Mayor Hopes Changes Will End Parking Ticket Backlog
Posted June 24, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a major source of revenue for the city and it comes directly out of your wallet. In fact, Toronto Police give out so many traffic tickets – most for illegal parking with the usual $30 fine attached – that the courts can hardly keep up with them all.
Especially when drivers start to challenge them in court..
Motorists who’ve received one of those annoying yellow tags have come to learn that there are too few justices of the peace. And with night court closing down this week, things are only going to get worse. It’s created a huge backlog that has allowed thousands of people to virtually skate on the penalties, because it takes too long for the courts to get to their cases.
But if there’s one thing David Miller understands, it’s the need to get that lost revenue, as the city faces an always cash strapped future. So now the Toronto mayor is planning to announce some as yet unspecified changes to the way tickets are paid to make it easier for the city to collect – and harder for you not to pay up.
While Miller won’t reveal his new strategy yet, it appears he’ll be introducing some form of alternative challenge method that won’t take up a court’s time and can be dealt with in a few days or a week – instead of months or years.
It’s estimated there are some 37,000 tickets being challenged this year – and none of the recipients have a firm day in court yet. And it’s only June.
Last year, the problem was even worse, with about 250,000 requests to fight the $30 fines. Only 4,000 court dates were issued and that means a large majority of those challenged penalties were never paid.
Many admit they’ve been delinquent. “I usually clear them up at the end of the year,” one driver concedes. How much do all those $30 dings add up to? “I think it’s about $1,500,” he shrugs.
But some are hoping the city can’t find any solution to the problem, preferring to let the backlog linger. “I’ve heard it’s a good way to do it,” comments a driver as he sits behind the wheel – parked legally, we hope. “In fact, there’s people that specialize in that.”
Among those waiting for his time before the bench – Councillor Doug Holyday, who disputes the parking ticket he received for leaving his car near an arena. He’s been waiting to tell it to the judge since last year. “I would like my day in court to at least express my concern over what’s happened but that was well over a year ago now and I’ve not heard from anybody on this.”
As a man with one foot in both doors – a politician worried about city finances and a driver concerned about justice – he can’t imagine how City Hall let things get so far off track. “You know, for courts to be fair and open, they have to also be prompt,” he notes. “And this is not the case. So I’m surprised it’s gone on so long … And somebody’s going to have to set up a system to deal with the backlog here. If the city can’t do it, I’d suggest they send this matter back to the province because it just can’t go on like this.”
Holyday admits he’s not sure if the fines will simply go away and be forgotten or whether the city will start coming after those it claims owes them the money.
One suggestion: a method used in places like Prince Edward Island or Seattle, where ticketed drivers use a special dispute form to challenge their penalties and the police chief quickly rules for or against them. The driver hears the decision within three days and the already clogged courts don’t get tied up over $30 cases when there’s more important justice to dispense.
Holyday likes the idea but wouldn’t mind going back to the future.
“It used to be, if you had a parking ticket that you wanted to contest, you could firstly contest it at your local police station. And the desk sergeant there had the authority to review your situation. And if there was a glaring mistake on the ticket or some circumstance that he thought warranted you not getting the ticket, he had the authority then to change it. And that worked very well.
“Then somebody back in the days of Metro Toronto decided that we should have special offices for these tickets, first appearance centres they call them … And it was very inconvenient for all of the people to go to one of these first appearance centres to deal with their tickets. And I think that’s contributed to the backlog.
“Maybe we ought to just take a look at what we did before that worked and find out why we actually went away from the police stations. I don’t know if it put the onus on them or made them busier than they could handle. But I think that that system seemed to be workable and police stations are located in everybody’s community.”
Miller’s solution – whatever it is – should be announced this weekend.
The process to challenge your ticket
You can’t ignore your fine, but putting the wheels in motion for a court date will get you in the system – and very possibly, lost in it. Find out how to begin here
If you choose to pay your fine
It’s no surprise that the government makes it easy. You can pay online, over the phone, in person or by mail. It’s only when you want to fight it that it becomes a major inconvenience. Click here if you’re planning to take the easy way out.
What happens if you don’t pay the fine?
You won’t be able to get your plate renewed and you’ll have to pay an additional $20 enforcement fee if they have to come after you. But it only applies if you’ve been convicted and therein lies the dilemma for the city.
Parking Ticket FAQ
