About That Parking Ticket Grace Period...

By Kevin Robinson in News on Feb 11, 2010 5:20PM

Codifying what City Hall officials say has been an unwritten policy, the city council approved an ordinance proposed by Mayor Daley to let drivers off the hook once a year if they've overstayed their parking meter for five minutes. The ordinance will dismiss tickets issued to motorists within the first five minutes of parking meter expiration, once a year, provided they've kept their receipt. "The change will assist motorists who are occasionally ticketed for accidentally overstaying the time on their pay box receipt by a few minutes, despite trying to comply with parking requirements by purchasing adequate parking time," Daley told the Tribune.

Still, not everyone is buying it. The Parking Ticket Geek takes a long, hard look at the ordinance and notes that the process isn't that simple and that the ordinance is only in effect through April 1, 2011.