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Mayor Daley wants to boot cars after two tickets instead of three, which he says will help the city close its $400 million budget gap by bringing in around $48 million.
De-booting costs $60, but the boot only lasts 24 hours. After that, your car gets towed, which costs drivers $150, plus $10 per day for the first five days it's impounded, and then $35 per day after that. Some aldermen worry that the punishment is too swift and severe, but Daley says people need to pay their debts. [Trib, S-T, I searched for a super long time for a still from "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" but couldn't find one that showed the booted car. If you can find it, ten points.]
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I'm all for it, maybe people will stop being so car crazy
All for it too. Stay out of trouble and you have nothing to worry about.
Best Boot episode picture I could find for you. People that have seen the episode would only know why he looks like this.
http://www.nohomers.net/showthread.php?p=1441028
http://springfieldfiles.com/albums/transport/0012.JPG
10 points!
I, for one, am not for it. Tickets are not indestructible things. They blow off cars and sometimes drunk jerks pull them off the cars in question. (As happened with one of my friend's car.) If that one-time ticket doesn't register with the driver for whatever reason, then they have to deal with a boot after that? No way. I also find it hard to believe that this will take care of Daley's fiscal mess, too.
All for it too. Stay out of trouble and you have nothing to worry about.
Really? Are you really going to put your faith in the City of Chicago department of revenue?
I assume you are either drunk or somehow otherwise impaired.
I recieved a 250 ticket for blocking an alley. From a neighborhood I've never been to. I didn't get notified about it either until it was in "final determination". The only reason I got out of it was tapping a lawyer friend to fight it for me. Seems they got a number wrong.
Then there was the ticket for a missing license plate I recieved. Even though both plates were affixed.
The street cleaning ticket I got at 8:45 in the morning, time-stamped, when the no parking started at 9am. I watched them go up and down my block doing this.
The system is not reliable, it's not even remotely fair and it's simply a revenue stream for the city.
And sniffing your nose as a cyclist is bullshit. The roads your riding on were paid for by taxes on cars and trucks. Not to mention the simple fact that your government is so inept at it's finances it has to shakedown citizens and hold their private property hostage over petty offenses. You really think that mindset only affects car owners? Again, whatever you're drinking, share with the class.
Nice post, Albany
Let's say you're contesting a ticket, but meanwhile you get another one - now you get a boot? That's bs.
Take it easy Albany. I've been driving in this city for 16 years and had only one issue, and that issue was corrected on the first contest (getting ticketed at 8.30a on a street cleaning day). I've had more than my share of parking tickets living in Lake View.
Not saying that you are most likely to get out of certain tickets, but there are ones they have zero tolerance for (fire lane, handicapped spots, anything blocking traffic routes). If you and a few others contested an improper citation by either A) the same ticketer, or B) for the same instance in which none of you were at fault, those will get tossed.
People make mistakes, that's why there are erasers on pencils. I'm sure you had hard enough time reading the chicken scratch scrawled on the ticket indicating your infraction. Imagine what the city sees through the carbon copy.
You are going to get a ticket for something. Everyone does. What I mean by "staying out of trouble and you will have nothing to worry about", is limit you chances of getting a ticket. If you park at a meter and put in an hour's worth and come back 65 minutes later to a ticket, that's worth it. If you are a hair into the yellow line, expect a ticket. I've gotten one, but tough shit, I was in the yellow, by a hair.
I can't help you with your gripes about the street cleaning. That's a racket in itself.
And I haven't rode a bike in years so calm down with your own self-righteous bullshit. You can't be innocent on all charges. Perhaps you should hit the snooze button and let that dark cloud over your head pass.
The offending simpson's clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNQWnQop1lo
grainy as all hell but it's do-able
Just lie down, think of England and take it?
No.
See it goes beyond inconvenience. Go to Rogers Park and see the squads prowling neighborhoods dosing out 2, sometimes 3 tickets at a throw to cars for the most minor or infractions. Working class and working poor people can't take the day off work to get a court date and contest by mail is a crapshoot at best and simply a waste of time at the outside.
I've seen 20-30 tickets on a SINGLE STREET in poorer areas. It's a shakedown of people who can't afford to fight.
