Rant Parking ticket

[Scouse]

Now, just to pre-empt anyone who says "ha-shouldn't have parked there" - nob off to another thread


I parked up in town to go get a haircut. Zone was 8am-6pm. Parked at 17:51hrs (according to my very accurate clock).

The whole stretch was empty - all free parking bays - so I was damned if I was going to pay £3.50 for nine minutes of parking. I was under the impression that parkies had to give you ten minutes "for free" so to speak anyway? Add to that, they'd have to be a massive wanker to ticket someone in an empty bay with less than ten minutes to go when the (alleged) reason for charging for parking in towns was originally to ensure that enough capacity was freed up.

But then, if you take a job as a parkie then you are effectively pinning a sign to yourself saying "I'm a giant wanker - but I don't think I am really (but I am)"...

So. The questions are - this "ten minutes" (actually I was told fifteen and seem to remember reading it in the papers sometime) - is it real? What's the deal? Does anyone know? And dya think it's worth challenging this?

TBFH, it's only 50 quid (25 if I spunk my wad up quickly over the phone) but I'm fucked if I'm going to pay up easily if I don't have to.

Especially since I received the ticket at 17:57hrs.

Yes. 17:57. With a little note saying that my car had been observed from 17:51-17:57. That's cnut o'clock alright...

 

[old.user4556]

ha-shouldn't have parked there!

 

[old.user4556]

But seriously, not sure Scouse - you know parking attendents, absolutely fucking cnuts. You could try contesting it? You've got every right to, but they could just say that "everyone could park there ten minutes earlier, what makes you so special" etc.

Sorry to hear dude

 

[Bugz]

Most councils [as far as I know - certainly London boroughs] operate a 5 minute leighway for road parking for getting the correct change etc and this sneaky fella has waited exactly 6 minutes before issuing the ticket. Some councils extend it to 15 mins for car parks due to their lack of proximity to areas where change is obtainable.

 

[Embattle]

They don't really have to give you anything afaik.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Scouse in disliking authority SHOCKER!

I believe it's a 2 minute minimum wait, ideally 5. 10 or 15 minute wait is an urban myth, no basis in reality AFAIK.

And shitting on people because they take a warden job? The pay's decent for the work and provides a valuable job market. If we had nicer weather in this country I wouldn't mind doing that for a job - walking around all day in decent weather, and serving up fines for pricks that think they're above the rules - sounds like fun to me! Especially if it riles Scouse/Scousers.

You will be wasting your time contesting it, warden has done nothing wrong and you clearly have, stop whinging

 

[throdgrain]

I think thats probably right, if you're in the wrong, it's your fault, man up No point crying over spilt milk.












(Or join a commie support group and go there every wednesday night to unburden yourself until you can get over it )

 

[pez]

I've had 2 parking tickets in my life and both times I took a calculated risk and both times I got caught out.

You shouldn't be angry, you should accept the choice you made and move on.

 

[Scouse]

I disagree. I think I've reasonable grounds to be angry.

Yes. I made a choice - to park with less than ten minutes to go in an altogether empty parking zone. I'm not disputing that.

Pay-for parking zones were introduced as a way of curbing congestion and freeing up capacity in crowded inner cities. (Or so the councils and government told us when they were first (and outrageously at the time) introduced).

With the above point in mind, ask your self these 2 questions: Is it reasonable to park in an empty street nine minutes before a pay zone time is up? Is it reasonable to give someone a parking fine with 3 minutes to go?

Hand on heart - I think that reasonable answers to the above are yes, then no.

 

[Zenith.UK]

I've had 2 parking tickets in my life and both times I took a calculated risk and both times I got caught out.

You shouldn't be angry, you should accept the choice you made and move on.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Your "reasonable" answers are not legal answers Scouse, and in the eyes of parking laws, which you agree to by default, they are not reasonable answers.

 

[Scouse]

Your "reasonable" answers are not legal answers Scouse, and in the eyes of parking laws, which you agree to by default, they are not reasonable answers.

I didn't ask for a legal opinion (though I expected one from someone).

The law is an ass

 

[Wazzerphuk]

You didn't ask for it but you will get it since law > your reason.

 

[Scouse]

I don't disagree with you there Waz. Not at all.

However, I'd still like to know if you think it was reasonable?

I mean, 3 minutes? Come on... Really...

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Yes, it was reasonable. The times are set to that time for a reason.

The warden doesn't necessarily know when you parked, you could have been there for 45 minutes or longer for all he knows.

 

[Ch3tan]

Yeah, you can't blame the warden for doing his job. You knew when parking there the risk you ran, it was your decision. Whether it's fair or not doesn't really matter in terms of you trying to appeal it. Just pay the £25 quid, save yourself the other £25.

 

[Punishment]

I had a similar issue with a carpark in galway that is privately owned, where i parked up 10 minutes before half 6 which is the time after which it is free and i was putting some bottles in the bottle bank when a van pulls up and they start to put a clamp on my poor Skoda.

