50% Of Parking Tickets Are Unenforceable

[US Citizen]

On a recent shopping trip to Manchester, I parked up in a space, got out of the car and whenon with my shopping without paying. I came back 3 hours later to find I had a yellow parking notice on my car windscreen and a red parking notice. I took them off took a few pictures of the car and the parking bay with my mobile phone and drove home.

I then made copies of the parking notices on my printer and wrote a letter to Manchester City Council, stating that the parking tickets were unenforceable and therefore unlawfully issued because :

• The markings on the bay were obviously confusing.
  
• The sign was willfully inadeqate.
  
• The bay dimensions were incorrectly marked out.
  

A month later, I received a letter from Manchester City Council stating, that the parking notices had been cancelled and no further action would be taken. Plus, thank you for bringing this to their attention.

Parking bys in our major cities are being erased by councils at an astonishing rate. In their rush to try and increase their revenues through fines, they make mistakes. Just as over staying your time in a bay, they will make you pay (£60 usually), for your mistakes. It is high time, they paid for theirs too.

We are in a recession, so the next time you get a parking ticket, take lots of photos in case they dispute your claims, you will have photographic evidence to present in your defense. Get the tickets cancelled.

[up2late]

Nice one!

[Guest absolutezero]

On a recent shopping trip to Manchester, I parked up in a space, got out of the car and whenon with my shopping without paying. I came back 3 hours later to find I had a yellow parking notice on my car windscreen and a red parking notice. I took them off took a few pictures of the car and the parking bay with my mobile phone and drove home.

I then made copies of the parking notices on my printer and wrote a letter to Manchester City Council, stating that the parking tickets were unenforceable and therefore unlawfully issued because :

• The markings on the bay were obviously confusing.

• The sign was willfully inadeqate.

• The bay dimensions were incorrectly marked out.

A month later, I received a letter from Manchester City Council stating, that the parking notices had been cancelled and no further action would be taken. Plus, thank you for bringing this to their attention.

Parking bys in our major cities are being erased by councils at an astonishing rate. In their rush to try and increase their revenues through fines, they make mistakes. Just as over staying your time in a bay, they will make you pay (£60 usually), for your mistakes. It is high time, they paid for theirs too.

We are in a recession, so the next time you get a parking ticket, take lots of photos in case they dispute your claims, you will have photographic evidence to present in your defense. Get the tickets cancelled.

The Road Traffic Act is your friend.

If the bay is painted in the wrong colour, the double yellow lines are not the right width and end in a T bar, if the lettering is the wrong font, if the ticket isn't absolutely perfect etc etc etc, you get off!

Brilliant.

[US Citizen]

The Road Traffic Act is your friend.

If the bay is painted in the wrong colour, the double yellow lines are not the right width and end in a T bar, if the lettering is the wrong font, if the ticket isn't absolutely perfect etc etc etc, you get off!

Brilliant.

Its Fanf4ckingtastic. Meaning as absolutezero says and I before. If you get a ticket, you must takes as many photos of what has happend and your car in situe and photos of the vacant bay. When you send in your dipute, send by special delivery, so they cant claim never to have received it. Once they have received they will either cancel or ticket without investigating it, or they will be forced to investigate your claims. This is why it is important to list as many defects as possible. The chances of something being wrong with the bay is very high as much as 50%. That is why it is worth disputing. The alternative is just to pay the fine, but remember if you raise a dispute and it is overturned, you may have to pay a higher amount as the discount period may have elasped.

Still worth a punt.

[Lascaille]

This thread will attract a reply which will say 'why don't you just park legally so you don't get a ticket in the first place.'

I'd bet money on it.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Lascaille

[Darkman]

Looking at the photo, you had a fair case. It's not that hard to get tickets cancelled.

And as I said a while back, everyone should be prepared for a road tax/penalty BLITZ. The Govt needs cash desperately, and the good old motorist was always fair game in the past.

Watch this space.

[thecrashingisles]

On a recent shopping trip to Manchester, I parked up in a space, got out of the car and whenon with my shopping without paying. I came back 3 hours later to find I had a yellow parking notice on my car windscreen and a red parking notice.

Outrageous! Don't they know who you are?

[Guest anorthosite]

This thread will attract a reply which will say 'why don't you just park legally so you don't get a ticket in the first place.'

I'd bet money on it.

Of course, by the strict letter of the law, you are parking legally - if the signs & markings are wrong its legal to park there!

[Guest absolutezero]

Of course, by the strict letter of the law, you are parking legally - if the signs & markings are wrong its legal to park there!

