Parking Tickets

Go back to the spot with a good quality digital camera, if the lines are not complete or illegible then the ticket is not valid.

Best of luck
.
Justyn.

Thanks mate. Just off to get a terapixel DSLR for the job!!!

quote:

Simone Langley, 22, won an appeal against a parking ticket in the street after she had parked on a yellow line that had worn away in places. Traffic wardens can only book cars parked on continuous yellow lines.

Taken from the following link:

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/s/48/48119_parki...s_target_cheats.html

There are loads more cases like this.

Regards

Justyn.

Parking tickets can be contested if it is not clear what parking contravention is committed e.g. no lines or a suitable sign nearby (usually affixed to a lamp post etc telling you what the restriction is.



andy c!

quote:

Originally posted by Justyn:

Taken from the following link: <snip>

Isn't it time the "bandits in suits" were made a "special case"? (Guilty until proven innocent) What is it they do exactly?

Well, it's over a week since I sent a letter to the city council, challenging the ticket, and i've heard nothing so far. I wonder what the timescale is for replying? Probably long enough to bump up the fine if I lose the challenge! Having said that, I read that in fin year 02/03 liverpool city council had in the region of 87 challenges to parking tickets, and let them all off!! Fingers crossed.

You need to be careful - after 28 days if you don't pay the fine goes up. If after 2 mohts they don't hear from you it can then be registered with the court as a fine - then a warrant gets issued etc - You would be best chasing this up...

Will do. I'll ring them tonight (and probably post the reply later!). Ta, laarrr!

If you contest with 14 days then the fine will not go up independent of the outcome - they will send you a doc stating that your complaint is in the queue.

Yes they will take an ETERNITY. They want to erode any once of will you have in complaining.

I have been ticketed in Westminster 4 times in the last two years. Three have been cancelled because they were incorrectly applied and I stayed with it like a rottweiller - the ONLY way.

As an aside my car was illigally served a ticket after I moved off. I had a witness and took it as far as I could - i wanted legal action taken against the warden. After 8 months they agreed to drop the ticket but made no refernce to my requests for complaint. Eventually they informed me that the individual was no longer in their employment. This fiddle has been so rife in westminster that wardens are now oblidged to take a digital snap of the served ticket on the car.

These f....s have engineered themselves into virtual unacountability. Do as I do - bung up the system. When dealing with complaints becomes excessively expensive they may actually start training and managing their staff better.

Rant over!!!

quote:

These f....s have engineered themselves into virtual unacountability. Do as I do - bung up the system. When dealing with complaints becomes excessively expensive they may actually start training and managing their staff better.

of course lets not forget that on the odd occasion you may have been illegally parked anyway?

quote:

Three have been cancelled because they were incorrectly applied and I stayed with it like a rottweiller - the ONLY way.

Andy

I will accept with grace a fairly placed ticket.

75% of the tickets given to me were incorrect and have subsequently been proven to be so and have been cancelled. Do you consider that an acceptable standard of service?

I got one two weeks ago. I went to the Post Office to collect a parcel I knew to be bulky, stopped in a loading bay (the only place legally to stop within 500 yards), went in, came out all of two minutes later to load it into the boot, to find a ticket on the windscreen. Stated reason "parked in a loading bay with no evidence of loading". The engine was still ticking and the nitwit must have watched - waited even - for me to go in before pouncing.

I can only assume they will suggest that the vehicle has to remain unlocked whilst loading, (unless the definition of loading precludes it as a solitary activity) but this is in Tottenham where vehicles get stolen with their owners in them, let alone anything else, as I am sure I could get a policeman to testify.

I thought there had to be a period of being parked illegally in any case (at least the amount of time it takes to get change for example) before a ticket could be issued.

I never park illegally. I sent my letter the same evening, haven't heard anything yet, but I do know this "discounted period" has to be put into stasis if you write a letter contesting the fine, and I confidently expect them to cancel it. I shall certainly be prepared to go to court over this one.

Best of luck.

Rod

quote:

75% of the tickets given to me were incorrect and have subsequently been proven to be so and have been cancelled. Do you consider that an acceptable standard of service?

Nope I don't.

I don't mind you rightfully contesting a technicality re the correct issuing of the ticket. Now if you were illegally parked, and are dodging the ticket because you don't want to pay the fine...

I assume that on this occ you were legally parked and the ticket was issued illegally, then?

Would you mind being specific re how the tickets were issued incorrectly? If not I understand...

But you are quite right in that regardless of the circs you should be treated professionally and courteously, both from the person issuing the ticket, and the legality of the ticket itself.

andy c!

quote:

Originally posted by andy c:
I assume that on this occ you were legally parked and the ticket was issued illegally, then?

