[akgerber]

The idea is that the fine is high because they can't catch every parking violation.

Likewise, the fine for fare-beating on mass transit is much higher than a transit fare, because it's very unlikely you've been caught on your first offense.

Parking is hard in the big city because it requires a lot of a very expensive resource (urban land)— maybe you shouldn't drive if you're unable to handle the responsibility.

(I personally am not very sympathetic to the many entitled drivers who feel free to park on the sidewalk, or in a bicycle lane, or a crosswalk, or by committing some other antisocial act, and am especially unsympathetic to those drivers who feel their ease of parking outweighs the need to build the necessary infrastructure for high-quality mass transit and safe walking and biking.)

[eldavido]

I agree, and would go farther by saying I'm against people who believe in selective enforcement of the law, for themselves or others. We live in a democracy, if you really feel strongly that a law is unjust or wrong, it's on you to get it changed.

[mmanfrin]

> The idea is that the fine is high because they can't catch every parking violation.

I'm sorry, have you ever parked in SF? As someone who has paid more than his fair share of parking tickets, I can tell you that the cost of the ticket has next to zero relation to the ability to 'catch every parking violation'. SFMTA is very, very efficient at catching people whose meters have expired or who have parked more than 2 hours in a residential area.