The dreaded yellow envelope

The dreaded yellow envelope. Of course, since this vehicle was parked where it is, the driver took a chance. I wonder how many unpaid parking tickets there are in Portland right now? A lot, I'll bet. I paid the few that I got back when I owned a car.



The car on the left is the one illegally parked, with the ticket envelope underneath one the driver side windshield wiper.



This is the best shot, I think, that shows the reason for the ticket. The car blocks the sidewalk which may cost $80, my best guess after looking at the parking fines chart at the Portland Bureau of Transportation Web site.

BTW, I found a 2013 news piece online that said, at that time, unpaid parking tickets in Multnomah County totaled $42 million, much of which would come to the city of Portland if it were collected. In 2008 that same TV station had a story that stated the total of unpaid tickets was $24 million.

In the 2013 story, this: Finding the cars is often not as simple as knocking on the owner's door. We tried to find the person who has the most unpaid parking tickets in the last three years. She's a 22-year-old driver from Beaverton who drove a Chevy Malibu while racking up 64 tickets worth $10,095. Our research shows she's now living in Utah.

In the 2008 story, this: One woman has amassed an incredible portfolio of 228 unpaid tickets, totaling over $5,000 in fines, according to documents provided by the city of Portland. Once located by KATU News, the unidentified woman said many of the tickets were due to "extenuating circumstances." But she also expressed disbelief at the total number of tickets.

Come on, ladies, park correctly or pay up. You're making the rest of us females look bad.