Montreal City Weblog

Kate 20:28 on 2022-11-15 Permalink Reply  

• Ephraim 21:39 on 2022-11-15 Permalink

  Even if there is no correlation between crime and punishment, the fine for parking in handicapped zone are still not enough. They need to be SHOCKING to get people to change… maybe adding to the sign that the fine is $500+ might get some people’s attention. The rest won’t really change anything

• MarcG 00:24 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  @Ephraim: You may be right, but we just don’t want to, and won’t. You can whinge about it until you are blue in the face, but it won’t change. (Just seeing how it would feel to be against improving society – feels bad!)

• Blork 10:03 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  I agree that the fine should be hefty. But corresponding to that, the signs must be very visible.

  Years ago, when I worked in the McGill Ghetto, there was a spot on Milton that had a faint smudge of paint on the ground, which a decade earlier had been recognizable as an indicator of handicapped parking. There was also a sign on a post, but it was lost in the foliage of a tree.

  The neighbourhood parking cop basically spent his day going back to that spot over and over and issuing ticket after ticket. No incentive to improve the signage because they were making a killing.

• Chris 10:49 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  MarcG, don’t confuse a statement of fact (“You can whinge about it until you are blue in the face, but it won’t change”) with a value judgement as to whether that’s how it ought to be.

• Tim S. 11:19 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  Blork, it’s very optimistic to think that the people who give out tickets talk to the people who put up signs.

• dwgs 11:38 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  Chris, thank goodness we have you here to scold us on pretty much every thread, otherwise anarchy might ensue.

• Blork 12:17 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  Tim S, I didn’t say that. I’m saying that the people who give out tickets take advantage of situations that create sitting ducks for them. (And by extension, it’s not fair to create hefty fines for infractions if you don’t correspondingly make it very clear what the infraction is.)

• Joey 12:41 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  The $9 base fine increase may seem like a lot (18%), but since it hasn’t been indexed since 2020, it’s only $2.11 more than it was two years ago after adjusting for inflation. Hard to imagine a 4% real increase will “change the delinquent and problematic behaviour of motorists,” in the city’s own words.

  Incorporating fine amounts into signage would do more to change behaviour than simpy raising fees – how many drivers actually know that parking in a bus lane can yield a fine of $271? Why hasn’t the city explored automating parking infractions – surely there are off-the-shelf cameras that can capture license plates of cars parked illegally.

  Last, why no increase in the fines for non-EV cars parked in EV spaces?

• Ephraim 14:29 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  Joey – Many cities use this. It is likely why the city wants to move to pay by plate, like Westmount already has. I think it’s Calgary and Edmonton where they have these trucks that go by every few minutes and record the licence plates. So even if you are simply STOPPED in a spot, and they go by twice and you haven’t paid, you get a ticket for parking

  Something needs to be done about handicapped parking. It’s too important to those who need it and too easy for people to use as stopping zones. I think a sign warning them that the fine is over $300 would at least make people think twice. Better if it said “No stopping or standing” Or instead of a no parking handicapped sign, it was actually a no stopping except handicapped sign.

  Maybe the city should use a glue stick and have them stick the ticket on the windshield… bet they will remember that!

• Dominic 16:09 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  What happened to the rule that “If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”?

• Ephraim 21:20 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  @Dominic – I’m not against have the value of the car as a multiplier on certain tickets.

• thomas 23:59 on 2022-11-16 Permalink

  There is a bill under consideration in New York City that would allow anyone to report, with a photo or video taken with an approved app, illegally parked vehicles and receive 25% of the fine. This is already done with idling commercial vehicles, but would be extended to cars in handicapped spots, in bike lanes, crosswalks etc.

• Ephraim 09:55 on 2022-11-17 Permalink

  Please… we still don’t have SMS 911 in Montreal. It’s standard in many places. I mean, how do you send the cops a picture of something when they don’t have the ability to get them…. twitter. And if you do, they complain that twitter isn’t monitored. They have cameras on streets… but can’t get a photo from a citizen?

• thomas 16:19 on 2022-11-17 Permalink

  @Ephraim not sure why the police would get involved. Upload a photo (like what is done now with potholes via the webform), a bureaucrat verifies it and if verified sends a fine to the vehicle owner.

• Ephraim 18:52 on 2022-11-17 Permalink

  That resembles the cars passing a school bus thing. And if I remember correctly, the footage has to be shown to a police officer to issue that ticket. That the law currently doesn’t allow anyone else to issue the ticket but an officer of the court.