» Parking & Traffic Tickets

February 7, 2012

NYC isn’t giving out enough tickets to drivers who idle their vehicles, according to a recent CNN article.  There were about 10 million NYC parking tickets issued in fiscal year 2010, and only 2,989 ‘idling’ parking tickets issued in fiscal year 2011.

The NYC law used to be that New York drivers had three minutes to turn off idling engines, but in 2009 the city passed more stringent laws: Drivers now have one minute to turn off their engines if they’re adjacent to a school. On average, agents are issuing one idling parking ticket per year.

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NYC Parking TicketNew Yorkers can stop complaining about the cost of NYC street parking, at least for a few minutes.  The news just came in that Vancouver street parking is actually the most expensive street parking in North America, at $5.75 per hour.

But NYC and Chicago are close behind at $5.00, and then San Francisco at $4.25.

And if you overstay your NYC parking meter? Then you, along with folks in San Francisco, will be paying the highest amount for your NYC parking ticket, at $65 each.

The survey, done by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, showed that:

Hourly Parking Meter Rates

1. Vancouver — $5.75 (lowest rate is 1.00)

2. New York City & Chicago — $5.00 ( NYC’s Greenwich Village is highest while lowest rate is $2.50 in downtown, Chicago’s lowest rate is $1.50) Read more…

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February 5, 2012

Joshua Brustein from The New York Times just reviewed a new parking app called ‘Can I Park Here’. The app lets you take a photograph of a NYC street parking sign, and then the app will tell you if you can park there or not, and for how long. Once you decide to park, the app will start a timer and mark your location so you don’t overstay the meter or allotted time and get a NYC parking ticket. Totally cool and pretty simple, right?

Brustein tested about a dozen NYC parking spaces, though, and the app just didn’t work for him. The app reported that Brustein wasn’t actually close enough to the NYC parking sign, but even when he put his phone about one foot from the parking sign and took the photo, no luck. He eventually found out Read more…

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February 1, 2012

NYC muni-meter for street parkingLast year, we told you that you could use a NYC Muni-Meter receipt at more than one NYC street parking spot. So if you purchased 3 hours and only used 2 hours, you could still use that receipt for the third hour if you needed to park somewhere else — that also had a NYC Muni-Meter.

Sadly, that convenience may be changing. The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) is considering changing the rules so that you can use what’s left on the Muni-Meter receipt ONLY at a meter that charges the same rates. Read more…

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January 25, 2012
Margot Tohn NYC parking sign

One of the NYC Street Parking Signs

Yes, it can be done! With the expert advice and help of New York Parking Ticket, I beat a NYC parking ticket for No Standing. Here’s what happened:

On October 16, 2011, I parked on Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan. I, along with a lawyer, read the parking signs for about 5 minutes before we decided that it was fine to park there on a Sunday afternoon. The immediate area had a series of NYC parking signs including:

  • No Standing 6AM – 10AM Except Sunday
  • No Standing Except Buses, Metered Parking 3 hr Limit 10AM – 3PM Except Sunday
  • Bus Layover Zone, No Standing Except Authorized Buses, 3PM – 7Pm Except Sunday
  • No Standing Except Trucks Loading & Unloading 6AM – 10AM Except Sunday
  • 3PM – 7Pm Except Sunday
  • Other Times No Standing Anytime

To make it even more confusing, some of the signs were in red and others were in white. In NYC, a street parking sign’s level of importance uses the colors Red, White, and then Blue, with Red being the most important to follow.

Margot Tohn NYC Parking Ticket Sign

This was near where I parked, and I showed the Street Signs as well

New York Parking Ticket advised me to Read more…

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January 18, 2012

We all hear how texting while driving, talking on the telephone, checking your GPS, picking up things from the car floor, and reaching back to check on children in the back seat increases your risk of getting into a car accident. All these activities fall into the category of ‘Distracted Driving’. Now there’s a new online game that tests your driving skills while you’re being distracted by pedestrians, speed traps, disabled vehicles, and GPS.

Developed at the University of Minnesota, the ‘Distraction Dodger’ game has you driving a pizza truck and trying to deliver a hot pizza to pedestrians on the street, all while you’re being interrupted by all the usual elements of distracted driving. Every time you deliver a hot pizza, you earn money. With more money, you get more distractions and greater access to your delivery area.

It took me a while to get the hang of accelerating and braking (hint: every time you touch the correct key it moves the spedometer 5 mph), but after a while it can be fun. You’ll be tempted by texting while driving, dogs crossing the street, adjusting the radio, waving to friends, parked cars, and police sirens.  All these distracted driving factors can earn you a NYC parking ticket, give it a try!

Click here to start playing Distraction Dodger.

 

 

 

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November 3, 2011

Texting and DrivingTexting while driving doubles a driver’s reaction time. That pretty much sums up the risk you’re taking if you are texting and driving. Plus, of course, up to $150 for the fine for a NY traffic ticket.

On November 1, 2010, NY State became the 14th state to ban texting while driving. That includes reading, typing and/or sending text messages.

A recent study by Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute had 42 drivers between the ages of 16 and 54 driving on an 11-mile test track course while sending or receiving text messages. Then they drove the course while focusing completely on the road.

Drivers were asked to stop when they saw a flashing yellow light, and their reaction times were recorded.

The Results

Non-texting Driver — responded to the flashing light in Read more…

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September 28, 2011

Our fantastic friends over at New York Parking Ticket blew us away with this news.  Mayor Bloomberg has rejected five proposals that would ensure NYC parking tickets are issued correctly.  New York Parking Ticket put together this fabulous chart of the proposed changes put forth by the NY City Council Transportation Committee. Only the last one was approved by Mayor Bloomberg.

Ticket Agent has to photograph the vehicle — OK, we agree that this seems a bit onerous. NYPD officers would have to carry a camera and document each photo.

Suspending Alternate Side Parking regulations when film crews are on the Street Read more…

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September 19, 2011

Our friends at New York Parking Ticket, the place to go for help with a NYC parking ticket, just told us about this totally cool new site that can tell you how many NYC parking tickets were issued in your neighborhood.

The site, DNA Info, charges $4 to subscribe to the Crime & Safety Report, but we got an inside peek into a few screens.

From the ‘Ticketed Offenses’ graphs, you can see that Parking Tickets have declined in the Downtown area while Traffic Tickets have increased a little bit.

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September 14, 2011

Texting and driving? Think again. There’s a new law in town, and it says that a NYS police officer can pull you over just for texting while driving or even using a handheld device. The old law required that drivers had to be pulled over for another offense and then cited for texting while driving, which made it a secondary offense. Now, it’s a primary offense and you can be stopped for it.

If you get caught, this is what happens:

  • 3 points on your license
  • Fine of up to $150

The law took effect in July 2011. There are 27 other states in the US that hold texting and driving as a primary offense.

 

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