Bogus parking citation in SF?
 

Hey all,

My friend has a clear plastic license plate cover. It's neither tinted nor has some sort of security feature that causes poor viewing angles or cameras to be unable to take shots.

Metermaid just left a ticket the other day, citation being referenced to section V.C. 5201 (f). http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc5201.htm According to the rules listed, the plate has to have some sort of security feature or block the view of the important parts of the plate while the vehicle is moving - the thing is just clear plastic though.

Is my friend in the clear? (literally) Yea it's *just* a $10 fix-it, but still...I wanna know if the city is starting to pressure the maids to make budget with false/borderline/shady citations.

Thanks,
Sean


OT: some recent articles...
Driver Accuses SF Parking Control Officer of Bogus Tickets
1 in 3 San Francisco employees earned $100,000

Nope , not a bogus ticket. Your not supposed to cover your plate with anything. It's the law , not just a rule to be broken.

As I see it with the budgets the way the are they are just inforcing ALL the laws to bring in a little more money so as to not lay people off.So if you have anything they can get you with they will.

And hopefully it is just a 10 dollar ticket , by the time a simple ticket gets processed the fees might go up. Had a friend get a "simple " cell phone ticket , 25 dollars ( supposedly) wound up being over $200:cry: with the added fees.

Good luck.:pray:

i would expect this with a cop on a bad day, but not meter maids.
"To Serve and Protect"... ----> now means "To ticket and harass"

i thought meter maids just enforced parking stuff, i didn't know they were allowed to through out other tickets like this, but they're just doing their job so cant get mad at em... usually you know you did something wrong, and if you didn't know, now you know.

its a law that's become common in a lot of places

With the State of The State ( and local Governments) needing to come up with a little more cash they aren't gonna let you slide as they have before.

If you were in fear of losing your job , or getting your hours/pay cut , Wouldn't you go an extra step or two to make sure you could feed your family? Give 'em a break they are just doing their jobs , maybe a little stricter , but still only doing their jobs.

Despite it being clear, now light will not hit the reflective qualities of the tag as it would with the cover off. It may produce a glare at certain angles. Ever driven behind a car with the sun at just the right spot in the sky and been blinded by it's reflection bouncing off of their rear window? The window is clear and does not restrict visibility inside the car but does blind you when light hits it at funny angles. License plates are anti-glare and super reflective so that they are easy to read in any situation. Thus, the law your friend broke.

In regards to the meter maids writing a ticket for that, they can only write tickets for what is in their little handheld computers and if that's in there, then it's legit. Fight it if you want but you'll lose IMO.

Alright, thanks for the clarification everyone. I have one on my front plate :lalala:. Better to go remove it now.

i got a warning for putting one on the rear plate and the officer didnt say anything about the one on the front plate.

The front plate is more likely to be overlooked but illegal just the same. How often do cops pull you over from the front? lol

welcome to SF

You are not allowed to cover your liscence plate with anything - the cops define at as literally anything these days - glass, plastic, saran wrap, the liscence plate covers, etc.

You'll notice on the packaging when they sell liscence plate covers, somewhere it will say "for off-road use only". THat's the plate mfg's "Get out of jail free" card.

Tell your friend to take off the plate covers on front and back. If the cops don't mention one or the other it's probably cause they've already got you for other stuff and they're making quota.