Extend parking ticket grace period, Coun. David Shiner says

Coun. David Shiner is mounting a campaign to extend the grace period for avoiding a parking ticket to 10 minutes.

If the change to the city's parking enforcement practices goes into effect, it could potentially save Toronto's motorists from paying off tens of thousands of tickets a year.

Last year, 572,000 of the little yellow slips were handed out for parking infractions. Had the rule for a 10-minute grace period existed last year, it could have meant an estimated 60,000 fewer tickets — or a loss of about $1.8 million for the city, according to a city agenda item.

Shiner called it a "tax grab," and hopes to give drivers a bit of a break with a mandatory 10-minute exemption on the books.

Parking enforcement officers have the option of giving people a grace period of five minutes, but drivers say they are rarely that flexible.

"Mistakes happen and we think you should have a chance to get there and fix it," Shiner said.

Making a 10-minute grace period law is on the table and goes to committee on Feb. 24.