Last year I got a parking ticket. It was a stupid ticket that on the face of it was my fault, but in 10 years working in Stamford I’ve never seen anyone else get this ticket. I had an delivery from McDonald’s, and there was no parking, even in the lot down the street, so I parked on the curb and put my blinkers on. I was in and out in 5 minutes, parked where everyone parks who picks up there. And I got a ticket. $50 for that. It’s Stamford, people have more money there, so they charge more.
So I appealed it. It took about 6 months to get a hearing. I went to the hearing, presented my case (I aid my car overheated and I was getting water to fix the engine) and they said it was fine. I thought that was the end of it. Today I get a letter saying my appeal was denied. I’m curious if they denied everyone who went. Other people had pictures, and witnesses, and documents, and I was like: wow, these people are lucky that they have all of this for their hearing. But maybe they got denied, too.
So today I called, a little annoyed, because cops do it all the time to go get coffee, and everyone else parks there to get themselves food, and it’s hard being a delivery driver in a city. There’s often no parking pickups or drops offs. They said I could appeal it to the Superior Court. So I called them, and they said there’s no one there right now to help me with the paperwork, but it’s $90 to file. I’m not an idiot, I know how this story would end I only wanted to exercise my rights as far as I could take them without paying for them. If I had a solid legal reason, like say I got hit by someone else and my battery disconnected and I was calling for help, you can be sure I’d be paying the filing fee and going though the court.
It’s just super-annoying. Even on the street parking the meter maids hassle us. We KNOW you’re supposed to pay to park, but the whole street is empty, come on. We’re not shopping, we’re taking people who are out shopping. We need to sit somewhere while we wait. And WE are often the ones reporting crimes in progress to the police, or reporting injuries, or things like I did one night a guy passed out in the middle of a busy road. We’re not just transporting people and food, a lot of us also help other people along the way. I’ve personally reported several women getting assaulted, several people passed out in the road, multiple drunk drivers, a fire, tons of disabled vehicles with stranded people: we see it all and it’s not like we’re out here to take advantage of the rules just to make a quick buck.
And don’t forget that being a driver, any kind of professional driver is more dangerous than being a police officer. Whether it’s driving a truck, taxi, delivery, EMT/Paramedic, bus driver, etc: statistically all more dangerous than being a police officer. They should cut us some slack.
Recent Comments