Parking ticket experience

Last week I stopped along National Hwy to pick up my wife from a store. I pulled over on the side, she saw me and started walking out to come to the car. There was a traffic enforcement officer standing nearby and he stepped in front of my car and took a picture, then came to my window and asked for my license just as my wife was getting into the car. I said, I will give you my license but you can not write me a ticket because I am not "parked", I am just temporarily stopped for the purpose of picking up a passenger which I am allowed to do. He said, "yes sir, I understand" and walked over to a little table on the sidewalk and filled out a ticket for Illegal Parking which he then came back and handed to me.

Here is the actual section of R.A.4136:
(l) "Parking or parked", for the purposes of this Act, shall mean that a motor vehicle is "parked" or "parking" if it has been brought to a stop on the shoulder or proper edge of a highway, and remains inactive in that place or close thereto for an appreciable period of time. A motor vehicle which properly stops merely to discharge a passenger or to take in a waiting passenger, or to load or unload a small quantity of freight with reasonable dispatch shall not be considered as "parked", if the motor vehicle again moves away without delay.

Today I went to the LTO office (not the office where you go to pay the ticket) and went in to speak to the manager who has a small office in the back. I walked in and he asked what can I do for you? I showed him the ticket, he said this is not where you pay, I said I do not want to pay I want to explain that this ticket was not legally issued. He asked what do you mean? I explained that I had just stopped to pick up my wife and within a few seconds the enforcement officer came and gave me the ticket and that does not count as "illegal parking" and the ticket was not justified. He laughed and took the ticket from my hand and said "no problem sir, I will have this voided for you".

It is only a 200php fine, and my wife said just pay it don't argue about it. I said no, it's not the amount, it's the principle, plus I don't want this on my record. It turned out to be very easy to have the ticket voided. I'm sharing this in case a similar thing happens you should know what the law is, and that getting a ticket dismissed if you did not deserve it is not difficult to do.

 

Happened to me too, got a ticket from that wonderful lady traffic enforcer we all know and love so much. She hated me and she would go out of her way to find something to give me a ticket for. I had pulled over to get a coke at that walk up window at McDonalds, I was right there, just a few steps away, and was only away from my car 3 minutes max. I saw her walking to my car and I told her I was leaving at that moment, had my drink in my hand, and pointed out to her several other (locals) who had parked along the street, also, but she just laughed, and that was when she handed me the ticket and told me I could just go fight it if I wanted to, and turned away in her black stiletto heeled boots and walked off. I paid it, wasn't worth my time to go fight it. I figured it doesn't affect your insurance rates there like it does here.

 

Don't worry much about tickets. I get ticketed too lots of times. Chances are, they won't even get reflected anywhere. There is little or no coordination between them and LTO or whichever office it is that collects payment for tickets.

 

I know what you're saying Okie, but it does sound like your situation could be a little more on the border. Three minutes has been set as the threshold for being "an appreciable period of time" ... so if you are right at the three minute time frame, they can issue a ticket, especially if you have turned the motor off and left the vehicle.

 

When was the last time you had to renew your vehicle registration, I got a ticket 3 weeks before my registration was due to expire and on the advice of my friends was told to ignore paying the fine, well guess what when I went to renew my registration on June 19 got the sorry sir you have to go to city hall to pay your ticket which was now double because I did not pay it within the 1 week time frame.'' READ AND HEED''

 

Right, and of course if I had tried to fight it that is exactly what would have been presented. Even though I was only a few steps away from my car, unlike others who were parked along the same street, nowhere near their vehicles. I wouldn't have won that one, because of my skin color, unfortunately. Definitely wasn't worth my time to go fight a losing battle over a 100php ticket that I got.

 

I was parked outside Zenith hardware store opposite the Market on the highway waiting for wife, a traffic enforcer said I could not park there, I said I'm waiting for the wife so he said 3 minutes then after 5 mins he came back and said to me move now, 3 more mins wife is still in the shop okay he said. Wife eventually came out. Said to the enforcer salamat.

So not all enforcers are strict, not the first time that I got away with it.

 

Need to smile at them and be polite, goes a long way.