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

Lol
law and order.

"PTravel" a écrit dans le message de news:
...

"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.


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

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

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.

Hatunen wrote:
On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:33:02 -0700, "PTravel"
wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
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)

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.

It might work to go to the police agency that issued the ticket
and plead stupidity. As a foreigner, it might work.


They've probably heard that before.


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Dave Smith wrote:
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.

How would the cop know that the car was rented by a foreigner?

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:08:48 +0200, "Runge"
wrote:

"Hatunen" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:33:02 -0700, "PTravel"
wrote:


wrote in message
egroups.com...
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)

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.

It might work to go to the police agency that issued the ticket
and plead stupidity. As a foreigner, it might work.

Foreigners are stupid??

That's not what I said.




************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

wrote in message
oups.com...
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?

If Hertz finds out from the city that there is an outstanding parking ticket
on the car when you turn it in they will charge you for the parking ticket
right then, so they can pay the ticket for the car.

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?

If Hertz gets the ticket later they could try and charge your credit card.
If the card is cancelled they could call or send a letter to your home
address asking you to pay them for the ticket.

They could also put your on a deadbeat list so you will no longer be able to
rent from Hertz.

Note, I'm saying they could do all those things. I'd guess the most likely
is they won't do any of the above. A friend got a parking ticket in a
rental car in Florence Italy. (Same situation, apparently a sign somewhere
said no parking anywhere on this block except for certain cars. There were
no street signs or curb painting on the street he parked on, and didn't
recognize that all the other parked cars had stickers or placards or
something.) Since they couldn't read Italian, they just figured the rental
car agency would bill them later for the ticket. They never heard about it
from either the rental car company or the city of Florence.



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)

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


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.


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.


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

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.


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.

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.



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.

Me too. Five years ago I was in the Netherlands and driving along on a 80
kph
road, stopped in a small town to look for a hotel room, came back out onto
the
highway I had been on and proceeded in the original direction. As I was
accelerating back up to 80 kph I spotted a sign indicating there as photo
radar
and that the speed limit was only 50 kph. I have no idea why the speed
limit
suddenly dropped. It was a country road, just like it had been north of
that
town, and no houses or anything around. Never the less, I slowed down to
comply
with the speed limit, but too late. Five months later I got a speeding
ticket in
the mail for doing 54 kph in a 50 kph zone. That is 2.5 mph over the
speed
limit.

I paid it. It wasn't worth the hassle if I ever had to go back there,
since
many European flights go through Schipol and I didn't want to get arrested
for a
$30 ticket. But I can tell you that they being so sticky about that
measly 4
kph means that I won't be planning on spending any time or money there.

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

Similarly, I once ran into a store to pick up something. There were lots
of
empty parking spaces on the street because no one shops downtown there. I
had
no change for the meter, but was only going to be a few minutes. I came
out and
found a $7 parking ticket on my windshield. I paid it, but I don't shop
downtown there. The city is always trying to rejuvenate their decrepit
downtown
area, and then they hire all those parking enforcement people to pounce on
the
few people who do come.

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


Sure. I was wrong. I didn't pay them their 5 cents for parking for 5
minutes.
Big deal. It is not like parking is a problem there. Lack of customers is
their
problem, and their zero tolerance for parking violations is a prime
example.

"Runge" wrote in message
...
Lol
law and order.

Nope. Respect and courtesy.


"PTravel" a écrit dans le message de news:
...

"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.


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

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

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.

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.

Dave Smith wrote:

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.

Why should it be "out of character" for a cop to ticket someone parking
in a bus zone, foreigner or not?

The cop probably didn't know it was a rental car or even that it was used
by a foreigner. Why should he bother obtaining this information when the
registration number is sufficient to issue the ticket?

.... Martin

"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.

No, I said, "that was INTENTIONAL."

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.

Good for you. Feel free to avoid the U.S. entirely.


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.

No, it isn't. It's all about maintaining free access to bus transportation,
which is why it is illegal to park in a bus loading zone. It's also about a
society of laws, and common courtesy when you're a guest in another's home.

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.

That's correct. What's your point? It's okay to stick the rental company?





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.

What is about the word, "rude" that gives you trouble? Disregarding the
laws of a host nation is, at minimum disrespectful and discourteous -- in a
word, rude.


The guy parked for 20 minutes
in a bus loading zone, and did it accidentally.

"I did it accidently," isn't an excuse.

This terrible crime was
committed in a country were small towns drop the speed limit on highways
and set
up radar traps.

As I said, I think it would be a good idea if you avoided the US altogether.
It's obviously far too horrible a place for you.



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.

Which has nothing to do with what happened to the OP.


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

But we are talking parking tickets here.

Yes, so?

There are places where people cannot
get to stores and businesses because people abuse parking facilities.

Do you mean people like the bus passengers who might not have had access to
the bus because of where the OP parked?


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.

I'm sure your urban renewal analysis has some point, but none to this
thread, which is about whether it is appropriate to skip out on a parking
ticket because its issued in another country. Answer: it is not.

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.

And, as I suggested, don't come here. That way, you won't be exposed to any
abuse, and we won't have to deal with discourteous and rude foreigners who
think they get to choose which laws they are required to follow.

That's called win-win, right?