Quite!

[Lascaille]

Of course, by the strict letter of the law, you are parking legally - if the signs & markings are wrong its legal to park there!

Yes, but that never stops some **** from putting his oar in, does it.

[repetitive bleats]

always appeal. i'm 3 for 3 this year and have served the council with a letter telling them that any further appeals that they drop before it goes to NPAS will cost them £50 per letter.

[Number79]

always appeal. i'm 3 for 3 this year and have served the council with a letter telling them that any further appeals that they drop before it goes to NPAS will cost them £50 per letter.

well done.

I have to ask though, do you not check/care where you park or are you deliberately parking in spaces that are illegally marked/signed?

[US Citizen]

This thread will attract a reply which will say 'why don't you just park legally so you don't get a ticket in the first place.'

When a council is to take a public highway, which has already attracted a tax (Vehicle Excise Licence), and make restrictions on where you can park. Penalty for failing to abide by the restriction is fines, which left unchecked could lead to other offenses being committed, which may lead to imprisonment.

Then it necessary as law abiding citizens of the UK to ensure that that these restriction are lawful, because of the penalty for breaking them is so harsh.

Imagine a scenario, whereby a otherwise lawful citizen was imprisoned because these restrictions were not lawful themselves.

Have you ever seen traffic wardens taking photos of the offending vehicle before putting a ticket on it. This is photographic evidence being used against you. That is why you must do the same.

Send a message to councils that you may take our money from us in the form of fines for not parking legally, but we will make it so difficult to enforce because we will hold you to the letter of the law, that you would hold to us to account on.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Rt. Hon. Lord Mandelson

[US Citizen]

always appeal. i'm 3 for 3 this year and have served the council with a letter telling them that any further appeals that they drop before it goes to NPAS will cost them £50 per letter.

You are truely worthy and being a Citizen. Please continue your public duty. Great stuff.

[winkie]

Homes and cars are the best and easiest form of tax collection, tax the easy targets...I can understand why you would want restrictions in parking if it causes congestion and inhibits the free flow of traffic...other than that it is a tax, a real tax, and nothing but a tax..it kills local communities and forces a decrease in mobility and activity...high taxation makes it hardly worthwhile and deters progress to expand will be to the detriment of us all.

[US Citizen]

Homes and cars are the best and easiest form of tax collection, tax the easy targets...I can understand why you would want restrictions in parking if it causes congestion and inhibits the free flow of traffic...other than that it is a tax, a real tax, and nothing but a tax..it kills local communities and forces a decrease in mobility and activity...high taxation makes it hardly worthwhile and deters progress to expand will be to the detriment of us all.

+1

[repetitive bleats]

well done.

I have to ask though, do you not check/care where you park or are you deliberately parking in spaces that are illegally marked/signed?

i totally care. where i live it seems like 1/3 people are traffic wardens and as there is a year waiting list for a permit to park outside my house i have to constantly move my car from parking bay to parking bay twice a day (at a cost of £4 each time). it disrupts my work and means i often can't sleep in at weekends! if i parked illegally on purpose it would cost me an absolute fortune as i'd easily pick up at least one ticket per day.

on the odd occasion that i have not been able to make it back to my car on time and get the obligatory ticket, i make it a point of deconstructing everything they have done in detail in order to find a way of appealing. luckily most parking wardens are morons (otherwise they'd probably have a decent job) and often make a mistake - and if they don't there is likely to be something wrong with the markings etc. Although out of the 3 tickets i appealed one was because i had been blocked in and couldn't possibly move the car. i left an note explaining why on the windscreen - and i took pics - because i knew that they would ignore the note and ticket me anyway.

li can afford to pay the fines - it costs me more to appeal - but its principle.

[Jimmy2Times]

The car parking situation in the UK is joke.

There is a company in my neck of the woods, Ealing, who pays local thugs to go around with cameras taking shots of number plates, a few days later a letter arrives in the post asking for £150!!!.

It turns out its a scram and not run by the council, they get your registration details from the police database and then send fake letters. The police aparently sell this information on to 3rd party companies who choose to do whatever they want with, in this case its fraud.

Be warned.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Jimmy2Times

[Saving For a Space Ship]

On last night's TV was a good doc called 'The Yorkshire Clamper'

Link to Guardian review article

Re-watch on 4OD

First-time director Leon Dean meets Britain's most notorious car clamper.

Ted Evans is the thorn in the side of the beautiful Yorkshire village of Haworth, the home of the Bronte sisters.

