Police expect me to pay $156 for a parking ticket issued after my car was stolen – it was found days later

Bad luck has struck a driver twice after the thief who stole his car began racking up parking violations in his name.

Oliver Frost, a resident of Saint-Lambert, Montreal, was dismayed to wake up and find broken pieces of his car where his vehicle was parked.

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“My wife went out and looked at where the car was and we found the broken pieces of the door lock on the floor,” Frost said. TVC News.

His and his wife’s 2018 Honda CR-V was stolen in March, and upon discovering this, the couple immediately went to police.

When they went to the police, they were met with disappointing information.

Police told them the vehicle would likely never be recovered, and the couple thought that was bad enough.

That was until a bill for a $156 parking ticket showed up in the mail for his vehicle.

The ticket was dated just five days after Frost reported his vehicle stolen, and just seven kilometers from where he was taken.

For the frustrated car owner, the timing and proximity of the fine raised concerns.

“I thought it was strange that we got a ticket for a car that was stolen and that the car wasn’t flagged in any system, and that made it a little frustrating because if it had been flagged as stolen, we might have been able to get it back,” he said. .

CAA Quebec spokesperson Andre Durocher explained that thieves parking near the scene of the robbery are quite common.

“They want to see if there will be police surveillance to see if the vehicle had a tag on it, so it’s standard procedure for car theft rings to operate this way,” Durocher explained.

Frost’s perspective is that the city and its officials dropped the ball by not talking about the stolen vehicle.

“Instead of giving a second ticket, maybe raise this issue or raise the flag,” he said.

“That could be a measure that would make this, I would say, practical.”

Durocher said parking lot attendants don’t have access to the same information as police, which is probably why they ticketed Frost’s stolen vehicle instead of reporting it.

Frost’s car is still missing.

ROBBERIES ON THE INCREASE

Although Frost is disputing the fine, he is still shocked that this ordeal happened to him.

“You hear about this happening to other people and you feel a little violated when it happens to you,” Frost said.

In 2023, auto thefts in Canada reached an all-time high.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada found that stolen car claims reached $1.54 billion in 2023, with a total of 49,679 reported.

In 2018 and 2021, the average cost of claims averaged just $556 million per year, with a 10% increase in thefts between 2022 and 2023.

Because of the growing theft problem, cars that are stolen at high rates, like Frost’s CR-V, often have higher insurance rates than other vehicles.

How to Fight a Parking Ticket

You can avoid being fined by following all published laws and regulations, but sometimes mistakes are made

Like any form of citation, parking tickets can be avoided by reading and obeying posted signage. However, when visiting a new city, or state, or in a hurry, things can be missed and mistakes can be made.

Suddenly there’s a ticket you weren’t prepared to pay for. If the ticket comes as a surprise to you, there are some things you can do to help your case when appealing a parking ticket.

• Read the ticket carefully. Look for errors such as incorrect street names, license plate numbers, vehicle make and model, time and date, etc. Errors would render the ticket invalid.
• Take pictures. The vehicle in the space, lack of signage, or other vehicles that were not cited for performing the same parking service. If the ticket involves parking too close to something like a fire hydrant, a photo showing a reasonable distance would help your case. Make sure metadata with time and date is accessible. Signs that are obstructed by trees, or on crooked posts, or that are not “obvious” are also great things to photograph.
• Make sure the statute that was violated is listed on the ticket. If it is not listed, the ticket is not valid.
• Immediately follow the appeal instructions on the ticket. All legitimate tickets will have appeal instructions. Waiting until the last moment weakens your argument and can result in late fees.
• When in court, avoid these phrases as they reduce your credibility and weaken your argument:
  • “I didn’t know the law.”
  • “I was going to move my car.”
  • “I can’t pay this ticket.”
  • “I’ve been doing this for years.”
  • “I checked with the parking officer, who said everything was fine.”
• Contact a lawyer. If you are facing obstacles and feel stuck, you may want to contact a traffic lawyer in your area. Many have free case consultations.

Source: Reader Summary