# Parking ticket written after posted time **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696 "2020-03-30T20:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/41 "2020-04-01T14:15:19Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t know exactly what your friend told you or what the cop told your friend- but in my experience , the explanation for how you get a DUI in a parked car is usuually ( and more accurately) expressed as “The definition of “operating a motor vehicle” includes being in a parked car with the keys” rather than as " if you are in it, the car isn’t parked". [Then there is this](https://www.myparkingsign.com/blog/difference-between-no-parking-and-no-stopping/) site which attempts to differentiate stopping, standing, and parking. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/42 "2020-04-01T14:38:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > … Once before a 'real" judge, it very likely will be dismissed. > > IANAL but I was a City Parking Commissioner. I went to court on a ticket, and they were running late, so after listening to a dozen dangerous criminals before me, I realized the judge was reducing every ticket by half. Half the fee, half the points against someone’s license. And tossing any ticket where it was clear the cop/parking guy had overstepped. Oh, and since cops rarely show up in traffic court, they aren’t there to say “Your honor, this miscreant WAS speeding, and changing lanes willy-nilly, and he sneered at me!” I now take every ticket, parking or speeding, to court. I’m sure if you did, it would get tossed out. Especially if you’re willing to say “I had just parked there, and I read the sign, so I doubt I would’ve parked there before 10am.” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/43 "2020-04-01T15:06:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I now take every ticket, parking or speeding, to court. I’m sure if you did, it would get tossed out. Especially if you’re willing to say “I had just parked there, and I read the sign, so I doubt I would’ve parked there before 10am.” I never take a parking ticket to an in person-hearing\* - it’s unlikely that any fine reduction would be worth a day’s pay ( yes, I have paid time off - but using a day of it to fight a parking ticket still costs me the the ability to use it some other day). But I will say that in my jurisdiction “I doubt I parked there before 10” would not get the ticket dismissed. Saying you definitely didn’t park there before 10 wouldn’t have a great shot at dismissal, being uncertain if you parked before or after 10 has no chance. - I’ll fight a ticket by mail or on-line , but the only tickets I get are no-points tickets (parking or camera violations) so just paying them doesn’t affect my insurance rates or driving record. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/44 "2020-04-01T15:27:32Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > OK, this is where they got you. Lots of people think if they stay with the car until the restriction is over, they \*can’t \*get a ticket , but that’s not true. The definition of “park” doesn’t require the vehicle to be unoccupied. Depends on jurisdiction. Here in Chicago, it does. From [9-04-010 of our Municipal Code](http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Illinois/chicago_il/title9vehiclestrafficandrailtransportati/chapter9-64parkingregulations?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:chicago_il$anc=JD_Ch.9-64) > [@](#): > > “Parking (to park)” means the standing of an unoccupied vehicle otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading property or passengers. As with the other cite above, we have signs that also prohibit stopping and standing, which are distinct from “parking.” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/45 "2020-04-01T16:32:20Z")
I stand corrected- but the California definition ( from [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes\_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=463](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=463) ) is > [@](#): > > “Park or parking” shall mean the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading merchandise or passengers. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/46 "2020-04-03T17:38:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Not in traffic court, they arent real judges, you can’t ask for a jury, there is no prosecutor. It’s not a real trial. But the rules still apply. The “judicial officer” cannot act as a prosecutor even in traffic court. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696/47 "2020-04-03T18:06:09Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > But the rules still apply. The “judicial officer” cannot act as a prosecutor even in traffic court. Sadly, they sometimes do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-ticket-written-after-posted-time/850696.md?page=2)