Dear PoPville – Enforcement Going After Those with Temporary License Plates?

Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80

“Dear PoPville,

Recently I purchased a very small car and I currently have temporary plates on it. I parked it on Sunday night halfway in front of a “No parking behind this –>” sign and halfway behind it. I had done this frequently with my old car (a much larger car), and the one/first time I have done it with my new car I received a $50.00 ticket (on Monday the 8th 1:42 AM on 16th and R) for parking with any part of my car behind the sign.

Normally I would fight this, as clearly a majority of my car was in front of the sign. However, I need to have it inspected and registered in DC within 3 weeks to get real plates and a zone sticker. With a ticket on file I cannot register it and my temporary plates expire soon. I cannot fight or admit fault and seek a lower penalty, as they both take months to process and have the potential to place a hold against my registration. I can easily see this situation as an easy “quota mark” for street patrol as the tickets are hard to fight due to plates being temporary and the owner on a strict time frame. If this is the case, I find this a repulsive practice on behalf of the Police Department.

I am wondering if any other users with temporary plates have also received tickets with obscure reasoning and what actions they took?”