Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Toronto flooding: Parking ticket adds insult to injury after rising water disables car

Tim Rivers was shocked to return to his abandoned car Tuesday and find a parking ticket slapped on it — after pushing it out of a flooded lot during Monday’s storm.

The $105 ticket was all the more shocking because, he says, police told him to leave his car overnight after learning that it broke down.

“The officer said: ‘No, lock it up, leave it there for the night and deal with it in the morning, because you won’t get a tow truck tonight,” said Rivers, 53.

Monday’s massive storm ravaged the GTA, dropping more than 100 mm of rain and causing blackouts, transit delays and widespread flooding.

“What may have happened is that parking enforcement officers weren’t aware of the instructions provided by the police officers,” suggested Toronto Police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray. “There was no note left on the car saying, ‘I was told to leave my car here by this officer.’”

Rivers, who lives in Burlington, spent Monday at High Park with his son Adam, who lives in the area.

Just after 6:30 p.m., he went to pick up his car in a High Park lot off Spring Rd., west of Parkside Dr. and just north of Lake Shore Blvd. W.

The lot is beside a pond, which had begun to overflow.

“I came out to the parking lot knee-deep in water.”

He tried to start his car, but “it was sputtering and spewing out water and not sounding good.”

He asked a passing cyclist to help push his car to higher ground, then called his son for help.

He then asked police officers if he should get a tow truck, but after their assurances, he went to his son’s home for the night. The car was left on a grassy patch with a slight incline right outside the lot.

When Rivers went out Tuesday at about 7:30 a.m. he saw that the lot had drained and he’d been left with the $105 ticket.

His first thought was: “Ridiculous.”

“I just thought, I can’t deal with it now,” said Rivers, who was more concerned with getting a tow truck. “It really added insult to injury.”

Rivers and others who received tickets that don’t seem fair have the option of filling out a dispute application form, but Gray says they should check out the ticket cancellation guidelines, too.

“They should definitely complete that form and provide that explanation, and certainly it will be reviewed, given the extenuating circumstances of last night,” Gray said.

Rivers said there were four or five other cars left in the lot, and that he bumped into another man who’d been ticketed.

Rivers knows you can’t park overnight in that lot, but is at a loss to explain what the parking enforcement officer was thinking.

“Anyone that was there overnight had no way of getting out. How ruthless can you be?”

The 2012 Mazda 3 sport hatchback was his first new vehicle.

“It’s been a horrible morning,” he said. “The people at the body shop are telling me that the car’s probably a write-off.”

As for the ticket, Rivers says, “I’m not going to pay it.”

Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author:  Melinda Maldonado

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