I got another ticket today. Right on top of the note I left explaining the situation. I understand that the parking enforcement people are doing their job. But if I can get a ticket for failure to register my car because they’ve noticed it parked there for a while with non-DC tags, why can’t they also notice that it’s been registered for a few months, they’ve suddenly changed the rules for parking without telling anyone, and cut me a break?
Apparently paying attention from day to day only works when you’re trying to bleed the taxpayers. This is now six tickets in DC, including one before I moved here that was my fault (I misread a sign that was pretty clear, I’m not really sure what my problem was). Do you know how many parking tickets I’ve gotten in the entire rest of the planet? One. I went to Blacksburg to pick up my brother from Virginia Tech and got a ticket on campus. I parked illegally, figuring I wouldn’t be there long.
So, on one hand, we have twelve-plus years of driving and parking in Maryland and Virginia. One ticket. In less than two years of parking in DC, I have six. It is abundantly clear who is at fault here.
I don’t park illegally. I don’t double park, I don’t block hydrants, I don’t park in front of driveways. But six tickets. It’s mind-boggling.
I’m going to ask the wife to help me contest these two tickets, and I’m going to send a copy to our councilmember. He’s all about the ineffectual but flashy solutions to problems. Maybe he’ll give me a “get out of parking tickets free” card or something without addressing the underlying problem that this city needs to figure out a new way to combat parking and revenue issues.