Parking fine help.

dansedgli · 06-10-2006, 06:24 PM

I got a Penalty reminder notice in the mail today.

Apparantly my vehicle was stopped on the footpath on the 1st of september and I failed to pay my fine.

The fine wasnt there on the day and my vehicle is a motorbike. I park on the footpath on little collins 5 days a week.

I have been parking on the footpath in the same spot for nearly 3 years now with about 7 other bikes who have likely been doing it much longer.

WTF!!

There no signs saying I cant park there and its not in anyone's way.

I called the council who gave me the fine and they said that usually bikes only get fined if someone has a sook to the council. She was just as surprised as I but said thats the way the cookie crumbles and Im welcome to object.

Is my fine legit or should I argue it? What should I write in my objection letter?

Casper · 06-10-2006, 06:30 PM

Its Melb city council. Save your paper and pay it. They are Parking fine Nazi's and will take it to the absolute extreme (including adding insane "admin" costs) to get you to pay. They never give up, dont care about letters and will take you to court.

Havent you heard? Cars and motorbikes are no longer welcome in the CBD.

LUXO_8 · 06-10-2006, 06:34 PM

what a joke dan....i'd definatley be fighting it....

Casper · 06-10-2006, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

what a joke dan....i'd definatley be fighting it....

forget it, they dont care and they dont back down. This is the Melb City Council.. they will go to court and they will get you.. and it will cost about 5x as much as it does now. Fight it all you like, they dont care. They want the money.

Tiga_EL · 06-10-2006, 06:40 PM

Yeah all the parking tickets inspectors suck. I got parking fine, just as i walked to my car. the guy laughed and drove off. Cos i was booked on a friday,a 108 dollar fine thats like double the usual ticket. Had no choice but to pay it.

I heard your better off not to contest it, coz as Casper said you get all these other fees on top.

EBII Fairmont · 06-10-2006, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casper

Its Melb city council. Save your paper and pay it. They are Parking fine Nazi's and will take it to the absolute extreme (including adding insane "admin" costs) to get you to pay. They never give up, dont care about letters and will take you to court.

Havent you heard? Cars and motorbikes are no longer welcome in the CBD.

I tell you all what i love most. The government makes more roads so we can flud more cars into the city, and not create suffiecient parking so we can all fit. Good work labour party.

BOOSTDEF · 06-10-2006, 07:53 PM

Ive got about 5 from uni... refused to pay them and i got off as i made a petition with other students who also cannot find a car park at uni.

Im happy to pay the $4 an hour to park, but park where? :P

I dunno though, council and uni is a little bit of a different league. Im sure they employ people to make sure you pay it.

frost · 06-10-2006, 08:05 PM

Haha in Ballarat iv had several parking fines from uni, if they want to write them on a Red peice of card and say "please pay within 7 days or we will take legal action" im not going to pay it, according to my solictor Uni of Ballarat has no standing lol. They had the police up at one of my cars one day, cause it had no ID and the trade plate was in the boot (didnt want it stolen) cops just laughed at the parking inspector and said "cya"

As for Melbourne City Council, Best you pay it and forget it ever happened, my sister fought a ticket once cost her $1000 in the end

atec77 · 06-10-2006, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dansedgli

I got a Penalty reminder notice in the mail today.

Apparantly my vehicle was stopped on the footpath on the 1st of september and I failed to pay my fine.

The fine wasnt there on the day and my vehicle is a motorbike. I park on the footpath on little collins 5 days a week.

I have been parking on the footpath in the same spot for nearly 3 years now with about 7 other bikes who have likely been doing it much longer.

WTF!!

There no signs saying I cant park there and its not in anyone's way.

I called the council who gave me the fine and they said that usually bikes only get fined if someone has a sook to the council. She was just as surprised as I but said thats the way the cookie crumbles and Im welcome to object.

Is my fine legit or should I argue it? What should I write in my objection letter?

You will have to pay it , it will cost mroe to fight than you can afford , however have a winge and offer 20 a month to pay it off , they will make an offer so you get time as well.

fmc351 · 06-10-2006, 08:23 PM

Back when i lived in Melbourne (1987?) I parked my bikes on the footpath in the city all the time. When I got my licence, it was where they were meant to be parked. I never had a problem, the only time a parking clown had a word to me was when I rode up the little ramp at the crossing to get on the footpath. "Walk it mate". I was doing maybe 4km/h and going just enough so it wasnt in the way of pedestrians. Walk it, pfft its 240kg.