I then walked over calmly opened the back door and took 15 old parking receipts for times i was there before showed the guy the sledge i had in my car boot (i was helping my dad knock a water tank that day and was going into my local net cafe to meet some mates for afew hours) and basically told him that the clamp was coming off one way or another and as i regular user of the car-park i would kick up a fuss that would make his mangled clamp look like a piss in the sea and he fucked off

I love Ireland, any problem can be solved by having a sledgehammer on your shoulder and a ready grin

 

[Scouse]

Yeah, you can't blame the warden for doing his job.

Like I chose to park there, he chose his career. Can't have it both ways m8

You knew when parking there the risk you ran, it was your decision. Whether it's fair or not doesn't really matter in terms of you trying to appeal it.

Again. Don't disagree. At all.

/serious ON

I find it a bit strange that people seem, to me, to be reluctant to say "regardless of the law it's a bit shitty and it was probably unnecessary to give a fine out". - But then maybe you don't actually feel like that.

I wouldn't even have posted if it was 3pm. I've stumped up for a few fines before now (many years back, when a few quid was a big deal). But the circumstances here leave me feeling raw.

I appreciate that we live under the rule of law. However, whilst it's the best system we have, it's flawed. There's no secret about that and I'm not stating something there that's not well-known and well understood.

This sort of shit is an artefact of a stringently and unnecessarily applied ruleset IMO. I prefered living in this country when this sort of shit (trivial matters) was let slide.

It's the little things that make all the difference IMO.

/OFF

You're all wankers


Oh. I thought I'd turned serious off

 

[Punishment]

It all boils down to the breakdown of community, nobody gives a shit about anyone anymore and as a result guidelines will be followed and the human element isn't factored in, is my take anyway

 

[Scouse]

I think a mentality of "thems the rules" cannot deliver justice.

 

[Punishment]

Alot of it is political correctness, once people see something in writing they tend to not question it, why not if it's unreasonable let it be known you think so.

I would never be a prick for the sake of it or make someone uncomfortable for the sake of it especially when they working but if they cannot give me a reason to try and clamp my beyond the fact its 2 minutes inside the time while i am obviously using the bottle bank well then they can expect an epic encounter

 

[Mabs]

depends when he came past tbh
if he had been there at 5.45 and knew u were a new park he might have left, if he hadnt been around since 4pm, you might have been there 2 hours

 

[soze]

The 9 minute comment can just run and run. If you let someone off with being 9 minutes early then why not 15 why not 20. And if you set the limit at 30 minutes then someone who parks there 31 minutes early and get a ticket they will feel rightly annoyed.

I also don't know if they have the ability to be lenient with CCTV as widespread as it is you may have been caught on camera and the guy just got sent round to ticket you at which point its out of his control all together. Our delivery driver at work got a ticket for parking for 37 seconds in a bus lane when he picked his wife up.

 

[Tom]

What a load of high horse wank. Scouse, Google Streetview link of the street please, because:

Making a challenge

Oh and PePiPoo: Helping the motorist to get justice

I have had three parking tickets in the last few years, two on the street, and one in a car park. I've appealed them all and had to pay nothing. The car park one went to the adjudicator who blew the council out of the water.

Fuck em, make em work for your money.

 

[gohan]

if i was a warden i'd go home about 5:30 anyway



so i wouldn't fine you

 

[Scouse]

I'm willing to accept a little inconsistency when the law gets applied if it means most of the time this sort of shit slides tbh.

So, you may get away with 20 minutes, even half an hour sometimes. I'm happy for that to be down to whether the parkie is having a shit day or whatever whim comes to his mind.

But 3 minutes = Twat in my book.

It's the trappings of a totalitarian state. Yep, most don't feel it but as Waz says - I do have a low tolerance for authority. I'm not so much law-abiding as I'm one of the many who simply don't need the law to tell them how not to act like a cock.

I'd like to live in an England that doesn't take itself so seriously and one where people could think for themselves a bit more. Like it used to be.


*not needing the law may sound arrogant - but for a sizeable portion of the population the law is simply an obstruction. It takes away our ability to use our common sense.

I agree that if chavs aren't told they'll do dumb stuff like park in active bus lanes - but very strict application of the rules hurts those that never needed the legislation in the first place.

**And I don't accept the argument that nobody exists that doesn't need law to tell them how to act. I think there's tons of 'em.

 

[gohan]

I'm willing to accept a little inconsistency when the law gets applied if it means most of the time this sort of shit slides tbh.

So, you may get away with 20 minutes, even half an hour sometimes. I'm happy for that to be down to whether the parkie is having a shit day or whatever whim comes to his mind.

But 3 minutes = Twat in my book.

i don't know that it's harsh


unlucky maybe, but not really harsh

at the end of the day they're targeted on tickets ect so they're got going to pass up any oppertunity, if you got caught you was always goign to get fined

it's more or case of ffs how did i get caught in such a small time frame

 

[Mey]

How about next time you follow the rules?

 

[Scouse]

How about next time you follow the rules?

Way to not read an argument and enter into a discussion

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Way to park