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When stop signs go, ticket for running them remains

For years, there were no stop signs for north-south traffic at East Third Avenue and 31st Street. Then they put up two – one for north and one for south – and parked a police car nearby. A bunch of tickets were issued. Now they have decided that this three-way corner is safer with them removed. So, can you get the traffic ticket they gave me removed from my record and get my money back? After all, the stop sign I ran isn’t there anymore and shouldn’t have been there in the first place. – Jim Rottman

Action Line appealed your case to the highest pantheon of jurisprudence – the Durango Municipal Court.

In those hallowed halls of justice, vital matters of complex litigation are settled. These include parking, dog-at-large and disturbing-the-peace violations. Municipal court also adjudicates in-town traffic tickets.

Alas, the court would not entertain a review of your ticket. While Action Line has immense powers, the ability to go back in time is not one of them. And that’s the crux of the issue.

“Even though the stop signs are no longer there, the fact remains that the person ran the stop sign at the time. The police were there and issued a citation for that act,” said a court representative who asked not to be named.

So there won’t be any rebates, credits or refunds. It’s a done deal.

And the reason the stop signs were taken away? “Bulb-outs” were installed. These curb extensions narrow the road and serve to “calm” traffic rather than bring it to a stop.

So far, the traffic seems calmer. What’s not calmer are the people, like you, who got those tickets while bulb-outs were still a twinkle in a traffic engineer’s eye.

Therefore, this is one of those cases where we have to stop and smell the roses. That’s a complete and total stop.

Now channel your inner bulb-out – shrug your shoulders, roll your eyes, mutter one final blistering epithet toward City Hall and then proceed down the road.

When can we start ticketing those huge pickup trucks that protrude into the street and don’t fit into a normal parking space? I hear the occasional threat to enforce now and then, but those monsters are still out there scaring all the Prius drivers! – Sue

Every vehicle that parks in the city needs to fit within the white lines. That’s the law.

So it doesn’t matter if you have mastered the art of creative parking. In Durango, you must think inside of the box.

If your “overlength” vehicle “extends” beyond the marked boundaries, it’s a fine of $15, which rises to $30 after seven days and then to $60 after 30 days.

Some would call an “overlength” fine an “overreach.” But if you look at the city’s parking fine schedule, the $15 ticket is chump change.

The mother of all parking violations comes when people park in a handicap zone. If you’re Joe Blow thinking you can park in a blue zone while getting your morning joe, think again.

Parking in a handicap zone is a $132 fine. Commercial vehicles parked in a blue handicapped zone is $238.

So, that $15 citation for thinking your truck somehow shrinks in the city limits is really a bargain by comparison.

Note that parking enforcement can and does issue “overlength” tickets, especially along 45-degree parking spots.

And when you get that $15 ticket, please understand that this is not part of some cultural war.

It’s not that your a Battlestar Gallactica-edition Super Duty, Mega-Force, Diesel-Charged, ExtendaCab is the pace car in the race to global warming – it’s because your truck blocks traffic.

Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if your Prius hybrid has ‘NoBama’ bumper sticker and a gun rack.



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