but why are some parking places reserved for very tall vehicles? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/33 "2006-03-28T19:47:52Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > No, I suppose you weren’t, upon a more considered rereading. Apologies right back. No prob. > [@](#): > > Here’s the thing: It’s usually not the case that a single failure to pay up straight away results in such a severe punishment. It usually escalates gradually; they send you notices, you ignore them. They up the penalty, you continue to ignore them. Finally, they give up and just arrest your ass. True, now that you mention it. The consequences mentioned by **A.R. Cane** are a lot more reasonable as the state’s response to a whole pile of unpaid parking tix than they are to a single instance of such scofflawery, if that’s a word. > [@](#): > > It may come as a shock, especially if you never got the notices, but since it’s your legal responsibility to keep your DMV records current, you can’t use that excuse. True. And the offender, if sentient, should have some clue that he’s running up a string of tickets in one jurisdiction, and that maybe he’d better settle up with them before his ass gets well and truly nailed. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/34 "2006-03-28T19:54:41Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > If you go buy a car from a dealership, your memory will be refreshed as to what the dealership will pay for. It is called coffee. > hh And the consumer protection people should be in a huff that they call it coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003/35 "2006-03-29T15:27:01Z")
> [@Bertie Wooster](#): > > With all the talk of beheadings and things, I may have missed it if someone said, but why are some parking places reserved for very tall vehicles? That is a very good point. The garage in question was a multi-story garage so I thought that maybe their ceilings on the upper floors were made low to maximize the number of floors they have. They would also be too low to accomodate vehicles over a certain height I suppose. My friend parked on the first floor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-duck-a-parking-ticket-if-you-had-temp-plates-on-your-vehicle/350003.md?page=1)