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A WOMAN stood before the court after her car was towed twice after owing over $2,400 in tickets.
The driver revealed she suffered a nervous breakdown after the tickets left her “on the edge of destitution.”
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Marta Roberts, 71, stood before the Senate Standing Committee on Transportation in San Fransisco on June 17, 2023.
The woman pleaded her case in support of supporting assembly bill 1082 to prohibit “poverty tows.”
Marta detailed hitting an all-time low after she experienced the loss of her vehicle in December of 2022.
“My car being towed last December went beyond extreme hardship,” she said before the court.
Read More on Parking Tickets
“It made even the basics of human subsistence truly impossible.”
She went on to share she suffers from both PTSD and ADHD before revealing she’s “been through one of the roughest patches in 50 years of adult life.”
Marta detailed struggles in finding houses, and when she did, it was still a tough time for her financially.
“The apartment I found is on a steep hill, so the layer that made it all unbearable was being faced with the impossible decision of whether to risk driving my unregistered car and get towed or not go to medical appointments and buy groceries.”
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In her moment of struggle, Marta said she received numerous parking tickets that she was unable to pay for.
“At the time, I had received parking and traffic tickets that I could not afford to pay. Very quickly, the tickets blew up to $2,400,” she said.
“I should mention there was no court during COVID.
“I could not afford both the tickets and registration, so I paid the registration and smog, but the DMV would not give me a sticker because of the tickets,” she continued.
“So I continued in a circular bind of needing to drive but not wanting to risk it until my car was towed twice.”
The 71-year-old said,” Both times left me on the edge of destitution, potentially homeless, and applying for help to pay my utilities.
How to fight a parking ticket
You can avoid being ticketed by following all posted laws and ordinances, but sometimes mistakes are made
Like any form of citation, parking tickets are preventable by reading and obeying posted signage. However, when visiting a new city, or state, or in a hurry, things can be missed and mistakes are made.
Suddenly there’s a ticket you weren’t prepared to pay for. If the ticket is a surprise to you, there are a few things you can do to help your case when appealing a parking ticket.
- Carefully read the ticket. Look for errors like incorrect street names, license plate numbers, vehicle make and model, time and date, etc. Errors would then make the ticket invalid.
- Take photos. Of the vehicle in the parking space, lack of signage, or other vehicles that weren’t cited for performing the same parking job. If the ticket involves parking too close to something like a fire hydrant, a photo showing a reasonable distance would help your case. Make sure metadata with the time and date are accessible. Signs that are obstructed by trees, or are on bent posts, or aren’t “obvious” are great things to photograph, too.
- Make sure the statute that was violated is listed on the ticket. If not listed, the ticket is not valid.
- Promptly follow the appeal instructions on the ticket. All legitimate tickets will have directions for appeal. Waiting until the very last moment weakens your argument and can result in late fees.
- When in court, avoid these phrases as they reduce your credibility and weaken your argument:
- “I didn’t know the law.”
- “I was on my way to move my car.”
- “I can’t afford this ticket.”
- “I’ve been doing this for years.”
- “I checked with the parking officer, who said it was OK.”
- Contact a lawyer. If you’re running into roadblocks and feel stuck, it may be best to reach out to a traffic lawyer in your area. Many have free case consultations.
Source: Reader’s Digest
“After the second time my car was towed, I finally had a nervous breakdown.”
After pleading her case, Marta asked the Senate Standing Committee to “stop these harmful and counterproductive tows.”
AB 1082
According to the Western Center on Law and Poverty, the bill aims to stop the towing of vehicles “as a debt collection mechanism due to unpaid parking tickets.”
It also states that “AB 1082 would also prohibit immobilizing the vehicle in this case or sending just one unpaid parking ticket to the DMV to place a hold on the driver’s registration renewal.”
It also makes paying unpaid parking tickets accessible by using payment plans for low-income California residents.
In the end, Bill 1082 was passed by the assembly on May 31, 2023.
The bill is set to make its way to the Senate on August 15, 2024, and if passed, signed into law.
