Ask the Parking Guru: How Can I Get My Money Back From An Erroneous Ticket?

Dear Parking Guru,

I got a ticket yesterday on my birthday for not curbing my wheels on Clement Street and 6th. You wrote that the law states that you only have to curb your wheels if the grade of the street is 3% or more. I couldn't find any information regarding the grade at this location. SFMTA couldn't tell me the grade of the street, nor how to ascertain that information. Please Help!

Gratefully Yours,
Zoe

Dear Zoe,

Happy Birthday Zoe. I have some good news for you. It's very funny that you write about this because when the first edition of Finding the Sweet Spot was published, I took it to Green Apple Bookstore on Clement to see if they were interested in carrying it. When I went in, there just happened to be a recent epidemic of customers getting tickets for not curbing their wheels in the same area that you are talking about. The info that I gave them that day is the same info that I'm about to give you, and it will get you your $50 back.

A violation of Div I 7.2.35 , aka Parking on Grades, aka, Curbing your Wheels will cost you $50. But tickets for this violation are often given out erroneously because unfortunately, many of the DPT officers don't know that in order to cite somebody for violating this traffic code, the street must be a grade of 3% or more. And the DPT officers can't possibly know the specific grades of each particular block of every street in the City. But I do. And now you will too (I'll show everyone how to access this at the end of the post).

I checked out the street to which you are referring (Clement between 6th and 7th), and the grade is only 2.08%. This doesn't qualify for a parking citation, and you don't have to pay anything. However, you do have to take action. It will take you only 3 minutes to contest it. To check out the grades go to The Surveyed Streets of San Francisco by clicking here.

Once there, enter a street name, and then set the limits (cross streets). Being a government site, it doesn't work properly the first time and won't let you enter the cross street, so just click search. It will give you an error message, and after that, it will allow you to choose the cross street limits. Once the map comes up, click on "grade" on the right side and the percent grade of your block will be in the center of the street.

I've emailed you a snapshot of the evidence. Just print that out (explain what it is because they probably won't know) and mail it in with your ticket and a short explanation. On your citation, there will be an address for paying, and an address for contesting. Be sure that you send it to the proper address.

Now that you have successfully protested your citation, you are free to spend your 50 bucks elsewhere!

If you'd like to receive a copy of Finding the Sweet Spot for yourself, or for a parking challenged loved one, please click here.

View the discussion thread.

SF Citizen's are being Nickeled and dimed and shookdown-- in the name of public safety. For example, Anyone angry about the white dots the DPW has been applying randomly to curbs for homeowners to have to fix?

By Jonathan (not verified) on December 19, 2011

Flooding the "system" with complaints only overworks whomever processes those complaints. Better to flood the courts and let a judge order the SFMTA to stop writing the tickets, or train the PCO's on which street is the proper grade. The training alone costs money, and someone will say "no".

Or contact the SFMTA director and ask him to stop the practice. ( Yeah, his secretary will be overloaded, but he needs him/her to make his appointments.)

By Anonymous (not verified) on December 17, 2011

Great advice! Good habit to get into: always curb your wheels no matter what the grade.

Clearly, DPT (and other) officers have been told to issue tickets regardless of what the law says--"Ticket them all, and let God sort them out!" There is, of course, zero excuse for the DPT and its officers not to be aware of this portion of the law--and no excuse, either, for them not to have access to info on the actual grades covering their routes.

This kind of ticketing is, of course, oppressive. Often, it means that someone must make time to appear for a personal appeal at the DPT, and it's difficult and expensive for a lot of rank-and-file workers to do that.

I suggest that, once you've successfully appealed your ticket--file a personal complaint against the DPT officer who signed it: If ignorance of the law is no excuse for the citizen accused of a violation, it is much less an excuse for an officer of the law at any level!

Let's flood the system with complaints!

By Anonymous (not verified) on December 17, 2011