Defective or Malfunctioning Parking Meter
Virginia localities including Arlington, Alexandria, Norfolk, Richmond, and Virginia Beach operate metered parking under local ordinance. Where a meter is broken, displays 'fail' or 'out of order,' rejects valid coins/cards, displays incorrect time, or where the pay-by-phone app is unavailable, a motorist who has made a reasonable attempt to pay cannot be cited for non-payment.
Legal basis
Code of Virginia §46.2-1220; local ordinances (Arlington County Code §14.2-67; Alexandria City Code §5-8-71; Richmond City Code §27-414); doctrine of impossibility of performance
Sample appeal wording
[DATE] [LOCALITY] Parking Adjudication [ADDRESS] RE: Citation #[NUMBER] - Meter Malfunction Defense Meter ID: [METER NUMBER] I contest citation #[NUMBER] on the basis that the parking meter at the cited location was non-functional at the time of my arrival, making payment impossible. Facts: • Date/time of parking: [DATE/TIME] • Meter ID: [NUMBER] at [ADDRESS] • Malfunction observed: [describe — coin slot blocked / card reader rejected / display blank / 'FAIL' code / pay-by-phone app returned error] • Photographs attached as Exhibit A timestamped at [TIME] • [If applicable] I attempted payment via [METHOD] which generated error: [QUOTE ERROR MESSAGE] • [If applicable] I attempted to use the adjacent meter at [DESCRIBE] which was [also broken / occupied / out of range] Under [LOCAL ORDINANCE] and the general doctrine of impossibility, a motorist cannot be cited for failure to pay when the locality's payment infrastructure is non-operational. I respectfully request that citation #[NUMBER] be dismissed. Sincerely, [NAME] [CONTACT] Exhibits: A) Meter photograph with timestamp B) Error screenshot C) [Additional]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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- Arlington County Code §14.2-67
- Alexandria City Code §5-8-71
- Richmond City Code §27-414
- Norfolk City Code §39-50
- Virginia Beach City Code §21-353