Ticketed at Horner Road Lot, Slug Vows to Fight the Law

Slug Tales

I am one angry slug.

Why, you ask? I’ll tell you. On Monday evening, I received a parking ticket in the Horner Road Commuter lot. And as far as I am concerned, I was not parked illegally.

If you remember as far back as Monday evening (is it only Wednesday?), you’ll remember that it was a dreary, rainy day. It hadn’t started out very well for me, either. That morning, I waited past 9 a.m. for a ride. Thinking it was hopeless, I thought I might have to drive in, or at least drive to Springfield to take the Metro in to D.C.

Luckily, a nice lady passing through the lot felt bad for the poor souls still waiting for a ride, and offered to drive us to Crystal City. It was very kind of her, and I appreciated it greatly – but as I got into her car, another car pulled up and took the other three riders who were waiting with me to my destination, L’Enfant Plaza. Since two of those riders were actually behind me in line, I was pretty annoyed; however, I suppose it was my own fault for not waiting to see where that other driver was going.

Anyway, I digress…

On Monday evening, I was parked alongside the shoulder, closest to the entrance at the Prince William Parkway intersection. If you’re familiar with the Horner Road lot, you’ll know that cars have always parked along that road, within the painted white lines. Where the white lines end on either side, there are No Parking signs with an arrow pointing away in either direction, which seems to signify that parking is allowed within that designated area.

I have been commuting from Horner Road for years, and as far as I know, parking has always been allowed in this area.

On Monday evening, however, there were two Prince William County Police officers who believed otherwise.

It was beginning to get dark and still slightly raining as I made my way up the shoulder of the road towards my car, carrying my bags and the dry cleaning I picked up before slugging home. In the distance, I noticed the flashing lights of a police cruiser. It was double-parked dangerously close to my car, but I wasn’t worried, knowing I had safely parked in a legal space – or so I thought.

As I got closer, I noticed small, white papers in the windshield of two of the cars near mine, and then saw one in my windshield as well.

It couldn’t be a ticket, I thought. No way! I’ve gotten my share of tickets for parking illegally, but I was good today. I had plenty of room to park before the No Parking sign!

Just as I approached where the police car was parked, there was another lady, waving that little white piece of paper in her hand. She didn’t look happy, and she was parked just a couple of cars ahead of me.

“That’s not a ticket, is it?” I asked.

Much to my dismay, it was indeed a ticket. Her car, my car and the car in between us had all received one, and the two young police officers insisted that parking was prohibited in this area.

This was certainly news to us! I tried reasoning with them, explaining that cars had been parking here for years. We told them we had never heard of anyone being ticketed for parking in this area, and pointed out the arrows of the No Parking signs, which indicate that parking is allowed within the signs on either side.

It was no use; the damage was done. The tickets were written. Our only option now, according to the ticket, is to “appear in person… and file the necessary paperwork” at one of the locations listed, in order to have our case heard in court. Of course, this means taking time out of work to file the paperwork, and more time off to appear in court. Lovely.

Some may say a $35 is not worth the trouble. I disagree. I can understand if we had disobeyed the law, if we had parked somewhere that parking is not allowed. Hey, I’ve paid my share of parking tickets. Begrudgingly, maybe, but I knew I had broken the rule, and as such, I had no choice but to pay the piper.

This time, I refuse. I will not pay for something that is not right. I believe these officers ticketed us unfairly, and that they were incorrectly interpreting the signage in the commuter lot.

If parking is indeed prohibited in the area where we were ticketed, then it needs to be clearly and properly communicated to drivers who park here and should be done so before tickets are issued. And if parking is no longer allowed on that shoulder, all of us who use that area for parking will have to find space elsewhere to leave our cars. That should be interesting…

I may be an angry slug, but I will stand up for my commuter rights!