Last winter I backed into a public parking space in the lovely city of Highland Park, Illinois. Not on the street, mind you, but in a public parking lot. When I came back in the morning I had a $25 ticket for "backing into a parking space in a marked lot." Once I read the ticket I looked around and found a sign that clearly stated "Do Not Back Into Spaces." Normally I would have just called myself an idiot and payed the fine, but this one really bugged me.

First of all, the sign was on a pole that was only about 5 feet tall and could have been easily obscured by one of the other cars that was in the lot when I arrived. Second, the sign said "Do Not Back In" and the ticket was for backing in, but there was no way to prove that I had actually backed into the spot (the time on the ticket was several hours after I had parked the car). My car was certainly parked backwards, but I could have pulled through from the next isle over. I considered fighting it, but I would have had to miss a day of school, drive 20 miles, buy lunch, etc. In the end it would have cost me more than $25, and parking violations don't count against my license, so I just wrote the check.

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IndyZ