You want to tell me that a car with a broken taillight is a danger to public health and safety? Or that a car parked one inch further from the curb than they should be is endangering us all? 50, 100, 250 dollars is a car payment, groceries, a chunk of rent for working people. People should not live in fear that their property might be subject to the revenue needs of the state.
As for cycling, I was referring to the usual spiel about the evils of cars that comes on.
My dark cloud? Oh please. Just because you accept the slow and gentle assramming of the city council doesn't mean everyone does.
alright I with draw my vote
+100 for Albany
I agree with you Albany. Chicago's parking ticket policies are designed to hurt the people who can afford it the least.
von erich, i've come back to my car (and i don't even have one right now) TEN minutes before the meter was supposed to expire only to find it blinking expired me. i don't find that "in the yellow by a hair."
i get the premise of ticketing for stuff*, but the way the city does it right now is ridiculous. i have a lawyer friend who says it's unconstitutional because essentially it's 'taxation without representation.' i can't really replicate his argument right now, but it was fairly compelling at the time.
*although, i tend to remember the most minute of traffic things from driver's ed, and i seem to remember that it was something like 4 or 5 feet from a fire hydrant (at least in WI) on both sides. i've seen yellow stripes painted that a semi could fit into.
People seem to get all aggrieved over tickets that they most likely deserved. Even if you have a hundred tickets you will not get booted if they are being contested. If you get a ticket or notice in the mail (make sure you keep your car's registration up to date) deal with it! If you procrastinate expect to enjoy a boot on your car. Buy your city and registration sticker. It is a matter of being a responsible adult.
In five years I have received one ticket, for street sweeping. I didn't move the car when I should have so I paid the ticket that day and went on with my life. Frankly, by my eyes the is no need for city people to write tickets that aren't deserved as you can hardly walk half a block and not find somebody parked like an ass hole.
Albany Parkour: Your claim of 20-30 tickets on one street lacks credulity. The only circumstance I can imagine is soon after the new city sticker is needed (and after the 15 day grace period). There are a lot of people in Chicago who own cars and can't afford them hence the lack of a sticker (and insurance). Again this in not a case of the city writing tickets without warrant but people behaving irresponsibly.
"most likely deserved" and deserved are TWO different things. writing a ticket at 3:55 for a tow zone that starts at 4:00 p.m. doesn't cut it. i should have the opportunity to get back to my car, knowing the time of the tow zone. 3:55 is not 3:58.
just like when i go to get a passport and make it there at 4:55 and they tell me they're closed and the lady is walking out the door putting her jacket on. last time i checked, national retail stores don't lock their doors 5 minutes before the store closes. and if they do, they're jaggy.
Your claim of 20-30 tickets on one street lacks credulity
So what, I should produce for you pictures from 2006 Rogers Park, Sherwin avenue between Ashland and Clark, just before the park?
Sorry I don't carry my evidence sack around, you jag.
Go to Austin, Rogers Park, Humboldt park. Non-white, working poor and lower-income communities. Oh yes, they deserve that ticket for parking one inch too close to a hydrant, or being too close/too far from the curb, or a cracked taillight or some other nonsense, bullshit make-money "crime".
You talk about responsible adults, and yet, as one you claim to be, you have absolutely zero empathy for people getting socking with ridiculous fines for minor infractions.
Congratulations, you've grown up into an asshole.
The Village of Oak Park are like Nazis when it comes to this too.
We are allowed something like 5 "guest passes" a year (which you pay for) if we have overnight guests and they need to park on the street. Overnight parking on the streets is NOT allowed here. If you live in an apartment and have to park on the street then you have to get a special permit.
If you live in a house and have a driveway with room for more cars then that's good for you. If your garage faces the alley, then sucks to be you.
Also, when I first moved here I parked in this little lot in the village that has free parking for up to 2 hours. Parking in the village is really cheap, so you don't do that to save money, you do it for the convenience. Anyway, I overstayed by 20 minutes once.
When I got back I saw this giant orange sticker on my window from a tow company. They were in the process of towing some other poor sap's car....mine was next.
I just couldn't believe this. I was 'this close' to getting towed all for being 20 minutes late. I had made a quick trip to the dentist, bookstore and the Gap. All in all I pumped over $500 that day into the village economy and I'm 20 minutes late and they're going to tow me.
Ok, fine...so yes, I broke the rule. Give me a ticket. But TOW me?
I was almost in tears over this.
