App that combats parking tickets

With laws, there is always room for misinterpretation and error. The new app, Fixed, helps you out in a pinch when you’ve just received a parking ticket that you feel was unfairly given. The app’s capabilities include collecting evidence to support your statement, and submitting all suitable appeals paperwork.

Fixed’s creator, David Hegarty generated the idea for the app when he kept getting issued undeserved tickets. Hegarty realized he was not the only one with grievances about the system of ticket issuing, so he recruited DJ Burdick to assist him with the app’s development.  

When you find a ticket on your car, you look up the ticket’s violation number on Fixed. The app looks up all related incidents, and tells you the probability of getting your violation dismissed. Fixed then informs what you should photograph as evidence to support your stance. For example, if you have an unfair parking violation, take photos of nearby signs that instruct parking times.

There are four categories of parking tickets that the app categorizes; the legal errors are when a car is parked too far away from the sign to be an offender; the procedural errors are considered if the officer makes a mistake in issuing a ticket not within the time frame listed where violations can occur; the appeals to fairness that ask for some leeway with the fine; and factual errors when the officer misinterprets the rules stated on the street sign.  

Fixed has gathered a team of legal experts specializing in traffic laws to assist the ticketed person by gathering all pertinent information. The team behind the app then generates a “contest letter” for you, and assists with all court-related communication that ensues. The company, Fixed, makes its money by charging everyone it helps win a parking-ticket dispute pay 25% of the ticket's original asking price.

Hegarty feels that the government uses ticketing mainly as a way of raising revenue, rather than a method of enforcing the law. Many people are victimized by unfair ticketing practices; Hegarty hopes to expand his brand by enabling speeding ticket monitoring.

Fixed first started testing its service with 1,000 people. Now, there is a long list of over 25,000 people clamoring to sign up for the app. The app hits iTunes next week. So far the app is only available to users in the San Francisco area, but the app will eventually come to many of the nation's cities.

Story via CNN