Unpaid Parking Tickets? A New Donated Toy Will Wipe Your Record Clean & Make You Feel Like Santa
While you’re out and about this week in Boston, don’t stress out too much about finding the perfect parking spot. As a nice holiday treat courtesy of Mayor Menino, any non-public safety parking tickets issued this week from Monday, December 5 through Friday, December 9 can be absolved by donating a toy to the city’s annual Toys for Tots campaign.
The 18th annual “Toys for Tickets” initiative accepts any non-violent, wrapped toy of equal or greater value than your parking ticket amount, clearing your name of the ticket. Toy drop-off will be from Thursday, December 8 through Friday, December 16 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at City Hall or at the City’s tow lot at 200 Frontage Road. In order to be absolved of the ticket completely, drivers must bring the parking ticket and a receipt for the toy.“We write 1.5 million tickets a year… But, this is the only time of the year we see people coming in and not grousing about their parking ticket,” Thomas Tinlin, commissioner of the transportation department which oversees the parking clerk’s office, told Boston.com. “Someone may get a $25 ticket and we see people come in here with donations well over the violation amount, sometimes $75 in toys.”
This year’s five-day window, from December 5 through December 9, of eligible parking tickets is the longest in the program’s history, which began with only two days of tickets back in 1993. Last year, only three days of tickets were offered. Over 14,000 tickets were eligible for absolution in 2010, but only 103, about one percent, actually participated in the toy drive, and during the 10-day collection period last season, $3,495 worth of toys were donated. There is no goal or cap for the amount of toys that can be donated.
Parking tickets that are exempt from the program include:
- parking in the way of handicapped ramps;
- parking in spots reserved for those with handicapped or disabled veteran license plates;
- blocking fire hydrants;
- parking in crosswalks;
- double parking;
- parking less than 20 feet from an intersection;
- parking in a fire lane;
- and being in a no stopping and standing zone.
So this week, if you forget to feed the meter, remember it’s ultimately for a good cause.
Image via cityofboston.gov
from BostInno http://bostinno.com/2011/12/05/unpaid-parking-tickets-a-new-donated-toy-will-...