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Feature Disabled After San Jose's 'Smart' Parking Meters Unexpectedly Reset, Leading To Tickets

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- San Jose's "smart" meters have been leading to lots of unexpected tickets for drivers, and the city is making them just a little bit dumber to solve the problem.

Some of San Jose's new 'smart' parking meters downtown have been resetting to zero when some heavy trucks pass, leading to tickets for drivers.

A lot of construction and heavy machinery around downtown has led to a lot of parking tickets.

San Jose lawyer Todd Rothbard has been snapping photos with his cell phone when he feeds meters outside the superior courthouse.  He had gotten three tickets in less than two weeks.

"I would have paid it if it had just been a single ticket, because it's well more than $40 worth of time goes into presenting a case, and telling them they've got a problem," Rothbard said.

San Jose did own up to the problems and have disabled the troublesome reset function on some meters. But, the city is relying on people to report the faulty tickets themselves.

"We do not like knowing that people have received citations inappropriately.  We have dismissed citations so that individuals don't have to pay," San Jose Deputy Director of Transportation Laura Wells said.

Despite the response, some residents still were unhappy with the new meters.

"They should have just stuck with the old school method.  It worked," resident Janine Tipton said.

 

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