Cheeky ticket(parking ticket issue)

Originally Posted by pete m

i think our friends from Wales have a different view on things, cos they dont have the same things to deal with - ie thieving scum everywhere, red routes/ double yellows, bus lanes, bus stops , permit holder only etc etc - so the only legal possibility is 5 mins away, out of sight...having already had a bandit stolen from same address, i like to keep my bike in view, and locked to something....not always easy here in the smoke....

I'm native to Wales, but I ride all over the UK for work (I was in London earlier this week as it happens). Yes, London is the worst for it, but it's bad in most places. Earlier today I saw a traffic warden ticketing cars in a residents only bay. Fair enough, you might think, till you factor in that the bay concerned held about 20 cars and was empty bar 2 residents cars, so it's not like no residents could park there. All the public parking for several hundred yards around was, as usual, full.

At least 2 of the 3 illegally parked cars belonged to people who were either picking up or dropping off parcels at the post office opposite and parking for 2-3 minutes (I saw the unhappy people come out...).

It was 10.00am, the residents were out at work and the people concerned would be gone long before they got home. Who exactly was this parking hurting? I'm just glad I'm a reasonably strong and fit young man who had a package that wasn't too heavy for me to carry to the office and hence I walked rather than (as I would if it was anything big) taken the car. For some poor old dear struggling with a heavy parcel, they'd have no option but to park there.

Half a mile down the road, a car is parked illegally, narrowing the road to one lane, causing a bottleneck and tailbacks, not to mention making crossing difficult. No sign of a traffic warden there as it's not a particularly popular place to stop (as most people are too considerate to park there).

Originally Posted by pete m

i think our friends from Wales have a different view on things, cos they dont have the same things to deal with - ie thieving scum everywhere, red routes/ double yellows, bus lanes, bus stops , permit holder only etc etc - so the only legal possibility is 5 mins away, out of sight...having already had a bandit stolen from same address, i like to keep my bike in view, and locked to something....not always easy here in the smoke....

Unfortunalty we do have, thieving scum, double yellows, bus lanes, bus stops , permit holder only.

We also have splendid countryside, good roads, friendly police, they say we going to have inside toilets and electricity soon.

Originally Posted by Kate

As for the holier-than-thoughs saying that tickets should be expected, I can only assume you are annoyed that you didn't know about this little loop hole.

Ah well if a copper said so then it must be true!

I was also told this by a copper once in my hometown. So there my bike was covered up when a traffic warden pulls the cover off to take my details.....I run out and contest this and then he radio's the office and get s a police unit down who then tell me that I was breaking the law and he is allowed to remove the cover only to get my details. So you see it's not always so clear cut. By the way I was parked in a motorcycle bay in Hounslow at the time and I still got a ticket (in fact I got 7 tickets over the 2 years I worked there). For some reason in Hounslow if you park motorbike in a motorbike bay you can still get a ticket! Of course they all got waived when the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service got on the case. Hence why I trust them more than the fuzz as they are neutral.

Originally Posted by Mogs

We also have splendid countryside, good roads, friendly police, they say we going to have inside toilets and electricity soon.

Where? I feel I may of made the wrong choice in moving to Barry...

Originally Posted by hovi5

no ....its just all feilds & sheep here

well them sheep are baaaaaarstewards too !

oh dear ... sorry (walks away hanging head in shame)

Originally Posted by Tomcat

well them sheep are baaaaaarstewards too !

Valley's boy will definately agree with you on that one!

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by hovi5

how was it iligaly parked? double yellows?

IMO if you were parked iligally you deserve a ticket.

am i allowed to iligaly park my car........ then cover it up to avoid a ticket?

Grow up Hovi5.

Hail emperor squid!

Westminster......

My brother parked his bike (on private property - next to a sign that said "Private") outside the garage at work. Went into get the key for the garage, came out and found 2 trafic wardens writing a ticket.
"You can't write a ticket" he said "This is on private property."
To no avail.
He even got one of them to photograph it.

Ticket came, he contested it. About 20 letters went back and forth over 4 months - including the standard "Pay fast and we'll half it" to Debt collection charges threats etc (and the comment that "as he'd had to cross the pavement he'd therfore parked illegally"(????))
It wasn't until my Dad (who was the registered keeper) wrote to the Mayors office that the thing got squashed.

Demanding money with menace?
What a waste of time.

(Rant over )

That story angered me. Grrr. Some of them deserve all the bad press. Well, most of them really.