Edit: Just a thought. Peter Stevens and the run of bike shops still in Elizabeth St? Do they still have heaps of bikes on the footpath?

MO · 06-10-2006, 09:08 PM

OK jump the gun take them to court before they take you...find precedence..you should win and they pay costs.

Kryton · 06-10-2006, 09:26 PM

as far as i knew it was Legal for motorbikes to park on the sidewalk/footpath.
call in to VicRoads and see what the rule is about it.
if you are allowed to park there...take THEM to court.

nobbystang · 06-10-2006, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davway

as far as i knew it was Legal for motorbikes to park on the sidewalk/footpath.
call in to VicRoads and see what the rule is about it.
if you are allowed to park there...take THEM to court.

I used to read netrider forum, quite good and few topics about it, here is one link to a recent one, you should be able to find more

http://www.netrider.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25598

05MkIIFutura · 06-10-2006, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dansedgli

The fine wasnt there on the day and my vehicle is a motorbike. I park on the footpath on little collins 5 days a week. I have been parking on the footpath in the same spot for nearly 3 years now with about 7 other bikes who have likely been doing it much longer.

You have parked on the footpath > it is illegal to leave ANYTHING on a footpath (including leaving your car over hanging out of your driveway) > you have to pay the fine.

Sundeep · 07-10-2006, 01:05 AM

I got done in the city when I got my P's a while ago. $120 for parking in a Loading Zone at 1AM on a Saturday. Some drunk stole the ticket so I got the reminder with admin fees and not the one on the car, which was a pity because I was 100% certain I didn't park in a loading zone.

I tried fighting it by making some calls and sending a letter etc. but they are pure hard scum. Best bet is throw a rock through the front window of the town hall or something. That'd cost a fair bit to repair. I jokes btw.

Sundeep

Outbackjack · 07-10-2006, 01:10 AM

Put your head between your knees and kiss your wallet goodbye. Justice has no place when it comes between the Melbourne City Councils revenue and you.

It'sTheVibe · 07-10-2006, 01:20 AM

Quote:

You have parked on the footpath > it is illegal to leave ANYTHING on a footpath (including leaving your car over hanging out of your driveway) > you have to pay the fine.

Wrong wrong wrong

out:

[HTML]http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/vrpdf/trum/tr2001102.pdf[/HTML]

In Victoria you can legally park your motorcycle on the footpath, as long as you do not obstruct pedestrians, delivery vehicles, public transport users or parked cars, and avoid parking on private property.

uranium_death · 07-10-2006, 01:26 AM

Fact is that the time and money you will spend to defend yourself is not worth it.

Just pay it, seek clarification on what the problem was, and avoid repeating.

Sometimes we just can't win.

fmc351 · 07-10-2006, 02:19 PM

You win, you wont pay anything. As for time, its principle, its not like it takes weeks of actual work. Fines go on your record.

Check if its still legal to park on the footpath. It WAS, probably still is. If it is, fight it.

photn · 07-10-2006, 02:23 PM

Quote:

You have parked on the footpath > it is illegal to leave ANYTHING on a footpath (including leaving your car over hanging out of your driveway) > you have to pay the fine.
__________________

NEO NAZI, becarefull of this one guys..... jeez dude. ease up. your so serious as if its life or death. Not all states are the same. each have there own different type of Motor Authority and there are different rules in different states. just cause you know that you cant leave anything on the driveway doesnt mean that someware else its the same.

and just a hint b4 you post sumthing next time. try and get your facts right or at least right i thnk if your not sure.....just trying to help you not get burned again.

hey davway. my experince with councils is there as money hungry bastards as the Government, just pay the fine or else they will milk you for everything your worth.

dansedgli · 07-10-2006, 02:23 PM

The fine doesnt worry me. Its the fact that I and about 10 other bikes have been parking there for at least 2 years. Longer for the other guys.

There is no sign saying we cant park there.

Parking on the footpath is an accepted practise with motorbikes. As someone said Peter Stevens and all the bike shops on elizabeth st have tonnes of bikes on the foot path.

As I didnt receive the original fine I have parked in the same place about 20 times since then. Will I be receiving further fines?

Ill go pay them a visit one day this week and suss things out.

I really dont want to pay it and I sure as hell am not paying $40 a day to park in the secure parking area of my building.

ronwest · 07-10-2006, 02:38 PM

If you were parked in an area that is it legal to park, it may be that you were parked incorrectly within that area... too close to building or gutter etc. It sounds as though someone may have complained about your bike being an obstruction.
I'd query it but wouldn't hold out great hope of having it rescinded.

dansedgli · 07-10-2006, 02:49 PM

Yeah when I rang the council asking what the reminder was for she was surprised that it was a bike that copped the fine and she said that usually it only happens when someone has a whinge to them.

