The NYC tickets most often dismissed at hearings, ranked by real data
Not all NYC tickets are equally hard to beat. Across 27,187,126 decided hearings in the public NYC Open Data record, 26.2% ended not guilty — but for the violation types below, the historical dismissal rate is two to three times higher. Here is the ranking computed from real hearing outcomes, why these tickets collapse so often, and how to check the odds for your own ticket. Historical group rates — never a prediction for any individual case.
Quick answer
Across 27,187,126 decided NYC parking-ticket hearings, 26.2% ended not guilty (dismissed). The most-dismissed common violation is No Parking — Taxi Stand at 87.6%; the ranking below uses only violation types with at least 5,000 decided hearings (NYC Open Data, as of 9/8/2026).
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How this ranking is computed
Every number here is computed from the public NYC Open Data dataset “Open Parking and Camera Violations”. We count only hearings with a recorded decision — guilty, guilty with a reduction, or not guilty — and rank violation types by the share of decided hearings that ended not guilty (dismissed). Only violation types with at least 5,000 decided hearings are ranked, so tiny samples can't distort the list. The full 20-item tables, CSV/JSON downloads and a free API live on our data report.
The 10 most-dismissed violation types
| # | Violation | Dismissed | Decided hearings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Parking — Taxi Stand | 87.6% | 16,184 |
| 2 | No Parking — Except Authorized Vehicle | 84.4% | 43,050 |
| 3 | Other | 79.9% | 7,151 |
| 4 | Selling/Offering Merchandise — Meter | 77.2% | 8,285 |
| 5 | No Parking — Except Handicap Permit | 75.6% | 5,209 |
| 6 | Unauthorized Bus Layover | 71.9% | 19,347 |
| 7 | Pedestrian Ramp | 70.5% | 25,035 |
| 8 | Improper Registration | 68.8% | 16,846 |
| 9 | Overnight Tractor Trailer Parking | 68.0% | 6,898 |
| 10 | No Parking — Except Disability Permit | 67.1% | 7,553 |
Click any violation for its full stats page: dismissal rate by borough, average fine, and the defenses that historically work. These are group statistics across all years on record — a high rate never guarantees an individual outcome.
Why these tickets get thrown out so often
The violations at the top of the list share a pattern: whether the rule was actually broken depends on facts the ticketing agent often can't verify from the street.
- Permits and exemptions: zones reserved for authorized vehicles or permit holders (No Parking — Taxi Stand tops the list at 87.6%). If you actually held the right permit or authorization, the ticket collapses — the agent just couldn't see it when writing the summons.
- Definition disputes: taxi-stand, bus-layover, trailer and commercial-vehicle rules only apply to certain vehicles. If yours doesn't meet the legal definition, the violation never happened.
- Facts on the ground: pedestrian-ramp and signage cases often turn on photos of the exact spot — a legal curb use the agent misread.
- Paperwork defects: a misdescribed plate, make or location can make any summons legally defective — see our defective ticket guide.
At the other end of the table, camera violations (school-zone speed, bus lane, red light) are dismissed least often: they are owner-liability tickets with photographic evidence, so far fewer defenses apply — see our camera ticket guide.
What this means for your ticket
A high group dismissal rate never guarantees your case, and a low one doesn't doom it — what matters is whether one of the winning fact patterns applies to your facts. Three steps:
- Look up your ticket free by plate or ticket number.
- Check the historical rate for your exact violation type on its stats page.
- If the facts are on your side, dispute before the 30-day deadline — our step-by-step dispute guide covers the official process, and you can generate a dispute letter free.
Embed a live dismissal-rate widget
Writing about NYC tickets? Every violation page has an embeddable card showing its live historical dismissal rate. Here is the widget for No Parking — Taxi Stand, the top of this ranking — paste it into any site:
<iframe src="https://tickets.zalize.com/embed/no-parking-taxi-stand" width="420" height="290" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="NYC ticket dismissal rate widget"></iframe>
Swap the violation slug in the URL for any violation from our list. More citable numbers, charts and downloads are on the data report.
Frequently asked questions
Which NYC parking ticket is most often dismissed?
In the public hearing record, No Parking — Taxi Stand has the highest historical dismissal rate among violation types with a meaningful sample: 87.6% of decided hearings ended not guilty. No Parking — Except Authorized Vehicle follows at 84.4%. These are historical group statistics, not a guarantee for any individual ticket.
What share of disputed NYC tickets get dismissed overall?
Across all 27,187,126 decided hearings on record, 26.2% ended not guilty. Rates vary widely by violation type — from over 80% down to single digits for camera violations.
Does a high dismissal rate mean my ticket will be dismissed?
No. These are historical group statistics; hearing officers decide each case on its own facts and evidence. A high rate signals that strong defenses commonly exist for that violation type — it is not a prediction or a promise.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the public NYC Open Data dataset “Open Parking and Camera Violations” (~148 million rows), counting only hearings with a recorded decision. Full methodology, CSV/JSON downloads and a free API are on our data report page.
Check your ticket’s real odds — free
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Related guides
Official NYC.gov resource
Official NYC dispute brochure in your language
The NYC Department of Finance publishes its official “Disputing Your Parking Summons” brochure in 10 languages.
NYC Ticket Odds is not a law firm and this guide is not legal advice. It summarizes publicly available NYC Department of Finance procedures and public hearing data. Rules can change — always confirm details on nyc.gov. Historical statistics do not predict or guarantee the outcome of any individual case.
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