Police tickets

If you and your brother feel strongly about these cases, then appear before the judge to appeal them. People wrongly assume that the judge will take the side of the police officer who issued the citation. In many cases, the judge will reduce the fines. Good luck!

Ticket #1, issued by Toledo Police on our vehicle parked in front of our house for being more than 12" from curb.

This sounds like someone doesn't want you parking in the street. Were there any other cars parked in the street at the same time, and if so, did they get ticketed? Another pertinent question might be asking the officer who wrote the ticket if he or she knows any of the your neighbors personally.

For Ticket #2, if each school can make its own restricted hours, what are the restricted hours in this case? How are the hours published so that drivers will know them?

Talk to an attorney on this one, but I'm betting that it's cheaper to suck it up and pay the fine.

Special speed limits are allowed near schools in Ohio. According to Revised Code 4511.21, the speed limit in school zones in the state is 20 mph during school recess and during the opening and closing hours of schools. Signs designating the start of the school zone are required for the speed limit to be enforceable. Signs indicating the end of the school zone are optional. Signage does not need to include flashing lights, and it also does not need to identify the hours during which the school zone speed limit is in effect.

And either go to court or pay your parking ticket. If memory serves me right, under the D.E.T.E.R. program you will not be able to renew your license plate if you have 3 outstanding parking tickets.

liz

I think you and your brother ought to go to court and contest your tickets. As was stated above many times the judge will throw out the ticket. If you get a lawyer involved it will cost many many times what the tickets will fine you both.

I guess I always assumed that when the flashing lights were on was when the 20 mph was valid. How in the world would one know what each school district decides are the hours of enforcement?

Could this be why the city put a speeding/red light camera at Alexis and Whitmer Dr.? With the campus being so large they could enforce the school zone speed from 7a.m. to 5 p.m.

jackie, I am guessing that the camera was put at Alexis and Whitmer because traffic studies showed a large number violations and/or accidents and/or citizen complaints.

I agree that if they think those tickets were unfoar that they should contest them.

NEVER NEVER NEVER ignore them!!! Only bad things can come of that.

Thanks for all the advice. Looks like I will be shelling out the cash for the "too far from the curb" ticket. Aside from the fact that the car was not too far from the curb, it just really irked me that we (honest, law abiding, blockwatch participating)citizens who take care of our property get stuck with a ticket while the house across the street from us (that I suspect is a base for something illegal) has weeds growing 2' high. And 2 days prior to this ticket, hubby was in an accident downtown in which 2 police cars would not stop even though he flagged them down, and the folks that hit him, left the scene. (Not that it matters but the driver was arrested this past weekend for aiding/abetting a minor, and for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.) Sorry, just had to vent!

One of my least favorite school zones is Christ the King school.
If you are heading east on Sylvania avenue, you can't see if there are kids on the playground until you're already in the school zone due to tall shrubs along the fence near the street.

I wish the police would drive down my street and ticket the morons who park over the sidewalk every single stinkin' day. Makes taking a walk with my little one in the stroller an irksome endeavor every time. Newsflash, idiots, just because there is a tiny swath of pavement in front of your apartment building does not mean it's a parking spot! It is clearly NOT a driveway! I have made a big deal about not being able to get by three times now and since they continue to park there, I assume they just don't care or they are seriously mentally deficient.

I guess I had to vent, too.

Back in the day, .COM domains were for COMMERCIAL entities, and .ORG were for non-profits, and there was a whole hierarchy for state and local entities under .US.

Toledo Police are clearly in it for money, as they proudly have TOLEDOPOLICE.COM in large unfriendly letters all over their cruisers.

^^^@anonymouscoward, that is an intersting point as Detroit has a .gov police site. they get next to views on the site. why would they even letter the cars? Is there a return on the investment?

Red light tickets can be completely ignored...at least for the first two. No enforcement at all. A letter comes, ignore it. Do not feed the beast.

Toledo, Washington: Toledopolice.net
(Clearly there is a problem here. You don't mention "net.")

Toledo, Oregon: http://www.cityoftoledo.org/cot_police.html
(Clearly the city of Toledo Oregon is a non-profit.)

Toledo, Ohio municipal site: http://www.ci.toledo.oh.us/Departments/PoliceDepartment/tabid/89/Default.aspx (Clearly the Toledo Police site should have gone here.)

Hey, is that Sgt. Gloria Burke in their main page recruiting photo?

http://www.toledopolice.com/

justread - no, it isn't Sergeant Burks