Parking Ticket for USD 255, what do i do about it?

PTravel wrote:
First, rental cars are not clearly marked -- that's intentional, so that
they won't be targeted by theives.

Putting two or three barcodes on a car is pretty clear marking to me.
They told me at Alamo it wasn't obvious, but when I was travelling in
tourist zones, I could identify every single rental and know who
rented, what state they rented from (what city if I could see the
barcode on the windshield, and there's one on the door, not sure
offhand which door). And I knew who really drove out of state (or
in-state) because they didn't have the "marked rental car".

Second, bus zones are always clearly marked -- I've never seen one that
wasn't.

Clearly marked to us. Canada and US signs don't seem to be that much
different. But we don't know where this traveller is from. He admitted
he might not have recognized the sign. There were signs in the US I
didn't recognize, but parking wasn't a problem for me. I had no qualms
about simply paying or walking a few blocks in order to be sure I
wouldn't get a ticket. I was more worried about getting a speeding
ticket than anything else (for going 5 miles over or something minor).

Finally, why should a rental car get a pass on laws that everyone else is
required to observe? Rental cars are rented primarily to U.S. citizens in
the U.S. -- only a small fraction are rented to foreign visitors.
Nonetheless, when I rent a car in another country, I am expected to follow
the laws, and I do. I expect no less from foreign visitors who come here.

He can still attempt to plead ignorance, if channels allow for that.
The way tickets are given out in Ontario, you have to appear in court.
Not a convenient solution for someone who is only here for a few days.
I say either dish out the 255 and get it done with, or attempt to plead
ignorance. If my mother can do it every time she gets a ticket and she
lives in the town, I don't see why anyone else can't do that. (Not that
I agree with my mother, but still...)

S.

Dave Smith wrote:
PTravel wrote:
First, rental cars are not clearly marked -- that's intentional, so that
they won't be targeted by theives.
First,, it seems that there some states that prohibit labelling cars with
stickers that identify them as rentals. Not all states do that. It is certainly
not international.

He didn't say international, he said intentional. Apparently Utah
doesn't have this law. If it does, that's because they bypassed it by
putting a barcode sticker with the city and state on the windshield to
"identify" the vehicle, but it was not "identified as a rental". I did
know what it meant though. Not to mention rental companies always have
very new vehicles, which is another sign for a possible rental.

S.

wrote:
Hi all,

I am driving a car rented from Hertz with a foreign license in CA. I
received a parking ticket for $255 for parking in a bus loading zone (I
didn't see any sign or I didn't recognize the sign, I parked there for
about 20min.). Will that bring me any problem while returning the car
to Hertz in five days time?

I heard that Hertz is going to pay the bail and charge my credit card
which has no credit left currently. What if I cancel this credit card
next month?

They do have my home address in my home country. But I wonder what they
would do about that...

Any suggestion or idea is appreciated!
I am very sorry to violate any law. It was my second day in U.S. (not
to excuse)

I've received tickets before. I was guilty, and I paid them. You
could possibly get away with it somehow, but the one that will pay will
be Hertz. If that happens, don't expect to ever rent a car again. I
was told by a reliable Hertz employee a while back, that the rental
agencies *do* share certain information.

On 15 Aug 2006 10:05:42 -0700, wrote:

Hi all,

I am driving a car rented from Hertz with a foreign license in CA. I
received a parking ticket for $255 for parking in a bus loading zone (I
didn't see any sign or I didn't recognize the sign, I parked there for
about 20min.). Will that bring me any problem while returning the car
to Hertz in five days time?

20 minutes in a bus zone for $255???? What city charges this? That
would cost you $38 in Seattle.

In article .com, sapphyre_
says...


Dave Smith wrote:
PTravel wrote:
First, rental cars are not clearly marked -- that's intentional, so that
they won't be targeted by theives.
First,, it seems that there some states that prohibit labelling cars with
stickers that identify them as rentals. Not all states do that. It is
certain
ly
not international.

He didn't say international, he said intentional. Apparently Utah
doesn't have this law. If it does, that's because they bypassed it by
putting a barcode sticker with the city and state on the windshield to
"identify" the vehicle, but it was not "identified as a rental". I did
know what it meant though. Not to mention rental companies always have
very new vehicles, which is another sign for a possible rental.

S.

Correct - many rental companies have a bar code sticker on the windshield. One
could infere from this, that it is a rental car. However, there are some other
instances, where an auto might have a bar code, i.e. a company "pool" car.

The only company that has any overt sign of the auto being a rental in the US,
seems to be Enterprise, which has a small green/white decal on the rear
bumper.