I still want to try and get out of it as they cant decide its legal one day and not the next.

nobbystang · 07-10-2006, 08:24 PM

Sounds like the old, can't argue with stupidity. They only drag you down to their level and they have many more years experience there.

fmc351 · 08-10-2006, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dansedgli

I still want to try and get out of it as they cant decide its legal one day and not the next.

Absolutely correct. Thats the reason for laws, its a cornerstone of our democracy, the rule of law, to stop arbitrary enforcement.

Just make sure it is legal, and not simply overlooked. Even if it is over looked, that could change the laws application. The consequences to Peter Stevens etc of enforcing it, would be considered. They have parked on the footpath for at least 30 yrs.

Imagine if the cops decided todays speed limit based on whim. No notification, just a lottery.

Abacus · 08-10-2006, 05:26 AM

I've got a PO box for my business. The Post Office is in a suburban shopping strip. The council put in meters. Some of the meters have a "1/4 hour free" button, the ones outside the Post Office don't.

A few months ago I pulled up outside the post office, ducked in, got my mail, came outside, and I've been written up. He must have the staking the place out catching people like me who were collecting their mail. The only way I can figure that he had the ticket written so fast is that he must have pre-filled everything bar the rego number so that he just had to fill that bit in and stick it on the windscreen when somebody pulled up and went in and out of the PO.

I confronted the SOB. He gave me a lecture, saying that I had to put money in the meter every time, but took the ticket and said he would "talk about it with his supervisor". Yeah, right. A week later the penalty notice arrived in the mail.

I can't understand the mentality of the grubs who take this job. They are fit enough to walk around all day, and must have at least some reading skills. Surely they could find a job doing something else. Only conclusion I can reach is that this is the job they want to do...

dansedgli · 12-10-2006, 09:22 AM

Thanks guys,

I downloaded the rule which I was fined for and I dont think I broke the rule. Here is a link to it.

http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/gu...0code%20737%22

Im going in their office today to see what I can do about it. $85 can buy me new intercooler piping for when I put the new turbo on.

**Mechan1k** · 12-10-2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by It'sTheVibe

Wrong wrong wrong

out:

[HTML]http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/vrpdf/trum/tr2001102.pdf[/HTML]

In Victoria you can legally park your motorcycle on the footpath, as long as you do not obstruct pedestrians, delivery vehicles, public transport users or parked cars, and avoid parking on private property.

Damn ... AFAIK in NSW ... you park on the footpath ... you get fined ... no matter what ... only pushbikes are allowed to be "parked" on the footpath up here ... you guys are lucky down there in Vic.

pooyan · 12-10-2006, 10:13 AM

I got a ticket in North Melbourne, outside a pub at 5.57pm when paid parking finishes at 6pm. I was going to contest it, as I was 100% sure I had enough in the meter. I arrived at 5.15 and put 1 hours worth in it.

But then I had a closer look at the ticket. They got my rego plates wrong! I'm just going to ignore it now. :hihi:

dansedgli · 08-11-2006, 02:25 PM

Updates.

I sent a letter off on the 17th of October and heard nothing back so I called them up again.

Apparantly a letter was sent out on the 1st of November but I havent received it yet. Much like the initial fine which I never received. Maybe they are planning to send me a reminder for this one as well and fine me an extra $50. It said that I was parked too close to a handicapped parking space and didnt allow enough room for people to get out of the car.

I still call BS as there is only 1 disabled space on the street near where I usually park. I have parked near it once before when there was construction where I usually park but I think I was well in front of the actual space. I cant remember exactly when I parked there but Im fairly sure it wasnt the 1st of September when they say I was parked there.

Apparantly they have a photo of where I was parked. The lady I spoke to on the phone said she could view the picture but could not tell me if there was a disabled sign in sight or which shop I was parked in front of. WTF.

She said my next option is to either go to court where I will be able to see the picture or write a letter then they will contact me and arrange for me to buy the photo for $21.50.

If the damn fine was actually on my bike when I got it I wouldnt need to view the photo farken!!

It seems like they just want to **** me around until I pay. The lady on the phone seemed pretty keen to get me to take it to court!

I asked them to resend the letter that didnt arrive. Ill wait it out and view the photo first though.