Ticket dodging out-of-towners are out of luck now that the city has the data it needs to bust parking violators long after they high tail it past city limits.
Starting next week, Gotham will track down parking scofflaws from a dozen states that were previously off the Department of Finance's radar. For years, out -of-state violators got off scot free because the city didn't want to fork over the money for costly records needed to track down parking fugitives. Now the department has cut a deal with Law Enforcement Systems to acquire the records and bring violators to justice, the Daily News reported.
"We're doing cartwheels," a city marshal who tracks the worst ticket violators told the News. "I'm very glad they're keeping up their end of what's supposed to be done."
The new system is expected to bring millions of dollars into the city. Failing to chase down scofflaws from Pennsylvania alone cost the city $14 million in revenue in 2005 according to a state investigation. Now, records from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington, which were previously inaccessible, will help the city bust violators from those states.
Sam Miller, Assistant Finance Commissioner said the city made the deal "to make sure that all visitors who violate our traffic laws pay the same price as New Yorkers."
That's good news for New Yorkers, except for those who register their cars out of state to avoid paying high insurance premiums. They will also be targeted by the new system.