Most companies now try to disguise their autos (possibly due to the crime wave
against rental cars in Florida, some years ago), in that they do not use
special license plates any longer, and most do not have outward signs of being
rentals.

Hunt

wrote:
I am driving a car rented from Hertz with a foreign license in CA.
I received a parking ticket for $255 for parking in a bus loading
zone (I didn't see any sign or I didn't recognize the sign, I parked
there for about 20min.). Will that bring me any problem while
returning the car to Hertz in five days time?

Something similar happened to me when, on my honeymoon on the
big-island of Hawaii, I was stopped just a mile outside the airport
'cuz my wife, sitting in the passenger seat, unhooked her seatbelt for
a moment to fetch me an aspirin. Where I live, they cannot stop
you for that violation alone.

I advise you not to try to stiff Hertz with this ticket. You might be
able to do so, but it can adversely affect your credit rating, and
Hertz would likely move to substitute /you/ as the defendant in the
court file. Your right to ever drive again in CA will be affected.

Instead, with most traffic tickets, you have the options to request
an administrative hearing and file a written defense with a traffic
judge, just as you've done with us. I suggest that you do this. You
may be able to get the fine waived or reduced considerably. It will
put Hertz off your trail and give you time to cough up the $$. =R=

"Dave Smith" wrote in message
...
PTravel wrote:


Any suggestion or idea is appreciated!
I am very sorry to violate any law. It was my second day in U.S. (not
to excuse)

Here's a suggestion: pay the fine. It is not appropriate to violate the
law
in someone else's country and then evade the penalty. I don't do it when
I'm a guest in someone else's country, and I would expect that foreign
visitors not do it when they're guests here.


On the other hand, rental cars are clearly marked. There is always room
for
discretion, and special zones should be clearly identified as such. It
is not
as if it were out of character for an American cop to ticket an foreigner.


And how many rental cars are driven by foreigners as opposed to citizens.
The rental car company will send you a bill for the ticket, with a couple of
bucks added for a service charge. They can also bill you through your
credit card. And if they do, then you also pay extra fees to the credit
card company for exceeding your limit. I got a parking ticket in the Cinque
Terre, Italy and other than your credit card problems I just got a notice
from Avis. Sent them the $6 requested.

"Dave Smith" wrote in message
...
PTravel wrote:

First, rental cars are not clearly marked -- that's intentional, so
that
they won't be targeted by theives.


First,, it seems that there some states that prohibit labelling cars
with
stickers that identify them as rentals. Not all states do that. It is
certainly
not international.

We're talking about the U.S., not internationally. I rent cars all over
the
country -- none of them are marked as such for the reason I gave.


Yes, we are talking about the US. You were the one you said that it is
international. Rental cars here are clearly identified as such, either
with
window decals or bumper stickers. We can get away with that because our
streets
are not crime ridden.

Second, you have seen clearly marked bus zones. That doesn't mean that
there are
improperly marked bus parking zones. The OP said he either didn't see
the
sign
or didn't recognize it. If there is a bus loading zone it's a pretty
safe bet
that it is a tourist area and, hopefully, there are a lot of tourists.

So what? Even if the OP parked in an improperly marked bus zone (which
I've
never seen), it is illegal to ignore the ticket or, more accurately,
doing
so will result in forfeiture of bail, which the rental car company will
pay
and charge back to the renter. Being a tourist isn't a defense to
breaking
the law.

It's a parking ticket. It's all about money anyway isn't it. The city is
going
to get its money from the owner, the rental company. It's up to the rental
company to get it from the OP.




It is called good will, something there used to be a lot more of.

Breaking laws in a foreign country isn't "good will." It's rude, at a
minimum.

Hell. We have an international felon in our midst. The guy parked for 20
minutes
in a bus loading zone, and did it accidentally. This terrible crime was
committed in a country were small towns drop the speed limit on highways
and set
up radar traps.


Your choice. There are speed traps in the US as well. You don't get to
pick and choose which laws you'll obey.

Yep. I have heard about those speed traps. It is legalized robbery. They
use
artificial speed limits for revenue generation instead of for safety, just
like
cities use parking ticket revenues to boost their budgets.

Again, your choice. Observing the law isn't optional based on your
evaulation of its appropriateness.

But we are talking parking tickets here. There are places where people
cannot
get to stores and businesses because people abuse parking facilities. The
put
limits on it to control the problem. There was no problem finding parking
in
this city. The biggest problem they have is attracting people downtown to
shop.
The city spends a lot of money to try to make downtown more attractive and
to
compete against malls with their free parking. Then they go and hire
people to
hassle those who do go downtown. While it may not be up to me to evaluate
the
propriety of the law, it is up to me whether or not I expose my self to
that
abuse.


