Hi Ladies,
Last week I drove my son to school, which I normally don't as we live 3 blocks away, but had to run an errand after I dropped him off. As we were sitting in the car parked infront of the entrance my son goes in, there are 4 different entrances, different grades go in to different ways, I saw an older man get out of his car with a child who looked about 4, later I found out he was in kindergarten. The man turned the child in the direction of the front of the school and told him to walk. At first I assumed the little boy wanted to be a "big boy" and walk alone, but that the man, who might have been the grandfather would watch till the child got to his destination. The childs entrance was past my sons , his was the main entrance literallya full block from where the man was. To my horror, the man didn't watch from a distance, the second the kid started to walk he got into his car and took off. Of course now I felt compelled to watch the boy walk. He walked through small agtherings of parentsa nd kids, no one noticed him and then he walked up the ramp, but the front door wasn't open yet. he turned around, walked down the ramp, past parents, back up the block , past me and then I stepped up to him. I said "hi are you looking for who dropped you off?" he nodded yes. I told him that the man left but I can walk him and he said "ok> I took my son out of the car left my hazards on and walked the little boy to the entrance. I took him inside the door and sitting at security was the guidance counselor and security. I told them very quitley what happened that the kid was left and he decided to walk away. I was mortified that anyone would leave such a young child unsupervised. The guidance counselor told me she knew the boy and the parents and she would speak to them today. I leave to get my son into his entrance and get my card. After I get my son in the school I walk to my car to see a ticket on it for $110 for parking at a school zone. I was so upset about the little boy it really didn't register tilll I got home and told my husband what happened. He told me thank goodness I was there and saw the boy anyone could have taken him, he could have walked in front of a car etc. Then he said to me , you need to find out who the parents are and tell them they need to pay for the ticket. I get his point but what do I say "hi I'm the one who saw your boy unattended and wandering off and by the way you owe me $110 dollars for a ticket I would have nevere gotten if you weren't so irresponsible?" I haven't said anything yet. The guidance counselor told me she spoke to the dad later that day, he seemed upset and said the man was his wife's father and he will take care of it. what would you do? Just look at it as no good deed goes unpunished or aske for the money.? Thanks mommas
Ladies thank you. Why I didn't think about fighting the ticket with letters from the school I can't tell you? It was a real cop by the way not a school cop. And I wish I could have parked my car but by the school there is NO parking, you normally roll up, drop your kids and keep on moving. I showed up a few minutes early, which is why I was sitting there in the car, which is allowed as long as parent stays with the car. I am hopeful the judge will hear my plea and drop the fine. I didn't want to ask the parents , I was hoping you all would come up with a solution and you did. Thanks so much and I'll let you all know how it turns out.
*** Ladies took your advice, fought the ticket got the school and guidence counselor to write a letter in my defense and the judge dropped my ticket. Thank you all for your sound advice.
Was the ticket issused by a school cop? If so, talk to the school and see if they will erase it. If it was given by a real cop, then I would pay the ticket and forget about it. It was great that you were their for the child, but the system stinks, They will tell you that is was you decision not to park in the appropiate spot, so they are not responsible. Good luck.
No good deed goes unrewarded:) Would you do this deed again if you had the foresight that you would have to pay fine for the ticket? I think you would, you sound like a very caring person:) The safety of a child is priceless...so to me $110 is a deal:) I would bet anything that if you went to court, you could plead guilty and explain why you chose that action that day. I am willing to bet that the judge might release the fine, or the police officer might release the ticket. Perhaps you could even send a letter to the police officer who wrote the ticket before the court date. Thank you for taking the time to care, and good luck!
I don't think you can really ask for the money. I do think you did the right thing, but how can you really ask them for the money when it was your choice to leave your car. It's crappy, totally, but I don't really see a way out of it. I might suggest trying to go to court over it and maybe you'd win, but of course that takes a lot more time and effort. You could also try mentioning it to the guidance counselor next time you see them, but hoenstly, I don't think you can ask his parents for the money...but at least you did the right thing...not too much comfort I'm sure, but good job! ;)
Most violations will give you the option to have a court hearing to argue your side. You might call the Clerk of Court (there should be information on your ticket about where to pay the ticket and if there isn't a phone number, you should be able to look up the appropriate 'person' from the info that IS there.) Talk to the person on the telephone and explain that you would like an opportunity to argue for leniency/waiving the fine, and ask how to go about that.
A judge is likely to waive your fine, but depending on what all is involved it could end up costing you more than the $110 (if you involve an attorney).
