DRIVERS pleaded for help after a telephone parking payment system charged up to $170 for spaces near a hospital.
Patients and their families said they were confused by the digital payment system, with some drivers saying they had received one-hundred-dollar parking tickets.
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Several people have complained about University Louisville Hospital’s updated parking payment system, according to local NBC affiliate WAVE.
“We’ve been to that hospital so many times that we don’t pay attention [the payment app],” one driver, Randy Romans, told the station.
Romans took his wife to the hospital so she could get a knee replacement.
A complication kept her in the hospital for another day.
Read more about parking fines
When the Romans left, they believed the hospital had validated the parking.
“I asked them, ‘Do you need to validate my parking ticket? I didn’t get the ticket,'” Romans said.
“[They said] ‘no, we now use plate numbers, that’s why we got your plate number.’
However, the Romans received a letter saying that the car’s license plate had been read incorrectly.
They received a $170 fine for parking.
“It reminds me of the toll bridges, nothing but trouble,” Romans replied.
The parking lot has signs advertising the payment system QR code.
For customers to pay their fees, the company asks drivers to scan the code, download the app, use the license plate and enter their credit card details.
However, drivers said the system had too many steps for a hospital parking lot.
Romans was one of the few drivers who contacted the station about parking fees.
Nancy Ford sent her ticket to the police station after her son was hospitalized.
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 company said Ford failed to pay the $3 parking fee and charged a $35 fine. That’s a 1,075% increase.
Another driver said his parents were at the hospital when he used the nearby parking lot.
“Downloading an app was the last thing we thought of,” said the driver.
He was fined $80 for using the garage.
Another patient said her husband left the hospital parking lot and forgot to scan the app.
They claimed they were charged $100 for the error.
“Please help,” they wrote to WVE. “I know I can’t be the only one.”
Romans added that he had difficulty contacting the parking company and the hospital’s payment administration to collect the $170 fee.
“I can understand that something new is coming – they may have some problems, but it seemed like no one had any way to help him,” he said.
A hospital representative said the drivers were charged before the building management reversed its parking policies.
“A parking violation feature, which automates bills for vehicles not registered in the system, was activated for a limited time last spring,” a representative told the station.
“It has since been shut down, but some of the accounts from previous breaches may still be coming in.”
The hospital said patients can contact the hospital with their tickets if they have been improperly charged.
The Romans said the fine was fully rescinded.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
