How to Fight a White Curb Ticket Received at an Airport

My question involves a traffic citation from the state of: California

I was at LAX to drop off some relatives. There were quite a few items of luggage, so I left the vehicle to obtain a luggage cart, leaving my relatives nearby the vehicle. Within the minute that I was gone, an airport security officer (not the LAPD kind but the meter maid kind) had proceeded to write up a citation for me for leaving a vehicle unattended. I was within 30 feet of my vehicle at the time, but the officer was steadfast in maintaining that I could not even leave my vehicle for one second. My relatives do not speak English, which is why they felt powerless to confront the officer at the initial time of writing the citation. The officer had literally just pulled out his pad when I returned with the luggage cart. It's not even so much about the money ($58 ticket) its about the situation that really makes me bitter. I fully intend to fight this ticket, since I disagree with the officer and believe that it was issued unjustly. Leaving a vehicle unattended is very vague, and by what the officer stated I am not even allowed to get out of the drivers seat to help people unload their luggage from my trunk. I had already done a bit of research on how to proceed, namely this three step procedure as depicted in the following link (http://ladot.lacity.org/tf_contesting_citation.htm) but was wondering if anybody more knowledgeable with similar experiences could give me advise on how to proceed with contesting the ticket. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated!

You admit to leaving the vehicle your self and you stated your relatives were "nearby". Nearby isn't good enough. With the vehicle is the vehicle being attended. Why do you believe the ticket is not justified?

Maybe I wasnt choosing my words carefully, since this seems like a matter of deliberations and tecnicalities, and I am not educated in law myself. To clarify, my relatives were next to the car, standing on the curb, so i would estimate that the distance between them and the car would not exceed 1-2 yards. Futhermore, how do you define "leaving the vehicle unattended" ? In my situation, there was a 1 minute window in which I was roughly 30 feet from my "unattended" vehicle, with my 3 relatives within 5 feet of the vehicle, thus "attending" to it. I'm sure the officer clearly understood my explanation when i politely informed him of my plight, and this ticket was admitted entirely at the discretion of the officer. Thanks for your response, and if you could provide some further insight into my previous inquiries I would greatly appreciate it!

Well, the first level is free so it's worth a shot.

No way to predict the outcome.

But if you want an opinion as to whether you have a good defense I don't think so.

The cards are stacked against.

I'll bet the first level gets routinely denied for everybody.

Then you have to pay the $58 to go to the second level. Once they have your money, you'll probably get another denial and then you'll have to spend a lot more to appeal in court. They're betting most people will give up by then.

What was the code section of the violation?

Attended means a licensed driver, capable of relocating the vehicle, is present at the vehicle.

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Quoting phantaci

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Maybe I wasnt choosing my words carefully, since this seems like a matter of deliberations and tecnicalities, and I am not educated in law myself. To clarify, my relatives were next to the car, standing on the curb, so i would estimate that the distance between them and the car would not exceed 1-2 yards. Futhermore, how do you define "leaving the vehicle unattended" ? In my situation, there was a 1 minute window in which I was roughly 30 feet from my "unattended" vehicle, with my 3 relatives within 5 feet of the vehicle, thus "attending" to it. I'm sure the officer clearly understood my explanation when i politely informed him of my plight, and this ticket was admitted entirely at the discretion of the officer. Thanks for your response, and if you could provide some further insight into my previous inquiries I would greatly appreciate it!

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9.03(b)

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b. White Zone: No vehicle shall stop, wait or park in any area adjacent to a curb which is painted white; Exception, vehicles may be stopped at a
white zone while actively engaged in the immediate loading or unloading
of passengers and/or baggage. No vehicle stopped in a white zone shall
be left unattended. Stopping a taxi in a white zone for the purpose of
waiting for passengers and/or baggage is however permitted, provided
that the white zone is designated as a taxi zone by a sign or other
marking.

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If you walked away from the vehicle, you were not actively engaged in the immediate unloading of passengers or baggage. You said your passengers were not within arms length of the vehicle so they could not have been unloading the baggage or; if it had already been unloaded, you no longer had the authority to remain at the curb since your passengers and luggage had been discharged.

I believe he considered it unattended because the driver of the vehicle (you) did in fact leave it unattended.

Either way I do not see a valid defense to the ticket.

I believe its 89.39 MC

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Quoting Los Angeles Municipal Code, Sec. 89.39. Parking at White Curb.

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No person shall park any vehicle other than a private passenger automobile adjacent to any white curb and shall not park such vehicle for any greater period of time than is actually necessary for the loading or unloading of passengers or personal baggage, and in no event for a longer period than 3 minutes. This section shall not apply to busses.

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Once your passengers and their luggage were out of your car, one of them could have gone for the cart.

If you've been to LAX, you would know that grabbing a smartcarte involves a payment process for the dispenser, all of which require basic english reading skills. As noted previously, none of my elderly relatives possessed any basic english reading skills, so it was a no-brainer that I trek the short distance to the cart dispenser to obtain one while leaving them on the curb next to the car. Long story short, the officer wrote up a citation for me before my very eyes. One could try to find word usage flaws in my explanation as depicted above and argue some technicalities in terms of distance and timing in terms of how far and long i was away from my car, but that's pretty much what happened. Do I have a case? If so, how should I proceed about it?