It also sucks when you are at a meter and you put enough money in to do your business, you get back to your car like the minute the meter expires and they're whipping out the ticket book and they won't stop writing the ticket.
It's just frustrating when you consider yourself a good, law abiding citizen who does a lot to contribute to society and you're in no way whatsover some scofflaw who goes around flaunting the rules and you get clobbered by the parking gestapo.
I guess the only people that get screwed are the commenters on this site. These commenters only have lawyer friends, and are not lawyers themselves. The City is out to get them, and them only (and poor black and hispanics, but not Asians, Jews, or middle-easterns, and most certainly not WASPS and other Hitler Jungen). If you have such a problem with this corrupt city, move back to your own home town, or some other city that you can agree with. Chances are, you are driving with no city sticker on a license from another state, you are a renter, and therefore not contributing any tax dollars to the city anyway.
Stop your complaining, behave yourself, and stand in line like the rest of us.
I bet the sanitation department only skips your garbage cans, and the CTA singles you out for its delays.
If you have such a problem with this corrupt city, move back to your own home town, or some other city that you can agree with.
So, love it or leave it, then? Yeah, that's a smart idea.
Or, perhaps, work to change it for the better? After all, nearly everyone here likely is a Chicago taxpayer.
Listen, I agree: People should be responsible, which would solve most problems. But if you fail to understand that cops in this city write bullshit tickets all the time, and that the city will stop at nothing to nickel-and-dime its residents, I suggest you really don't know Chicago that well.
AP: I've been through all of those neighborhoods many times and have NEVER seen anything close to what you describe, hence my skepticism. Are the cops targeting people in lower income areas or are people in low income areas less likely to have a city sticker or up to date registration? It is not the responsibility of the cops to assess a car owners ability to pay before issuing a ticket for a violation. There are a whole lot of people in Chicago who own cars and can't afford them or the costs associated with the way they drive/park them.
I have seen tickets for people who are parked in front of hydrants, completely blocking side walks, and doing the ol' lazy nose dive parking on narrow one ways and the back end is 3 feet from the curb. I am sure some BS stuff happens but by my observations is the exception not the rule.
Also, since when are parked cars members of a racial group?
Non-white, working poor and lower-income communities.
Albany, why do you have to take everything back to race?
My street in Old Town, lined with multimillion dollar houses (amidst my tiny 1br apartment!), has somebody writing tickets every night starting at 6:00. If you don't have the zone sticker, it's almost guaranteed that you've got a ticket by 6:30. Despite this, I'm not jumping to the conclusion that they're ticketing wealthy (white) people because they can afford it.
I don't think they write parking tickets for cracked tail lights, do they?
"why do you have to take everything back to race?"
I'm not a numbers person but I'd be willing to wager that 99.99% of the people who say that are people that you wouldn't want in your study group, unless you went to a "college" that offered courses in some sort of sports related topic
Spook: Do you pay retail for your stereotypes and assumptions, or do you enjoy wholesale discounts?
Spook: Do you pay retail for your stereotypes and assumptions, or do you enjoy wholesale discounts?
Heh heh heh....good one, Matilda.
Matilda,
Yo momma so ugly that they filmed "Gorillas in the Mist" in her shower!
Spook: Who did you steal that joke from? I think you owe someone royalties.
"Chances are, you are driving with no city sticker on a license from another state, you are a renter, and therefore not contributing any tax dollars to the city anyway."
seriously, von erich? when i owned my cars in the city, i ALWAYS had a city sticker (and zone sticker when necessary) with illinois plates. i am a renter, but i can tell you that my buying shit at 10.25% and 11.25% downtown* certainly is helping SOMEone.
today is my 11 year anniversary living in chicago, and i'm SO fed up with people like you intimating (or just being downright explicit) that because someone wasn't born at _____ hospital, we shouldn't have an opinion about the city or we shouldn't have a right to feel like this is our home. not to mention that we should sit right down, open our mouths and take a big swig of corruption kool-aid.
i love my city beyond words, which is why i want to see her get better, not worse.
*did you know that the downtown area tax goes all the way past diversey to surf? a restaurant owner just told me that. wow.
Smussy, right on. Great points all around.
Von Erich: You realize that renters contribute the tax base through their rents, right--that landlords use the rents to help pay property tax bills? This is in addition to other taxes and fees paid by renters.