You have not been to Miami then. After the Concealed carry laws allowed the
locals to pack a gun, the local thieves targeted rental cars leaving the
airport. All the rental car companies removed the identifying stickers.
And Red Zones are seen in Europe also.

Dear All,

Thanks for all your replies. I am really grateful for everything you
guys wrote here.

I feel ashamed that I did felt like to run away from this when I
started the topic.

Firstly, because I didn't get the ticket at site. My friend told me the
next morning that there is something on my windows. So we were very
suprised that US police can "send" ticket to my car window in my hotel
during the night. But I guess it's just me or my friend failed to see
the ticket yesterday. I did not believe I have violated the law at that
time.

2ndly, the fine is way too high. If it is a ticket of $20 - $40, it's
ok with me. And I believe there wouldn't be such a topic here. It is
$255 us dollars. I earn somewhere like that in my home country a month.
So please share some understanding for my first reaction......

I did drive back to where I parked yesterday. I am not in a big city.
This is Moutain View. The place I parked DID have a bus sign off the
street but it is "HIDDEN" between two big trees. It is very hard to
spot that sign. And there is NO BUS ZONE DRAWN on the street. I've been
driving and parking in San Francisco and I know what a bus loading zone
looks like. The last and most important reason is that there is a FREE
PUBLIC PARKING sign 10 meters ahead! Two cars parked next to the free
public parking sign and I was the third one in the line. But
unfortunately, my park was in a "Invisible" bus loading zone.

I want to stand up. I want to go to court or plead to the police to
waive the bail or reduce it. But I don't know how. My return flight is
this Saturday and I am not the owner of the car. Nor I have a US
license or national security number or a lawyer.

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Leo



Rog' wrote:
wrote:
I am driving a car rented from Hertz with a foreign license in CA.
I received a parking ticket for $255 for parking in a bus loading
zone (I didn't see any sign or I didn't recognize the sign, I parked
there for about 20min.). Will that bring me any problem while
returning the car to Hertz in five days time?

Something similar happened to me when, on my honeymoon on the
big-island of Hawaii, I was stopped just a mile outside the airport
'cuz my wife, sitting in the passenger seat, unhooked her seatbelt for
a moment to fetch me an aspirin. Where I live, they cannot stop
you for that violation alone.

I advise you not to try to stiff Hertz with this ticket. You might be
able to do so, but it can adversely affect your credit rating, and
Hertz would likely move to substitute /you/ as the defendant in the
court file. Your right to ever drive again in CA will be affected.

Instead, with most traffic tickets, you have the options to request
an administrative hearing and file a written defense with a traffic
judge, just as you've done with us. I suggest that you do this. You
may be able to get the fine waived or reduced considerably. It will
put Hertz off your trail and give you time to cough up the $$. =R=

In article .com,
wrote:

Hi all,

I am driving a car rented from Hertz with a foreign license in CA. I
received a parking ticket for $255 for parking in a bus loading zone (I
didn't see any sign or I didn't recognize the sign, I parked there for
about 20min.). Will that bring me any problem while returning the car
to Hertz in five days time?

I heard that Hertz is going to pay the bail and charge my credit card
which has no credit left currently. What if I cancel this credit card
next month?

They do have my home address in my home country. But I wonder what they
would do about that...

Any suggestion or idea is appreciated!
I am very sorry to violate any law. It was my second day in U.S. (not
to excuse)

Your best bet is to call the phone number on the ticket to ask about
expediting a hearing on it. Chances are though that you will have to pay
the ticket and if you contest it, you'll have to pay the court costs,
plus the original fine.

In your situation, ignoring the ticket is your worst option. If you
don't pay the ticket, Hertz will be charged the fine, plus a late fee.
Hertz has been in business for many years and they know how to get your
money for this incident. Closing your credit card will not help you and
being at your credit limit will only make things worse for you.

What Hertz will do is simply charge the ticket to your credit card. Your
credit card issuer will accept the charge and pass it along to you, even
if you cancel the card because the agreement you signed was signed
before you canceled. Cancelation might also get you a nice charge of
fraud. In addition, if you exceed your credit limit, your credit card
issuer will be glad to add in an over limit fee for each and every
billing period that you are over the limit.

So, by far the most frugal thing for you to do, and probably the only
ethical option is to pay the ticket if you cannot contest it.

You should also read your credit card and rental car agreements.