link to original reddit post by /u/crinkneck
I fully appreciate if this doesn’t count as acceptable posting and apologies in advance to any moderator that decides to nix it.
I just got a parking ticket for “exceeding a maximum 3 hours” for parking overnight on my quiet side street in Toronto. I’m frustrated because the sign says no parking <- and I parked ->. No reference to any time limits. So I take pics and log on to the city’s website to dispute it. Only then do I see they have something posted that says the city does not require signs to enforce this 3-hour maximum.
As a new car owner in the city, the only way I would have known of this rule is by word of mouth or if I decided to research all of the bylaws beforehand. In essence, I’m only learning about this law by breaking it. That of course seems an awfully disingenuous and shady way to post and enforce laws.
It’s a little thing. The ticket is affordable. It’s more the principle that angers me. It’s an example of the government exercising coercive power over unknowing citizens. There is no moral obviousness to this rule. And because it’s small beans, people generally don’t care.
But it’s such an obvious racket for revenues. The city recently started handing out tickets to cyclists for speeding. Clearly they need to make back some lost revenue from the pandemic.
While we typically focus on the bigger issues that transgress our freedoms (rightfully so), I got a reminder that the state always has a two-pronged attack which includes death by a thousand bylaw infractions.
/rant over