Todd, I agree with you that consulting an attorney can be beneficial at times, but as a former law enforcement officer myself, I would recommend taking a picture of the violation, calling the station to complain to a supervisor that the law was not enforced properly, following that up with an official written complaint, and then if nothing has happened to your satisfaction, go see that lawyer with all of the documentation. It's a lot of work, but it usually yields much better results.
As for demanding a citation had an accident, you can try, but most officers will only issue a citation if they feel it is necessary. When reporting on an accident the officer can assign blame in the accident report without issuing a citation, however, most departments or agencies require that a citation be issued if fault can be definitively determined. I have ran into problems with police officers not wanting to properly enforce parking regulations and to be honest, have not always followed up due to time constraints or does my own laziness. For those of you out there who really feel strongly about this it may behoove you to talk to your local enforcement agencies or the politicians in the area about stepping up enforcement of this law. In the state of Florida a large part of the proceeds from these violations go directly to governing entity controlling the area in which the violation occurred. For instance, if it took place in Tampa, the city would get a large percentage of the paid fine. If it took place outside Tampa, then the County would get the funds. Initially this would help pay for the budget shortfalls and eventually these parking violations would decrease to the point where we could see a significant impact. As many other people have mentioned, there is a significant disconnect between the amount of people receiving placards and wheelchair license plates and the actual number who are truly qualified. These laws need to be tightened up in most states. I just thought I would mention one thing that has started happening here which has had some impact. At some events where special disabled parking has been assigned, there is a law enforcement officer standing at the entrance and making sure the person to whom the placard was issued is actually in the vehicle. If not, they take the placard from the individuals. I'm not sure whether they are issuing citations, but I sure hope so. It has made it a little bit easier for some of us to get wheelchair accessible parking at sporting events or concerts. Quadius On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 11:37 PM, Tod E. Santee <[email protected]> wrote: > Ron -- Maybe a quick conference with an attorney will tell you if the > police must file a report and/or citation. If so, filing a suit alleging > the police officer did not fulfill his duties might be the only way to get > their attention and force them to enforce. > > Maybe there *is* a certain amount of discretion allowed by the responding > officer ... like the Harly was mostly in a parking spot but protuding into > the stripes they can "forgive." On the other hand, in some places just > parking with your tires -ON- the line between spaces will get you a > citation. > > I know in any accident you should always demand that citation is issued... > that way there's a formal record. Same should be done with parking > violations... the Harley rider and Officer can then explain to a judge why a > fine should be waived!! > > It's an unfortunate reality -- Using The Law is the only *real* recourse we > have... without getting cited ourselves. > > Best to All, > --Tod