Residents spurn him and tourists fear him. He has been accused of immobilising a car while its driver was asleep, clamping a minibus for disabled children and clamping the prime minister of Australia.

In 2003 his company, Carstoppers, won the RAC Dick Turpin Award for the nation's worst clamper.

And Ted's car park ends up being debated in Westminster when he clamps former parliament speaker Betty Boothroyd.

[Peter Hun]

The Road Traffic Act is your friend.

If the bay is painted in the wrong colour, the double yellow lines are not the right width and end in a T bar, if the lettering is the wrong font, if the ticket isn't absolutely perfect etc etc etc, you get off!

Brilliant.

Park on private land in Westminster and you will get a fine (unless there is a sign specifying that the land is private).

My appeal was rejected...

[aa3]

Homes and cars are the best and easiest form of tax collection, tax the easy targets...I can understand why you would want restrictions in parking if it causes congestion and inhibits the free flow of traffic...other than that it is a tax, a real tax, and nothing but a tax..it kills local communities and forces a decrease in mobility and activity...high taxation makes it hardly worthwhile and deters progress to expand will be to the detriment of us all.

Basically for me the fear of parking tickets/cost of parking/fees etc. is another reason to order online from China. Or not order at all, and go do something that doesn't involve spending money. I'm lucky to live near the ocean and there are some great hiking trails, which I spend a lot of time on.

Of course are parking tickets the only deterrent.. no, its just another straw on the camel's back, along with factors like extreme petrol tax, VAT and similiar issues that deter getting out there and spending money.

[togger]

The bays in the photo used to be single yellow lines so everyone parked there at night. Except the sneaky b@stards included Saturday nights in the times you could not use them. Wardens loved it.

Manchester also run the clocks on their their parking meters fast (ahead of time) , I have seen up to six minutes. A warden I spoke to didn't seem surprised at all, their excuse is that you are allowed a few minutes grace... Clearly they don't want that being used and I bet many get ticketed immediately the clock has expired (early). Set you alarm by the time on the meter.

I have also seen what looked like a private NCP parking bay on a public road near Victoria Station.

At times with the tram-line and pipe-works it is virtually impossible to navigate across Manchester without making illegal turns. What masters of planning they must be to do both sets of works at the same time.

[Guest absolutezero]

I've no problem with fining people for parking where it's dangerous or would cause obstruction but I don't like Councils using it as a money spinner.

Speed cameras I have no bother with either.

Traffic light cameras are a different matter. I don't trust them.

When do they flash you? Will it get you if you go through on amber? What if it was amber when you went through but just turned red as you passed over the sensor? What if the car right behind you is so close it's not safe to stop and you get flashed?

Safety camera? On a traffic light? I bet they cause more accidents than they prevent...

My other pet hate is private (non-council) car parks that try to 'fine' you.

I have ignored such 'fines' in the past and heard nothing. Unless it's police, council or government the 'fine' has no legal status and relies on contract law.

I love being threatened with clamping. A friend of ours doesn't keep a set of bolt cutters in his boot tools for nothing...

[RufflesTheGuineaPig]

There is a company in my neck of the woods, Ealing, who pays local thugs to go around with cameras taking shots of number plates, a few days later a letter arrives in the post asking for £150!!!.

It turns out its a scram and not run by the council, they get your registration details from the police database and then send fake letters. The police aparently sell this information on to 3rd party companies who choose to do whatever they want with, in this case its fraud.

It was the DVLA doing it, (charging £2 a time) NOT the police, and they arn't allowed to do it any more, IIRC, after some clamper beat up the non-paying motorist using their address from the DVLA.

One of the easiest way to get around it is to buy an unusual foreign car (Hyundai or kia or similar) and remove all the badges. The parking ticket has a space for Make and model that they must fill out. If they can't tell what make/model it is they can't issue a ticket. (I think this to protect against cloning and them miss-writing registration numbers).

I Have a Hyundai Tucson, which was also sold as a Kia Sportage. If I debadged it completely, they'de have no way to know which one it was. They could guess, but then I'de have a 50/50 chance, and they'de have a 50/50 chance of getting sacked for fraud.

Edited September 5, 2009 by TaxAbuserOfTheWeek

[Guest absolutezero]

It was the DVLA doing it, (charging £2 a time) NOT the police, and they arn't allowed to do it any more after, IIRC some clamper beat up the non-paying motorist using their address from the DVLA.

I hope he got jailed. The clamper that is.