Drivers warned after 50,000 more fines issued last year to increase budget – and more than 90% of them cost more than $50

CAR owners in the second-most populous U.S. city have seen an increase in the number of parking tickets issued this year.

Los Angeles motorists were warned when 784,000 parking fines were handed out in the city in the first five months of 2024.

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The exorbitant amount is 6.4% higher than the number of citations issued during the same period last year, the local news outlet reported. Crossing the city reported.

In 2023, the number of parking fines distributed to drivers between January 1st and May 31st it was 737,581.

This year, 784,629 citations were issued in the same period.

There are 47,048 more distributed this year than in 2023.

More than 90% of parking tickets issued this year were fines of $50 or more.

Many drivers are penalized for not putting money parking meters or following the (sometimes confusing) signage rules.

Despite the increase in tickets, citation numbers are below what they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between January 1st and May 31st, 2019, 890,000 tickets were distributed.

The increase in citations may persist because it is seen as an effort to help recover from financial problems.

The City Council recently authorized a spending plan that eliminates 1,700 positions from the city’s payroll in an attempt to close a budget deficit.

Los Angeles reportedly earned less in revenue from parking tickets than it spent to operate its traffic enforcement division.

For the year, the city expects parking fines to generate $110 million, according to budget data.

Four years ago, parking ticket fines generated $140.5 million.

Traffic tickets are a serious problem for drivers across the US. A New Yorker with Parkinson’s disease said he was left without a vehicle after city officials sold his car to cover unpaid parking tickets.

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

The driver spent several years fighting to have the citations reversed.

“It was an absolute disaster,” Jonathan Steinberg told The US Sun.

“And it gets worse with each passing month.”

The car owner is in his 70s.

He stressed that he doesn’t know what “we should do next to recover from the misery we were forced to endure because we didn’t have a car.”

“And having to spend hundreds of hours working on this stupid case over the last few years,” Steinberg said.