2 tickets, one of them has a mistake...

Hey all,

Just wondering if I can get any advice on this...

So I went on vacation and left my car parked outside my house, in a legal area, but facing the wrong direction. I am unable to park on the other side of the street in the right direction because there is a fire hydrant. I had no idea that I couldn't do this, I mean to me it doesn't make sense- who cares which way you park. There also is a street light across the way so motorists can see the car parked on the street clearly regardless of the direction it is parked. Came home and noticed I had acquired 2 tickets, 2 days apart. This is very weird to me since my street is a very quiet residential street and where there is no way that bylaw officers should be cruising around there a lot. Anyways one of the ticket states "park facing wrong direction- one way traffic" (the 2nd one is the same but doesn't say one way). The street is definitely not a one way...therefore, can I get that 1st ticket thrown out.

Furthermore, could I just get the 2nd ticket thrown out because I mean common, not fair to be ticketed twice for the same infraction as the car obviously hadn't moved (still had 1st ticket attached to window which bylaw officer should have seen clearly, it was daytime). Though will they argue since I am arguing the 1st ticket wrong, that then the 2nd ticket should still stand?

I am going to the provincials offences court office to see what they say, but any advice before hand would be great. Oh, and it is an Ottawa ticket btw.

I disagree that you can't or shouldn't be charged for the same offence on 2 successive days. If you could only be charged once then you could just continue to park indefinitely with no further consequences. Same thing with an expired licence plate, if you get charged once should you be able to drive the rest of the year without paying?

what if the date on a ticket is wrong, can it be dismissed?

Sometimes they will withdraw the charge, but an incorrect date isn't a fatal error. It can be amended at trial.

direction of parking makes a lot of sense for a couple reasons

- tail lights of vehicles are reflective, so people can see the vehicle when parked when approaching

- to pull back out into traffic, one needs to see down the street, can use mirrors to check as pulling out if parked proper direction, can not see past other vehicles when completely blocked out by facing wrong way

- approaching motorist could be distracted, tired etc...(they should be stopped not driving) and see the vehicle parked, think they are on the wrong side and go off the road onto the curb/grass, I have seen this on an unfamiliar road, last i heard was insurance and civil court battles over that

Simon Borys wrote:

I disagree that you can't or shouldn't be charged for the same offence on 2 successive days. If you could only be charged once then you could just continue to park indefinitely with no further consequences. Same thing with an expired licence plate, if you get charged once should you be able to drive the rest of the year without paying?

Simon, I understand where your point is coming from. But could I possibly argue since I wasn't there to move the car after the 1s ticket that the 2nd ticket came so quickly after that I have special grounds for it to be thrown out or at least reduced? Remember, my car was parked in the exact same spot and still had the ticket on the dash, so it is not like I drove it away then came back and illegally parked again (which would make sense to get another ticket). Also, I still find it weird that bylaw officers drove down my quiet street again when I literally have never seen them in the neighbourhood.

gg60 wrote:

Anyways one of the ticket states "park facing wrong direction- one way traffic" (the 2nd one is the same but doesn't say one way). The street is definitely not a one way...therefore, can I get that 1st ticket thrown out.

Can I get this ticket thrown out right away when I talk to someone at the provincials offences court office since the infraction didn't happen (i.e. I wasnt parked the wrong way on a one way street?) Which is easy to prove when you pull up google maps street view and see the street is not one way.

You might want to look into your cities parking by-laws before you do anything with the tickets or while you are deciding whether to fight them. Most cities restrict parking on the street to a maximum of 12 hours regardless of any signs permitting parking. You may be lucky that the car wasn't towed away in some cases.

make sure you check the date and time on both tickets and the ticketing officer's name(s)

because w.r.t. to parking tickets the same MLEO generally won't issue a ticket to your vehicle again until 24hrs have passed

usually on the second day they just tow the car, rather than write a million tickets; but i guess when they ran the plates and learned the vehicle belongs to the home across the street

some people also leave tickets on their windshield in the hope they won't receive another one

ultimately you also may have the option of pleading guilty to a reduced fine for both tickets (sometimes 50% off)