Terry Columbus

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:41:55 -0800

Years ago, a co-worker of mine received a parking ticket for supposedly having parked in a two-hour parking zone longer than the allowed time. The only problem is, he had been parked there less than an hour. He brought letters verifying when he arrived, when he clocked in, etc. He explained this to the judge, but the judge never glanced at the letters, immediately ruled against him and simply said, "How do you want to pay for your ticket?" There is no such thing as reasonable doubt in Los Angeles' traffic courts. This story and MANY other stories I have heard over the years from friends of mine have convinced me of that. If you receive a parking or traffic ticket and you are in the wrong, your chances of winning your case in court are almost zero unless for some reason the police officer doesn't show up. As everybody with two brain cells knows, traffic and parking tickets have next to nothing to do with safety. TRAFFIC TICKETS ARE ABOUT ONE THING ONLY: REVENUE FOR THE CITY. City bureaucrats don't give a damn about Angelenos who have been wrongly ticketed, and they're certainly not about to do anything that might staunch the gravy train of traffic and parking violation fees. Disgusting and corrupt? You bet. Illegal? Unfortunately not.

LAist: A Day in Traffic Court: Does Reasonable Doubt Exist?

Terry Columbus