Parking ticket trouble

Monday's article about pricey parking fines in Red Bank reminds me of when I once parked in what I thought was a visitor's spot at a friend's condo complex. The lines had been repainted and they weren't yet redesignated. The true owner of the unmarked spot had my car towed, cost me a bundle, plus a $75 parking ticket that I fought (and won). My brother once got an expensive parking ticket summons from a town he had never been in. And at the end of the summer of 2005, several out-of-area visitors to Point Pleasant Beach wrote to complain about municipal parking tickets there after the new system was set up. Following complaints, Red Bank officials recently lengthened the parking time limit and added a 15-minute "grace period" for late shoppers.

But parking ticket income is a cash cow for many towns and those meter readers are out in full force all summer. Anyone have a good parking ticket tale? And what's a fair fine for a parking ticket at the Jersey Shore beaches or amusement/shopping/dining venues?