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> They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year... I knew someone who owned a trucking company. They had a lawyer on retainer and every month o
by skizm 7y ago
> They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year...
I knew someone who owned a trucking company. They had a lawyer on retainer and every month or so they would gather all the parking tickets, go to a judge (or city official) and cut a deal to pay a fraction of the actual owed amount for all the tickets. This is because, if they did not comply, each ticket would be fought tooth and nail, and the city would be wrapped in legal red tape forever.
- Razengan 7y agowow, a legal DOS.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoThe same happens with pharmaceutical, financial or probably all companies and people with enough money . Often it’s very expensive to prosecute them so they get let off the hook or pay a settlement. That’s how we end up with a two class society where some participants are above the law because they have money for lawyers.
- Razengan 7y agoI guess that kind of shit doesn't fly in authoritarian countries where the corporations fear the government instead of the other way around, as shown by all the recent China appeasement.
- fnordfnordfnord 7y agoPeople could use it too if they'd just fight every traffic ticket.
- Tempest1981 7y agoThere are/were some startups in this space: DoNotPay, WinIt, Off the Record, TurboAppeal. Not sure how they're doing. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/5/17119956/parking-ticket-property-tax-revenue https://www.vox.com/2018/4/5/17119956/parking-ticket-propert...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- seieste 7y agoOr, the city could have the police put a boot on the truck tires.
- apostacy 7y agoIt seems boots are reserved for poor people. I've only ever seen boots on run down cars in working class neighborhoods like Crown Heights or Bed Stuy.
- nine_k 7y agoI've seen a boot on a Lamborghini somewhere in my neighborhood. It was one of the very few cases I ever saw a Lamborghini around; most cars in my neighborhood are way less expensive.
- uoaei 7y agoBoots are for cars which are not worth towing. Really cheap cars are unlikely to make any money if you bring it to a towyard. A Lambo, if damaged, would cost more in incidental repair than you would get out of the owner.
- CydeWeys 7y agoThis is common in NYC. The biggest violators should be paying the most, but instead, they pay the least per violation because they bargain down the fines. Here's a pretty typical fine record for a truck that was illegally parked in the bike lane during my commute this week: https://twitter.com/CydeWeys/status/1188467550822293512 https://twitter.com/CydeWeys/status/1188467550822293512 (expand all replies) And note how they're getting a reduction in fines: https://twitter.com/HowsMyDrivingNY/status/1188467588625588225 https://twitter.com/HowsMyDrivingNY/status/11884675886255882... And Streetsblog has written an entire series of blog posts on it: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/category/issues-campaigns/stipulated-fine-program/ https://nyc.streetsblog.org/category/issues-campaigns/stipul...
- Spooky23 7y agoWhat are they supposed to do? There’s a difference between the letter of the law and reality. You need deliveries and couriers to make a city work, and NYC is no different.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoProblem is that only people or companies with deep pockets can violate the law that way. If you don’t have money for lawyers you have to pay the tickets. That’s how end up with a two class society where some people are above the law.
- Consultant32452 7y agoI don't know what it's like in NY, but in my state you can take a driver safety course and cut your fees down considerably.
- CydeWeys 7y agoIf taking such a driver safety course actually meant that people didn't park illegally, then it'd be a huge success, and would be well worth it. But the not parking illegally part itself would be by far the greatest reduction in fines.
- mullingitover 7y agoThis is a great argument for making the fines increase for repeat offenders. Nothing for, say, the first 5 fines, but after that increase them by 30% for each additional fine.
- ruggeri 7y agoThis story about a delivery company that thought they were negotiating their parking tickets is hilarious: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/nyregion/price-of-a-parking-ticket-record-too-good-to-be-true-try-132000.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/nyregion/price-of-a-parki...