Thanks to a tip from Consumerist, we hear that the majority of parking tickets in our fair city may not be, well, fair. Or, more to the point, they’re probably fair but they’re not actually valid and enforceable. According to a CBS special investigation, parking tickets given at 85% of the parking meters in Philadelphia are invalid.

Apparently, there’s a law here in PA that says inspectors have to certify each and every parking meter for accuracy once every three years. And guess what—that’s not happening. L&I’s single inspector can’t handle testing the 14,500 meters strewn throughout the city, so he’s only certified about 2,000 of them in the last two years. Oddly enough, he certified some of those 2,000 meters multiple times. Hey, at least he’s thorough with the ones he does get to.

If you’ve gotten a ticket for an expired meter, chances are good that you can fight it and win. Check this PDF to see if the meter was properly certified, and if it wasn’t, appeal the ticket. You’ll still have to take time off work and deal with the drudgery of waiting in line at the PPA to fight the ticket, but at least you’ll have the joy of sticking it to the man.

Also, note to the PPA: How about ticketing that douchebag who parks half on the sidewalk, half on the street at the end of our block every day? You know, the blue Mercedes that’s always blocking our street so no one can drive down it, yet it never has a ticket? Who is that guy paying off? Maybe CBS needs to investigate that.

Image via Flickr user Sklathill.