Stupid!

[billroper]

I went out to my car today and found that I had a $100 ticket for parking in a handicapped space, because -- in the general entertainment currently involved in getting out of the car -- I forgot to put my handicapped placard back on the rearview mirror. (You aren't supposed to drive with it attached.)

So now I have a court date for May 9th to see if the judge will have mercy on my idiot soul.

Comments

[ladyrutile.livejournal.com]

that isn't stupidity. It's simply being overwhelmed by detail. Don't kick yourself; currently, doing so risks further injury! :-)

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

You're not stupid. Hang tags for rearview mirrors that are big enough that you can't safely drive with them on are stupid. Laws that say you can't have *anything* hanging on your mirror whether it's actually big enough to block the view or not are even stupider. People will forget; very few of us have the sort of brains that will always remember fiddly details when we're not really concentrating, and most of us have better things to do with our conscious attention than spending every waking moment scanning the immediate situation and checking the mental task list. A well-designed system takes human failings into account (and while I suppose some would argue that they're deliberately trying to generate more tickets, which would make it evil rather than simply stupid, but that seems far fetched in the case of hang tags).

[blueeyedtigress.livejournal.com]

Seems to me that, hereabouts, those things can also be displayed on the inside lower driver's-side corner of the windscreen ...? Or is that frowned upon, stateside?

[billroper]

Well, it's not where they say to put it...

(Nor would it be visible to someone driving a patrol car unless he got out to take a look, so my guess is that they wouldn't appreciate it.)

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

It would vary from state to state, and from tag to tag. There are hang tags for things other than parking in handicap spaces. I've never had occasion to look at the rules for handicap parking tags, but I have a hang tag for my U of I parking space. It's small enough that there is no *rational* reason not to drive with it in place, but I take it off at the end of the work week and try to remember to put it back at the start of the next week because I'm slightly concerned about being ticketed because I have something there, but not as concerned as I am about the number of times I'd forget it if I took it off every time I drove. Even only having to remember once a week, I've used up one of my two "get out of jail free" cards already -- I've forgotten several times but only got nailed once. (Campus Parking got so tired of having people come in and yell/whine at them for being ticketed when they were parked in the right place but without the tag that they issue two cards with "I forgot my hang tag" and the tag number with the yearly pass; when you get a ticket, you put a card in it instead of the money. They should do the same with the handicap parking tags.)

Mostly

[capplor.livejournal.com]

I think it's probably an issue of politely explaining the situation. Your handicap was a temporary situation and you weren't used to it and made a mistake in the details. Unless the judge is a real hardliner, it should work.

Re: Mostly

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Maybe don't wait for the court date.
Take it in to the police station, with your hang tag, and your knee in the brace, and you might get the court date scratched.

Re: Mostly

[billroper]

Tried that, which is how I got the court date instead of just paying the ticket...

[jcbemis.livejournal.com]

Just show up with the tag; in most states I believe they will forgive you for this (I got a nastygram that wasn't a ticket at Downtown Disney back in October when I forgot, becayse it was Disney security and not police; I suspect if I had come back to the car later, it might have been a ticket if they came back to check an hour later and the car was still there tagless)

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

FWIW, when I had a hang tag after my back surgery, I generally kept it on the center of the dashboard when it wasn't hanging. That way, if I forgot to hang it from the rearview mirror, it was still clearly visible from outside the car.

[billroper]

Unfortunately, it would just slide off my dashboard.

[kestrels-nest.livejournal.com]

What a pain.

Call the local prosecutor's office (or whatever they call it in Illinois), ask for the traffic court paralegal, explain the situation, and ask if it can be dismissed without appearance if you send in documentation. That works in Indiana, anyway. If it doesn't work in Illinois, let me know and I'll ask a friend who practices there what does. Judges tend to like things that save them time, in my experience. :)

[ann-totusek.livejournal.com]

I usually leave mine laying on the dashboard up by the window where it's visible- that way even if I forget to actually hang it, it's visible to someone who might be thinking about ticketing me, yet doesn't hang on my mirror while driving. I used to store it over the sun visor, but I'd forget to hang it too...

You might consider just calling and asking if you can go in to show them your tag and avoid the court appearance, though they may not let you there. Here they're pretty lenient about it.

[suecochran.livejournal.com]

I have my placard hooked onto my rear-view mirror, but I drive with the bottom of it tucked up hehind the visor. It keeps the placard out of my field of vision for driving, but is visible enough that I remember to put it down when I park in a handicapped spot. I used to keep it in my glove compartment, and mostly remembered to use it, but I observed a friend using this tucking method so I started using it too. I don't know if this will work with every car or not. I also don't know if anyone in a position to give a ticket would consider it to be in the way even though it is tucked up.

I'm sorry that you got the ticket, and I hope that you can be excused from having to pay the fine. I'm also sorry that you injured your knee, and I hope you heal from it quickly and completely. Good luck.

[catalana.livejournal.com]

That sucks. I'd feel dumb too. *hug* Hope it gets straightened out without too much trouble.