I think perhaps you should refrain from commenting on this issue until you learn more about basic city finances. You clearly have no clue and I find it hard to see why anyone would trust your ideas.
I assuming you are trying to make serious comments and not just being a pointless troll, and if I am wrong, my apologies.
*sigh* It's not about race, it's about money, but in Chicago those two go hand in hand.
The sweeps in poor areas are a matter of record. Ever hear of the Lincoln Park Pirates? Back before LP was such a tony neighborhood you had predatory tow trucks working for the city (and privately, but what is the difference in Chicago?) just up and stealing cars. Maybe the ticket parade is an improvement from out and out theft.
Von Erich just wants us all to shut up and take it. Thanks for the insight. Back in 1776 you'd have sat on your porch and said "Britain is the greatest empire in all the land, you can't win!".
Yeah, it's a silly comparison, but your argument of apathy and complacency deserves to be mocked in the most hyperbolic of tones, so there.
I've seen these sweeps with my own eyes, heard cops talk about making "performance" standards by hitting certain streets and areas and the city's hungry money maw makes the pushes even more likely.
Does it happen in richer areas? Probably, but those people can mount a defense, come to court, even win. Better to go after the people who can't.
And lets really dig down a bit to the root of the issue. The idea that someone failing to pay a 25 cent fee deserves a 50 dollar fine is OUTRAGEOUS. The traffic courts and "fee centers" might as well have a big damn Kangaroo mascot running the joint.
Scattershot enforcement or nuisance laws by a city that can't balance it's checkbook. Indefensible, untenable bulltwaddle.
You want to accept that as 'that's just the way it is' aces by me. I choose a path slightly less lazy.
Matilda,
If you know anything about property ownership, you'll know that whether renters are there or not, the property owner has to pay taxes. You are not helping anything except the landlord.
And what are these other "taxes and fees" paid by the renter? The coin-op laundry in the basement is lining the pocket of the landlord. He probably paid for that within the first 8 months. There is one tax paid, and that is the property tax. If your electric and gas is included in the rent, that may be another tax, but there are no fees. Trust me. I am a landlord.
But back to the issue at hand: parking. If you have problems, they are your problems. If everyone was as screwed as all the criers in this comment section, NO ONE would be driving, let alone owning cars in this city. I dropped $120 on my city sticker because my car is huge. That's my problem. Maybe why it's not getting singled out because for inaccurate tickets and boots is because it is registered with a clean record and not a shitbox.
And to the person who asked about getting ticketed for having a broken tail light, I think they only consider that in a moving violation for braking and night driving purposes. They can get more money for it off of a moving violation.
Von Erich: Property taxes are factored into rent amounts, as are loan costs (mortgage, if the building is not yet paid off) and upkeep and depreciation and insurance.
Renters also pay sales taxes and the various other fees the city imposes on residents, including special service areas and city fees on mobile phones, etc. In short, renters pay city taxes. A lot of taxes.
Get a clue, dude. If you are really a landlord, you are an oddly clueless one. Seriously, give it up already. You are wrong.
Wow, Von Erich's really got some kinda Superman complex going on. Pat yourself on the back there, special guy...
Matilda's right about taxes. I'm still trying to get my head around Von Erich's anti-logic when it comes to renters.
Albany, you realize the tow trucks still prowl Lincoln Park today, right? That didn't stop when it became a "tony" neighborhood, and I reckon it probably increased, as today's residents are more likely to write the check the same day to un-impound their car (like I did).
*sigh* It's not about race, it's about money, but in Chicago those two go hand in hand.
I hope that I'm not the only one that caught this.
If it's not about race - don't use race in your argument. Get it?
umm yeah- the nice neighborhoods get towed as much as the poor... check the Ravenswood towing debacle a few months back.
And it has been like 30 years since LP was at all not a tony neighborhood.. the song was written when it was "tony".
This boot shit is ridiculous- 5 tickets made sense... 3 tickets was tough.
2 tickets!!! you can get two tickets in this city just hopping in for a cup of coffee.
I don't think cities or states should be able to use money raised through fines to make their budgets. It just encourages them to come up with a reason to fine people. It's all about the fine, and not all about enforcing the law.
Instead, I think they should have to give all money raised by fines to a charity. Law breakers are punished, and cities don't use the fines as a reason to be shady to their residents.