
Fixed – The easiest way to fix a parking ticket - lbr
http://www.getfixed.me
======
jrs235
"Up to 50% of tickets are dismissed when challenged."

There is probably a high number (half according to them) of tickets that get
dismissed because of selection bias. Tickets [that have been] challenged are
probably challenged because they have a good chance of being dismissed due to
reasonable issue. Challenging more [random] tickets will probably cause this
number to fall.

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darklajid
I'm confused. Why? Are we talking "I didn't do anything wrong" tickets, stuff
that is unfair but hard to fight?

Or is this about "I park wherever I want and try to avoid the consequences"?

So far it seems that most of the customers are of the latter variety. While I
understand the motivation to act like an asshole, this service empowers ..
assholes?

We're regularly discussing if free apps (downward spiral) or free content
(adblockers) are okay. But free parking is fine, right?

~~~
john_b
You've identified two classes of customer for this app but speculated, without
evidence, that most of them fall into only one of those classes.

Ironically my objection to this service is essentially the opposite of yours.
I see this app as imposing a middleman's fee on something that, in a perfect
world, citizens would be able to perform themselves with the same probability
of success. Contesting an illegitimate parking or speeding ticket is a fairly
straightforward matter, but in my (personal) experience, unless you bring a
lawyer to the courtroom your arguments will simply be ignored. In my area, the
courts do not even keep records, so you can't use the judge's blatant
dismissal of your concerns* as grounds for a mistrial on appeal.

Maybe I'm not understanding how the service works, but I see this service as
simply a specialized and cheaper lawyer replacement. Maybe that's progress
since you can actually save some money if you win, but you're still paying a
more powerful entity in order to get respect in a court of law.

*I've literally been told by a judge, "stop speaking now, your turn is over" seconds after showing that the officer didn't use a LIDAR gun correctly per the manual, and upon cross examination didn't even know the type of device he was using (Me: "Were you using a radar or a laser based device on <date> at <time>?" Officer: "I was using the device the department issued me." Right afterwards: "Me: If you don't know what kind of device you were using, how can you know the effective range of the device?" Officer: "I believe it was effective and accurate when I used it."). The judge repeatedly referred to it as a "LASAR" device...

~~~
ilbe
I'm with you because I had the same experience with a judge while lawyerless.
I showed him a manufacturer tech spec on my car to make the point that based
on its 0-60 acceleration, it was physically impossible that I was going 67 mph
by the time I reached the intersection where I was clocked from where I
started accelerating. His response upon seeing the specs was, "What are you,
trying to sell me on a car?! This officer (witness) has been with the
department 15 years. Guilty."

~~~
rahimnathwani
If that judge had been on HN he would have been cited for 1 count of 'appeal
to authority'.

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rayiner
Driving is bullshit. Just everything about it: expensive, inconvenient, and a
backdoor to reduced rights (search * seizure, etc) and run-ins with the legal
system.

Think about it: if you're a typical middle class person, when is the only time
you ever have a run in with the law? I lived three years without driving in
Chicago. I don't think I ever even talked to a cop in that time, and if I did
it must've been pleasant and forgettable (I think beat cops with patrols of
nice neighborhoods tend to be chill). I move to PA/DE and have to commute to
work, and boom: in the space of a few months I've got three parking tickets,
and stress to update my {registration, insurance, license plate} to avoid
further run ins with the law.

I can't wait to move back to somewhere I can commute by train and leave this
bullshit behind me.

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Zikes
I can't find anything on their site that lists what cities are supported, but
I'm pretty sure it's Bay Area only.

I totally understand that, it'd just be nice to see it in a FAQ or something.

~~~
biturd
If you contest a ticket and the officer does not show up you win a default
judgement. Perhaps they are playing on the fact that unless they are on duty
on the scheduled date, they are probably not showing up at court.

~~~
jrs235
Many jurisdictions will pay officers to appear and many don't factor appearing
into their budgets/schedules, so the officers are paid at overtime rates (time
and a half). Many officer's don't mind having to appear... they make bank and
many pensions are based on the three years of highest revenue (this is a
method officers abuse in Wisconsin... they will work as much OT as they can
for three years especially near retirement, since the legislature hasn't
bothered fixing/forcing pensions to be based on 40 hours / week.)

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teddyh
The title and page seem to imply that parking tickets _inherently_ are
something which need fixing. As if their very existence was a blight upon the
world.

If you agree, might I suggest you go into politics or perhaps traffic
planning?

~~~
dnautics
most people agree that tickets are something which need fixing[0], but you
make 'going into politics' sound so easy. Maybe we all think that local
politics are institutions rife with internal corruption and are essentially a
club of elites? Why not try to push change on them a different way?

