You may have found a ticket tucked into your car’s wiper when parking your car somewhere. And you were surprised to see what was written on the paper—that’s how much the fine you must pay. Well, getting a parking ticket for your car isn’t fun, is it?
It is known that parking tickets are usually issued when a driver commits one or more parking violations. Of course, there are several reasons why parking your car could be illegal and could result in a violation.
To avoid too large a fine, you can check whether or not your car has a parking ticket in situations where you may not have gotten one. Okay, let’s discover how to check if your car has a parking ticket!
What Does a Parking Ticket Mean to Put on Your Car?
A parking ticket is a piece of paper that requires you to pay a stated fine. When a ticket is put on your car, it means that you have committed a parking violation.
A parking violation is the act of parking a vehicle in a prohibited area or in an unauthorized manner. And it’s usually issued when you park your car somewhere illegally once or repeatedly.
There’s no doubt that parking your car on both sides of the road, on the main road, or in the middle of the road is against the law. This kind of violation is usually dealt with by issuing a ticket to the violator by a police officer or other authorized government official.
Parking violations can include, but are not limited to:
- Parking somewhere illegally, such as in bus stops, garage entrances, too close to pedestrian crossings, or a disabled zone
- Parking on a public road without a permit
- Parking on a public road with a vehicle that has an expired or missing license plate.
- Double parking.
- Parking at a parking meter longer than paid for or without paying at all.
- Parking without a permit in zones that are severely impacted by parking, such as residential zone permits.
- Parking without a special permit, such as in a car park for company employees
- Parking with proof of payment or a parking permit is not visible.
- Parking on certain roads in natural disasters when the roads are used as a smooth movement route for emergency vehicles.
- Parking in or near the red zone.
- Parking in a place when parking is prohibited.
- Parking for longer than the maximum time, often 24 hours.
- Parking on site during scheduled street cleaning or during construction or maintenance operations.
- Parking when the car faces the direction of the traffic.
- Parking on the street when winter weather regulations are applied.
- Etc.
Well, parking fines may be imposed if any of the above criteria are met.
Why Do You Have to Check a Ticket on Your Car?
It’s very important for you to check any traffic tickets on your car since they relate to a specific ticket or fine, e.g., a parking ticket, a red-light camera ticket, or a careless driving ticket.
When you check a ticket on your car, it can specifically give you information about your car status, whether it gets a parking ticket or not; if you get one, you can know how much money you must pay, when you should pay, and how much you can pay. In addition, if a trial has been scheduled, you can have a meeting with the prosecutor before the trial.
If you find that a ticket is no longer open for your car when doing a check, it means that you’ve already paid a fine or it has been settled in court. The point is, checking a traffic ticket on your car actually gives you an idea of what your driving record is like, so you can have useful information to provide when you try applying for car insurance.
What’s Available in a Parking Ticket?
A parking ticket will usually be issued by the traffic wardens and parking attendants, but both have different authority. Traffic wardens who are employed by the police will issue fixed penalty notices (FPN) for more serious violations, like red-route parking and priority, while parking attendants who are employed by the council will issue penalty charge notices (PCN).
After receiving either a PCN or a FPN, you’ll have 28 days to pay or contest the ticket. If you pay it within 14 days, the fee will usually be reduced by half.
The following are the things you can find on a parking ticket:
- License plate
- Name of the vehicle operator
- Expiration date
- State
- Plate type
- Vehicle make
- Body type
- Plate of occurrence
- Rule
- Date/Time
- Fine amount
- Type of violation
- Officer’s name and the signature
You’ll agree that a parking ticket isn’t nice, but at least you can still drive your car to come home, rather than finding that your car has been clamped or towed. Usually, the towing crew is only allowed to tow your car if a PCN has been issued and at least 30 minutes have passed.
Checking If You Have a Ticket on My Car: Here’s How!
The simplest way to know whether or not you have a ticket on your car is to look at your windshield; that’s where the police will put it. In some states, however, a parking ticket shouldn’t be checked because it will be sent to the car’s owner’s address.
However, a parking ticket is also vulnerable to being blown away by the wind or someone being naughty and stealing it. Luckily, there are several ways you can check if you have a ticket on your car, including:
Way 1: Contact the local police department
All you have to do is contact your local police department or safety officer department. Usually, the police will have information regarding traffic wardens who are tasked with attaching parking tickets to someone’s car. If your car has a ticket, they’ll inform you how much the fine is and what you should do.
Way 2: Visit the Department of Motor Vehicles
When your car gets a ticket but you don’t know and haven’t yet paid the fine, the data will go into collections, and the DMV will be notified. So, when you renew your license plate for your car, you’ll have to pay all the outstanding tickets, and of course it would be expensive due to accumulated fines.
To avoid it, you can visit your local DMV office and ask questions regarding any tickets your car may have. Make sure to provide a valid government ID. After doing it, you can know how much the arrears cost and when the deadline is to pay them.
Way 3: Use Ticket Checker Online
The last one is by taking advantage of ticket-checking tools. And every state usually has it under the Department of Finance. If your state has the tool, you can try checking a ticket on your car.
If you already have a parking ticket, the tool will require you to enter the violation number that appears on your ticket. But if you don’t, you can only enter your car’s plate number on the available bar.
Before doing a search, you may have to select the state and the type of your vehicle. Then, the tool will bring up information about a ticket on your car, including the amount of the fine.
You can try using the NYC Ticket Checker tool, which can be accessed here. https://nycserv.nyc.gov/NYCServWeb/PVO_Search.jsp
Okay, those are the three ways you can check if your car has a parking ticket. Let’s try it now!
How Do You Pay the Fine on Your Ticket?
Knowing that you have a ticket on your car, you can now prepare for payment. There are actually several ways to pay the fine on your ticket: either paying it in person or sending payment to the address listed on the top of your violation.
In New York City, you can pay the fine through the following payment methods:
Method 1: Pay in person
You can pay the ticket fine on your car by directly visiting the Finance Business Centers. Usually, you can find it in each borough. Luckily, you don’t need to make an appointment for this.
Method 2: By Mail
If you cannot pay the fine in person, you can choose to send mail. Make sure to follow the instructions written on the back of the envelope, which is usually provided with your ticket.
If you prefer to pay by mail, don’t send cash, and never include any correspondence in the envelope. Expect the attachment to a check or money order for the full amount written on the front of the ticket.
It’s important to note that you may have to wait for a response for a maximum of 30 days from the date the ticket was issued.
Method 3: Pay online
New York City provides an online payment system called NYC CityPay for paying a ticket fine that can be accessed here. https://a836-citypay.nyc.gov/citypay/Parking#!/by-violation-form And, make sure to follow on-screen instructions until your payment is successful.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
