Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman William Colton (D—Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights) that would mandate that parking tickets that are illegible, contain misdescribed information or are missing specific information required by law be dismissed immediately has passed the New York State Assembly.

The bill (A 1994), which would no longer require the individual charged with the violation to move for the dismissal of the violation, is intended to ensure that all defective parking tickets are treated in the same manner.

“Motorists in New York City have all too often received parking tickets that, on their face, are defective, and too many of them, unwilling to deal with an often labyrinthine bureaucracy or unaware that the ticket was issued erroneously, will pay the tickets,” said Assemblyman Colton. “This legislation would ensure that, even if a defective ticket is uncontested, the person who received it would not have to pay the fine.”

According to the New York City Department of Finance website, defects in parking tickets include missing or illegible location information; vehicle description (including make or model and car body type); vehicle plate number, as well as type and state of registration; days or hours that the posted sign governing the spot that the ticket was issued for are in effect (unless it is a 24-hour sign), including meter hours; and date and time of ticket issuance. In addition, the ticket must contain the signature of the issuer (though that is not required to be legible). The DOF website states that there is “a five-minute grace period for parking meters and restrictive hours zones.”

The Senate version of the bill (S7267) is currently being considered by the Transportation Committee.