GeorgeW:
Near my own business, a storm sewer drain at 18th and I....what??? And what is your basis for believing NewbE wouldn't say the same thing to your face?

Just to set the record straight about my hometown: Marion Barry--the mayor with the drug problem--left office in 1999. No, the city isn't perfect, but the solution isn't to ignore the law and try to make things worse; it is for each of us to do what we can to help each other and our communities.

j_999_9 "go to the mat" Is that a sports metaphor? I'm not much of a wrestler myself. ;-) I think you may have misinterpreted my motive for posting. I wasn't trying to discount your experiences, simply to add to the discussion my knowledge of how many municipalities deal with tickets. I agree with you that some municipalities do not send parking tickets to collections, but it can be a very unpleasant surprise to people when they do.

For anyone who is interested, here is an article by a Wall Street Journal reporter on this issue. http://tinyurl.com/2oq6dd

Thanks for the link.

My daughter got one of those collections letters from the public library a while back, for a $12 lost book + 3 years of late fees.

And my niece had problems getting a mortgage when her credit report showed a $25 gas bill (plus another $20+ in late fees) that she thought she'd escaped when she moved from her college town years earlier!

Of course you should fight the ticket, but pay up if you lose.

Neo...I understand your comment but I would folow that up with what state would elect a representative to Congress who is a genuine nut case named Harris? LOL

Hey, Dukie, the answer to that is obvious. We couldn't figure out any other way to get her out of Florida!!

As others have pointed out, practices may vary from locale to locale. Let me quote directly from the parking citation form used by Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas and surrounding areas). What follows is all in upper case on the citation: "Failure to to comply with this infraction may result in suspension of your driver's license and your credit rating may be adversly affected". And, yes, they do go after out-of-area owners and drivers.

Oh, GeorgeW, woody had it right, I so would say it to your face. So the fact that you buy/sell stuff in DC gives you the right to misuse government employees? The fact that you do business there gives you the right to squander government resources? Ah, with one hand thou givest, with the other thou takest away...

I got a parking ticket in a Massachusetts suburb over a year ago (live in DE) and forgot about paying it. I have heard nothing about it, and it has not shown up on my credit report.

That being said, I would pay this ticket. I have heard they are quite dilligent about these tickets in DC an you are likely to lose more money if you wait it out. Better safe than sorry. My experience in MA was a stroke of luck, I think, and I am sure it might still come back at me sometime down the road. You never know.

NewbE, I would like to meet you and see if you are man enough.

"Go ahead and slam me if you wish, but how good a city government would you expect when the citizens elect a mayor with a well known drug conviction? "

Someone from Florida questioning the voting habits of people in DC is full of irony. :)

MikeT, yes it is. You must have missed where we already went down that road.

IMO, the people in Washington DC are crazy about traffic tickets, they are greedy and make too much money off them that they keep getting worse. On top of that the speed cameras are going up all over the place. I hate driving in DC, and hate parking there even more.

Who would object to speed cameras except speeders? And who would object to a city giving too many tickets except the people who are getting those tickets because they are breaking the law? Just curious.

Neo,

I beleive the usual objection to speed cameras is that they actually increase traffic crashes/fatalities, as people are trying too hard to slam on the brakes (or beat the light) or do some other atypical behavior when they see the speed camera installed at the intersection.

But regarding the parking ticket -- yes, Good Lord...it should be paid...

Oh, dwooddon, it's written on the ticket? Well, now I'm really convinced.
321go: No harm -- no foul. Oops.

The Red Light and speed cameras in DC are revenue enhancers, nothing more. If it was about safety, there would be cameras all along K Street NW. Running red lights at K Street and its intersecting streets happens by the thousand in DC every day. In fact, it is unwise for pedestrians to walk K Street or the numbered streets intersecting K until two or three seconds after the Walk sign gives the go-ahead. It can be that dangerous.

They are also money-savers, in the sense that policing can occur without actual police being present. DC has a lot of vocal constituencies all clamoring for a greater share of police presence--cameras are one solution.

When someone rants about the addition of speed cameras and complains about the huge number of tickets being given and THEN ADDS "I hate driving in DC" it's a pretty logical guess that the reason he hates driving there is a fear of getting caught. Don't tell me he hates driving there because the city is getting rich or because the cameras are ugly.

Are there any valid statistics that prove the cameras cause accident because of people slamming on their brakes? No offense, but that sounds like something a chronic speeder would say in a futile effort to have the cameras removed so he doesn't get caught.

Unless the camera captures the offense AND the driver's picture, such cameras violate due process. In that the owner of the vehicle is cited, such citations unreasonably shift the burden from the prosecution to the accused. Example: A friend borrows your car and runs a red light. The camera ticket is sent to you, the owner of the vehicle. Now owner gets to try to prove that he/she wasn't driving.