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PSA: the parking ticket grace period in Chicago is only 5 minutes, and I found out the hard way
I got a $65 ticket on Clark Street near Wrigley last Tuesday because I ran in to grab a coffee and came back 7 minutes later. A guy from the city told me the meter grace period is just 5 minutes, and the camera starts counting the second your time runs out. I always thought you got a 10 or 15 minute cushion like in other cities, so I never even rushed. Now I set a phone alarm the moment I park, even for a quick stop. Has anyone else been hit by this, or is it just me being careless?
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miller.jason6d ago
Wait, so the camera tickets you the second it expires, no warning at all?
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iris_burns6d ago
My registration was up in March and I got a letter in the mail like six weeks before it ran out, which is plenty of warning if you ask me. The date is also printed right there on the sticker every time you look at your own plate, so it's not some big secret the state is keeping from you. I got pulled over years ago for an expired tag and the cop was actually pretty cool about it, but he still wrote me a ticket, so it's not like cameras are doing anything new. The real thing is that once it lapses you're driving a car the state doesn't know is legal, and that's on the driver to keep up with, not on anyone else to remind you. People act like the camera is out to get them when the date has been sitting on their windshield for a whole year.
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