Depending on who WROTE the ticket, you might consider asking about it at the school. My son's school (middle school) has a "resource officer" at the school. If that person wrote the ticket, you might try that angle to find out how you might get the fine waived.
I would not try to follow up with the parent of the child, though. Unfortunately, they are not responsible for your error in leaving your car there. Their only fault was having trusted the grandparent to safely get their child to school. It sounds like they will be remedying that issue. Kudos to you for being observant enough to notice and for stepping up to protect that little boy. But, outside of pleading your case to the court/judge, I think you will have to just suck it up and pay the fine. Consider it the cost of a clean conscience for having done the right thing instead of ignoring the little boy.
I wonder if you can write in to the judge that is assigned to handle parking ticket matters, explain the situation and ask that they waive the violation because you were caught in a moment of having to act as a good samaritan. You can also include a simple signed statement from the school security officer and guidance counselor indicating what they observed -- you escorting the child to his play ground and that his parents and grandfather were not present. I'm not sure if you can get the parking ticket waived but it is worth a try.
I don't know if I would have the courage to approach this boy's parents and ask them to reimburse you for the ticket. Perhaps if your husband feels comfortable approaching them with this request, he can give it a try.
Thank you for looking out for that little boy. I do believe in good karma.
You always have the option of fighting the ticket. Get the counselor you spoke with, to write a witness note (on school letter head. Make sure the principal signs off) , on your behalf.
I don't think you should ask, for money. The parents did not leave the child. If they did regularly, the child would have known exactly where to go. The father clearly was upset and disapproving, of the situation. You did a good deed, the right thing. Take pride in that, but don't ask for money.
I would try to find out who the cop was who wrote it -is he or she always on school duty? If so, talk to them personally or perhaps have school security or the guidance counselor talk to them with you. You can also go to court and fight it there and give your reasons why. If you want to do that, you should have a notarized note from the guidance counselor backing you up. I wouldn't contact the parents of the child or anything though -that's the part where "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
If the grandparent dropped the kid off, then he may be completely mystified as to why he got reported and why you are asking him to pay your ticket. In the older generations, little kindergarteners and up walked to school by themselves every day without their parents hovering around to make sure that they didn't get hit by a car or attacked by a predator. I always take my kids to school and make sure they get in okay, too, but just saying maybe you could try and see his point of view and his perspective. I believe this is a generational difference and personally, I miss the 70s when I could run around freely and wish I could let my kids do the same without worrying about pedophiles and druge dealers and crazy drivers.
No. That child's family is in no way obligated to pay your ticket. But you can try to fight the ticket in court. The ticket should have instructions for what to do if you want to contest it. I would write up a document describing what happened and ask the school guidance counselor and/or security to confirm your story -- In writing. Perhaps this will be enough to persuade the court that your parking was done to prevent imminent danger to a very minor child. In an age of missing and abducted children, your story should resonate. BTW -- w/o corroboration from the school, the court will view your story as just one of the many they hear from people fighting tickets.
Not that the drop off is right in today's world, however, I walked myself to school and home everyday. We had the best times walking to and from school and many things happened.
We used to take the "Short cut" and cut though peoples properties. One morning we went to jump someone's wall and there were bulls in the pen. It was much too late to turn around, so we had to make a run for it. The bulls could care less. They left us alone.
Many of times we came home bumped, bruised and bleeding. One day, I turned the corner on my bicycle too fast and wiped out...knocked myself out too. I can barely remember a man telling me he would take me home and he was putting my bike in the back. I woke up on my couch with a wet towel on my face and my older sister asking who the man was that brought me home. To this day, I don't know. I still have the scar.
We probably only told our parents of about 25% of the mishaps during our walk.
Much like I hear many of complaints about Grandparents that want to take the Grandchildren and will ride them in their lap in the car because it will be alright.
It's a completely different world.
Yes, fight the ticket. That is a whole lot more than my $15 expired meter ticket.
sometimes doing the right thing is expensive. our son brought home an abandoned, terrified little dog left at the lowes where he worked. keeping it wasn't an option, and the poor kid then had to shell out $200 for a vet check and shots so we could get it adopted.
but it was still the right thing to do.
the grandfather is likely not a bad guy. once upon a time kids just walked to school. he's from another era.
i'll bet you can beat it in court, especially if the school backs you.
khairete
S.
If it were me I would leave it alone, unless you really really need the money. Fact is, although you did them a huge favor, they do not owe you the money because you could have parked your car before walking the boy in.
