Parking tickets in New Jersey usually carry only a small fine, which are payable online, without the need to appear in court. Likewise, you usually do not need a lawyer for parking tickets. If you were charged for a special kind of ticket such as handicap parking, however, there are other concerns. It is important not to ignore parking tickets, as this can end up with your license being suspended and possibly warrants being issued for your arrest.
Do I need a lawyer to fight my parking tickets?
In most cases it costs far more time and money to defend yourself than to just pay the fine. As such, we usually recommend that people simply pay the fine online. Sometimes, however, people want to fight their parking tickets just based on principle. When this happens, it often is best to be represented by an attorney at trial. To fight these tickets, usually some sort of proof will be required to show the ticket is invalid. This can be done with video, pictures, testimony, etc. Be aware that parking tickets are generally not considered ‘criminal’ and instead of the usual standard of ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’, the court need only find you guilty ‘by a preponderance of the evidence’. This means they just need to believe you are guilty slightly more than not.
They wrote the ticket out wrong, do I still have to pay?
Depending on what the error is, you may or may not. Often times people ask if simple transpositional errors or writing the wrong color vehicle is a defense. While this may be the case in New York occasionally, it is not so in New Jersey. Sometimes the officer writes information down that is dramatically wrong and probably would mean the court doesn’t have the proper information to prosecute you. Even in these cases, it is often best to merely pay the fine rather than risk the court figuring it out and you finding this out later when pulled over for a suspended license.
What happens if I ignore the tickets?
Unresolved parking tickets can come back to bite you in a variety of ways. Sometimes your driver’s license will be suspended, other times a warrant will be issued for you. In most cases, a defendant’s driver's license is suspended, and they find out either through a letter from the DMV or by getting pulled over and ticketed for driving while suspended. If neither of these two options was taken, and the tickets are more than 3 years old, they may be subject to dismissal pursuant to R. 7:8-9. Call to speak with our parking ticket lawyers if you believe this is an option for you.
My license was suspended for parking tickets, what do I do?
You first will need to settle your parking tickets either by paying them or going to court and dealing with them. Some courts will require you to go to a hearing date to settle up your tickets. Usually this is accomplished by calling the court clerk and requesting this. After all tickets are paid off, you can try to reinstate your driver’s license online or in person at your local DMV office. Be aware that usually you will need to await a restoration letter from the DMV before you are officially restored. Commonly people drive immediately after paying the restoration fee and are pulled over before they receive this letter.
What are other examples of parking tickets?
There are many different kinds of parking tickets, the most common are:
- Parking in prohibited zones such as in a fire zone;
- Parking within 10 feet of a fire hydrant;
- Parking in a no standing zone;
- Failing to pay a parking meter;
- Parking on private property without permission;
- Alternate side parking;
- Resident parking violations.
How can I pay parking tickets online?
You can usually look up parking tickets and pay them online. On the back of your ticket there will usually be information on how to either pay the ticket or request a hearing. They usually allow you to pay online, in person, or through the mail.