There are regulations relating to giving a parking ticket just as there are regulations relating to getting a ticket. If the regulations about giving the ticket haven't been applied correctly then whether a parking offence has been commited or not is legally an irrelevance.

quote:

There are regulations relating to giving a parking ticket just as there are regulations relating to getting a ticket. If the regulations about giving the ticket haven't been applied correctly then whether a parking offence has been commited or not is legally an irrelevance.

Not if the breach in relation to the filling out of the form is so minor as to not affect the parking offence. Scottish Magistrates operate the same as English ones in this respect, Steve.

Andy F.Y.I

1st and second occasion - with a zone B permit i am allowed to park in meterered bays (zone b area) free between 8.30 and 9.30 in the morning and 5.30-6.30 at night (everybody else is reqd to pay from 8.30 through to 6.30. This is a 'perk' for living in the borough and sometimes i have to use a bay like this if all zone b permits are full.

Ok so when i get a ticket for parking without paying at 5.50 in the eve am i so wrong to expect the warden to be capable of reading my window where there is a bloody 5 inch square sticker with 'B' written on it? TWICE!

the illigal and recent one - outside work, 8.10 am - single yellow - hazards on door open - loading for LESS THAN 30 SECONDS in visibility. THe twat hid behind the corner - attempted to process the ticket. I spotted him and with witnesses drove off. After i went into the sunset he completed the ticket and then lost it. Hey presto - one month later and i get a 100 fine because i never paid within 14 days the ticket i never got to see.

Andy - where abouts do you live? Seriously TRY westminster for a while. There are literally tens of thousands of contested tickets at the moment - NCP are under attack for their training, management, motivation and operational practices. These wardens literally LOSE THEIR JOBS if they dont ticket enough. They are educated on the job how to bend the rules to keep the numbers up.

Public service gone wrong.

Simon,

Thanks for the explanation. I apologise if asking for details caused any offence. That was not my intention.

I don't try to park in London, other than in the hotel car park - i then use public transport as parking is horrible down your neck of the woods.

it looks as if the parking attendant was on commission tho, eh!

Andy

No offence taken.

without trying to patronise - living in Westminster is a whole different ballgame.

No question they have a job to do.

No question - a significant portion of them do it at an unacceptable and virtually unaccountable standard.

quote:

No question - a significant portion of them do it at an unacceptable and virtually unaccountable standard.

Mmm, You know what I do for a living and i feel that customer care even when they are being prosecuted can sometimes be rather lax..

Andy

Apologies for the tone of earlier rants. As somebody with knowledge I would love to know from you what reputations particular areas have, what motivational tactics are employed and what level of 'self regulation' is practiced upon individuals who appear to earn a number of complaints.

Also how is the arrangement between say ncp and a particular council set up? Westminster appear to be fantastic at thropwing their weight behind a unpaid claim yet all of a sudden start claiming no responsibility when the actions of an individual warden are brought into question.

The term 'having your cake and eating it' comes to mind.

I don't work for the council, but the council are a 'public authority' under the Human Rights act. As such they are accountable if any of the articles within are engaged or breached. One of these is 'right to fair trial' - which at our level talks about correct due process etc - which is what you are getting at, i think?

if you feel strongly enough about this issue don't phone in - write in asap explaining your issue - state you have kept a copy of the letter and will take it futher if not resolved etc...phone conversations can be forgotten - letters are somewhat more permanent.

I had a similar problem with a recently-appointed community beat officer. I think she used to work for BA.

There is a layby in front of a parade of shops near to where I live. The double-yellow lines end as the layby begins. Above bint asked me to move, saying I was causing an obstruction as as the rear offside of my vehicle was jutting out about a foot into the road. I asked her if any part of my vehicle was over the double yellow lines or parked too far from the kerb. She said no but asked if I wanted a ticket.

My suspicions are this woman is clueless because:

1) As I began obeying her orders she instructed me to put my seatbelt on as I reversed out of the space. I don't need my seatbelt to reverse.

2) She said my parking was illegal because I had to reverse out. I guess every first parking space in a row is illegal then.

3) She said the road was a dual carriageway. It isn't, it's a 4-lane single carriageway.

What would have happened if I'd said, go on, give me the ticket and I'll get it quashed"?

quote:

She said the road was a dual carriageway. It isn't, it's a 4-lane single carriageway.

er? Play on words?

Doesn't a dual-cariageway need to have a separating border between the two directions of traffic ?

Could be grass, could be a barrier.

Slightly different from a 4-lane single carriageway IMO .............

Re parking its down to the speed limit applicable + what road markings there are. To make an assumption based on the number of lanes only would not be correct.