[0][http://laist.com/2014/02/26/local_heroes_are_taking_la_to_co...](http://laist.com/2014/02/26/local_heroes_are_taking_la_to_court.php)

~~~
teddyh
When I said “go into politics”, I did not _necessarily_ mean to become a
politician. I meant to make political change – to go after the problem on the
political level, however that may be. There are _many_ kinds of “politicians”,
just as war is merely a continuation of politics by other means.

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CalRobert
How about a refund for my taxes that supported an asphalt wasteland while I
spent years living in a suburban hellhole? Parking tickets are issued because
you don't have a right to unlimited free automobile storage. Hell, why can't I
park a hot tub in front of my house in the same spot? Would be a lot more fun.

~~~
eli
Taxes don't really work that way, but I generally agree with you. Vote at the
ballot box.

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jjallen
Won't cities adapt to fight this the more tickets are challenged? They'll say
something like: "Oh, this same attorney is fighting hundreds of tickets? We're
going to require more evidence to reverse these tickets".

They'll put up walls and/or make something about this service illegal.

And yes agree that many people will abuse this and fight every ticket
regardless of the validity which will cause cities to push back like I
mentioned above.

Seems like a tenuous business model.

~~~
Zigurd
Businesses that make lots of deliveries already use services that dispute
tickets. This is just aggregating retail customers for those services.

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smackfu
>No fee to contest: We charge 25% of the fine if you win. You have nothing to
lose.

Except that you are assuming they are better at contesting tickets than you.

~~~
OscarCunningham
Most people don't know anything in particular about contesting a parking fine.
But it's literally these people's job. Also, note the incentives are the right
way round: they get paid only if they win.

~~~
smackfu
They're pretty much just taking the data you enter in the app, printing it on
the SF MTA protest form, giving it a quick read, and mailing it in.

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lukashed
For German residents there's [http://geblitzt.com](http://geblitzt.com) \-
though it doesn't have an app. And it's not just for parking tickets but also
for speeding tickets and such.

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smackfu
[http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/tech/mobile/fixed-app-
parking-...](http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/tech/mobile/fixed-app-parking-
tickets/)

"If the motorist thinks they have a case, the app will prompt them to capture
any additional photographic evidence with their phone and then digitally sign
a letter. Fixed has contracted with a team of legal researchers fluent in
local traffic laws who will review each case before printing out the letter
and submitting it via snail mail to the city."

Here's the form, now you don't need the app:
[http://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2013%20AR%20PR...](http://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/2013%20AR%20PROTEST%20FORM.pdf)

The legal researchers job is probably just to sanity check that people aren't
submitting complete junk, like penis photos.

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tn13
Excellent Idea.

\- Pros :

* This might lead to more people challenging their parking tickets. * Those who give tickets will be forced to think twice before giving a ticket. * Since enforcement people need to complete a fixed quota of revenue through parking tickets they will have to issue more tickets per day than before purely because more of them will get contested. This will mean people will have to take extra precautions while parking their car because probability of ticket has gone up.

\- Cons:

* If too many people start contesting then the authorities(court) may simply take a hard stand and the ratio of cancelled tickets/challenged tickets may go down. This may hurt many genuine "I did not do anything wrong" people.

------
27182818284
A broken meter is a valid reason in other cities?

Huh. Every parking meter around here specifically says if it is broken you
can't use it. People are ticketed accordingly if they park there.

~~~
adnrw
Really? Seems a bit unnecessary to take the spot completely out of action
because the meter is broken.

Here (Melbourne), if a meter is faulty but the council doesn't know, you can
SMS your numberplate and the meter ID to their faults number. The automated
response tells you that the time limits still apply and gives you the number
to call if you still get a ticket.

If the council knows the meter is faulty and they haven't fixed it, they
generally put a locked bag over it so no one can use it with instructions that
the time limits still apply.

~~~
jrs235
"Seems a bit unnecessary to take the spot completely out of action because the
meter is broken."

Yes it seems a bit stupid but governments often don't operate with efficiency
or common sense as a primary goal or concern.

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jamesk_au
For those interested in reading about this, there were some good comments in
the previous HN thread:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7066079](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7066079)

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dnautics
emanating from LA is a court challenge that may decide that parking penalties
are excessive. This would be a statewide ruling (it's in the state courts
IIRC). If, say, parking tickets were curbed at "treble damages", wouldn't this
hurt this business' model?

[http://laist.com/2014/02/26/local_heroes_are_taking_la_to_co...](http://laist.com/2014/02/26/local_heroes_are_taking_la_to_court.php)

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robbiet480
Can I get an invite? me@robbiet.us. Need to invite my roommates, who both have
a few tickets they need to get fixed.

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joshred
If this gets popular, the courts will just change how they handle challenges.

~~~
MichaelApproved
In what way can they change the process?

~~~
ars
They can charge to fight a ticket.

Boston does that:

[http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011...](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/03/07/controversial_ticket_appeal_fees_to_have_sjc_hearing/)

In Boston parking tickets are not about doing something wrong, or trying to
curb behavior. They are basically a backdoor tax on the residents.

~~~
Karunamon
Seems unconstitutional/illegal to me.

While a layperson might not be able to fight it, a company who's business
model is based on it might definitely be in a better position.

