Will I Get A Fine??

[Incontro]

Hi guys,

So was in quite a rush this morning. Popped out for a urgent 15 minute drive, and when I came back, found that the spot I left was taken. (I park on the street, with a residential parking permit from the council. Parking is almost impossible to find during certain hours of the day.)

I found only one empty spot upon returning, but there was this idiot Volvo estate driver, who had parked almost in the middle of a bay intended for two cars.

As I was in a rush, I reversed into the spot, and parked my car there. As a result, my front wheels are now completely over the bay boundary.

Am I likely to get a ticket? Any chance of appeals if I do get a ticket? Kind of worried now...

I will be returning to the car in the afternoon (around 2PM).

[jeebowhite]

hopefully you didnt get one mate, but the local parking laws are strict.

In essence, to contravene the policy, if tarmac can be seen ahead of your wheels and the line is behind you are eligible for a ticket.

To be parked within a bay, you must be able to physically see paint in line with the vehicle, so for example, I spoke to a warden recently and he said if my wheels are on the line, thats fine, if they cross the line by a mm thats fine (as im still in the bay, but if one wheel is outside of the line and not touching it (i.e. if you park like a drunkard) then you are eligible.

[Stoney871]

I'd say watch out for sure.

If you do get pcn then check your parking zone for compliance.

Are the lines clear and legal?

Are the signs correct and legible?

You'd be surprised how many residential bays are unenforceable due to worn/non compliant markings and faded/missing signs.

If you were to get a pcn, appeal it and DO NOT PAY until the appeal has been considered as to do so equates to admitting liability and you lose any right to appeal later.

More than 80% of pcn's get cancelled on appeal whether due to poorly maintained bays, CEO error or often just because a local Council does not bother to present a case against the appeal.

You would have nothing to lose from appealing and everyrhing to gain.

[Incontro]

Hi James and Clive,

Thanks so much for both of your replies. Thankfully, I didn't get a PCN.

I guess normally I wouldn't worry so much. A gardener at a nearby house saw me parking, and told me after I parked that I might get a PCN, and that if he were me, he would move the car until it was almost touching the Volvo. I guess his remarks made me a bit more paranoid than usual.

Jeebo - thanks for the detailed advice about the clearance.

Clive - definitely would appeal any fine. I also heard that you can request the council in writing to hold the penalty amount at the reduced/discounted rate, until the outcome of the appeal is decided. That way even if the appeal fails, you only have to pay the reduced amount, and not £120 or whatever it is, which is a bleedin amount of cash (especially for a student). Of course the council has to accept this though.

Completely clean sheet since starting to drive (not even a parking ticket), hopefully it can stay that way for as long as possible! ;)

[Stoney871]

If you wish to appeal, the first step is to contact the authority that issued the PCN within 14 days, outlining the reasons why you believe the PCN should be invalidated (photos and diagrams of any bad signs or faded lines is very useful here)
If this fails, the authority issues a Notice of Rejection outlining the next steps of the appeals process.

In addition, they will issue a Notice to Owner, ordering the payment of the original charge - with a time extension of 28 days for payment or the lodging of a formal appeal.
It should be noted that some - but not all - authorities will grant an extension to the reduced charge payment period if an informal appeal is lodged and rejected.
If the informal appeal to the authority is rejected, a formal appeal can be lodged with the relevant independent tribunal.
Very few cases make it to the tribunal appeal stage, but on average 60% - 80% of those that do are successfully defeated. Bear in mind that this is an average, and can vary from one authority to another.
If the tribunal finds in your favour, then there is no penalty to pay.
If the tribunal finds in favour of the issuing authority, the full original penalty becomes due.

[jeebowhite]

I remember watching something on TV about a year ago. This older chap used to go out there and deliberately get parking fines everywhere he could. He challenged them and won some, but one day he took the lot to court, he was chuffing and cheering his victory, until he came out of the court with a disgruntled wife. He lost and had to pay about 90k of fines and had to sell his wife's dream home so they could pay it....

[Stoney871]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/parking-ticket-appeals

[Stoney871]

I remember watching something on TV about a year ago. This older chap used to go out there and deliberately get parking fines everywhere he could. He challenged them and won some, but one day he took the lot to court, he was chuffing and cheering his victory, until he came out of the court with a disgruntled wife. He lost and had to pay about 90k of fines and had to sell his wife's dream home so they could pay it....

They obviously figured out that he was doing it on purpose then.

Silly man.

[Incontro]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/parking-ticket-appeals

The CAG (Consumer Action Group) website and the friendly peeps on there are also very helpful in dealing with all sorts of legal matters, including appealing PCN's.

[jeebowhite]

He was going around as you say looking for wrongly enforced tickets so he had legitimate reasons for contesting. I believe in some causes but to put your house at risk for a 50 50,stupid goat probably would have had better luck counting cards and not getting the tickets anytime.

[Stoney871]

I had a PCN a couple of years back and I think I probably baffled them by sending copies of the actual diagrams that they have to abide by when marking up lines on bays.

They can't argue against the exact specifications they are legally bound by :p

[jeebowhite]

Haha where did you get those? I have challenged all fines and had only one in four overturned but I couldn't be bothered with tribunals

[Stoney871]

A lot of digging on the DoT website helped.

When parking control passed from county to city council control a lot of regulations changed including line markings.

Many city councils never changed their lines so are not compliant.

[jeebowhite]

I might browse those lol

[Stoney871]

Knowledge is power :d

[Dales]

Its nuts the way they go about it.

They say that as long as your wheels are on the correct side of the lines you are fine.

So for eg. someone in something like a wee Mini, Ford Ka or something, just parks over the line, takes up a tiny bit of space on the next parking space, they get a ticket.

But someone in something like a long wheelbase Sprinter, Iveco, Transit actually park on the line take up about 2 feet of the space next to them because of their overhang are ok and legally parked.

I got a ticket in one of the Tesco car parks last year. Tesco were actually getting a refurb and I was delivering to the contractors.

Was delivering into the site compound

The area I was parked was 90% commercial vehicles. I parked over the line just slightly so I could get access to my side door.

They gave me a ticket. I was on the job less than 3 minutes.

I kicked up a stink with the site agent and the contractor who then kicked it up with Tesco. But Tesco told them they could do nothing about it.

No more deliveries to that site after that.

[Philf1]

Every little helps-NOT

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app

[Ianb]

I'd say that if next time you're forced into two bays because of another driver taking 2 bays then take a photo to show the other car to sort of say "well look you geniearses, I didn't have much of a choice!"

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[Marks12]

I have never heard of anyone getting a ticket for parking outside the bay in Ireland . I wish they would enforce it cause so many people over here think that the while line in the parking spot should be in the middle of your car wheels so they mostly take 2 spots up and another thing which isn't enforced is people who don't have kids but park in the family parking zones which are clearly marked as they are as big as a disabled spot which is to allow u to get car seat out of side to put on buggie.

Anyway I'm glad you didn't get a ticket over some one in a Volvo parking like a dope

[Ianb]

Michael McIntyre sketch... Fat people should have the furthest parking spaces in supermarkets.... Disabled people parking spaces should crawl across the parking lot etc...

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