I'm feeling a big sense of injustice about a recent parking ticket and wonder if anyone can tell me if I have a case for challenging it.
I unwittingly parked in a disabled parking bay on an otherwise unrestricted street on a Thursday morning. A parking ticket was apparently attached to my car that afternoon. My car remained parked there overnight (I didn't return to it) and on Friday early afternoon, another ticket was issued. On Friday evening, my car was removed to a car pound.
I paid the fine for the second ticket when collecting my vehicle (along with removal and storage charges*).
I knew nothing about the first ticket until receiving a demand for payment from the council. No ticket was attached to my car when I collected it from the car pound, and no ticket was handed to me there.
The council now want £80 because I didn't pay the £40 fine within 14 days.
Two queries:
1) Can they issue two tickets for the same parking offence (mindful that the parking offence spanned two days)?
2) If yes, can they demand £80 given that I had no knowledge of the ticket until a few days ago, and was therefore denied the opportunity to pay £40 within 14 days?
Thanks for any help,
Adam
* Ps. Not realising my car had been in a disabled bay, I called the police to report it stolen on the Friday evening. The police looked up my registration number on the relevant database, didn't find it, so assumed it had indeed been stolen. The following Tuesday, they rang me back to give me a crime reference number. At this time, they rechecked the database and found my car on it. I therefore incurred 4 days storage charges (£100) because I was denied any knowledge of where my car was. The authorities are supposed to log removed vehicles onto this database within 20 minutes or so of removal. Evidently, they didn't on this occasion.
I hope you can see why I feel so aggrieved!
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It doesn't sound right at all! Try this link
www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/IveReceived/challengePC...p
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I'm afraid I don't know the law on this too well but whether it's right or wrong, it's nothing short of disgusting.
Best of luck sorting it all out.
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I'm afraid I don't know the law on this too well but whether it's right or wrong, it's nothing short of disgusting.
In what way? lets look at the facts.
Car parked on disabled bay for TWO days. TWO days it was unavailable for use to a disabled person. So it was towed away and a ticket for each day.
Everything seems fair enough to me. Its very hard to mistake a disabled bay for anything else. Tough doodoo basically..
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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In what way? In the way that the first ticket magically disappeared conveniently thus forcing him to pay the higher fee. (Along with the second ticket, the impound fee and God knows what else.)
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Its worth posting your query here
tinyurl.com/rg7on
These people actually know a lot about parking and Wayne P who contributes has had major success in leading parking challenges against councils and the like. They will give you advice with no axe to grind or unwanted moralising.
It is now clear that Decriminalised Parking is in a mess nationally and some large challenges are looming. For instance it was dicovered last week that notices issued from Northampton CC for baliff activities were illegally worded and are most probably void as a result with this having been the case for several years.
More information about the DCP mess here
tinyurl.com/p5l68
Hope this helps
As always
Mark
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Councils cannot just create a "Disabled Parking Bay" at will.
They have to make a Traffic Regulation Order. To enforce it has to be signed. This will be either a marked bay with dotted white lines accompanied by either DISABLED in white lettering at the side, or the wheelchair marking and accompanied by a plate indicating the fact that it is a disabled bay.
If it is not clearly marked then there are grounds to appeal on the fact that the markings do not comply with the law.
If the signs are there then transgressors get stung and rightly so.
For a parking ticket to be legal, other than in London, then the PCN issued by a Parking attendant has to be either given to the driver or stuck on the vehicle. (This does not apply where Police Traffic Warden is involved).
The vehicle in question having offended no doubt would have such a ticket put on it. The next day a further ticket lawfully issued was put on it and at this time the circumstances gave the LA the grounds for dealing with it as an abandoned vehicle so uplifted to the pound. Once there steps should have been taken to either trace the owner or at least advise Police of uplift to cover possible reports of theft. Bad administration will not negate the grounds for uplift.
What happended to the first ticket? I guess it is banging your head against a wall to try and contradict any statement by the issuing Attendant that HE DID put a ticket on the vehicle which could have been dislodged by recovery process.
However there may be something to be gained in pointing out the absence of the first ticket, not drawn to owners attention when vehicle poundage paid. Under circumstances original ticket should be cancelled or at the very least the rebatted amount only to be paid.
dvd
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You could argue that your inability to spot a disabled bay big enough to park a car inside constitutes a disability and therefore qualifies you to use the bay.
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Thanks to Mark for suggesting I direct my query to Wayne P. I'll give it a go. Otherwise, I'm not seeking moral judgements, just advice as to whether one parking offence can receive two tickets. I've read what guidelines I can find in the legislation but can't find any suggestion that a single parking offence has a defined timespan (e.g. 24 hours). If there is no such timespan, then this is clearly one offence, warranting a single ticket.
To the respondents who say I deserve what I get, I parked my car in the pouring rain on a dark night. The street lights were reflected in the rain-covered road, rendering any road markings inconspicuous, particularly to someone hurrying to get out of the rain. Consequently, I didn't know I had parked in a disabled bay, and nor would you in those circumstances. I didn't complain when paying £290 to get my car back. But I object on principle to paying a second fine. You would too, no matter how self-righteous you are.
Regards,
A
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Well said! The chap is asking for advice, not moral judgement which too many people on here are blithely happy to hand out without being asked.
*hurriedly grows thick skin*
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Silly old me thinking this was a discussion forum
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I?ll just keep my good ideas to myself from now on then
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Now steady on...I never suggested that did I?
I'm speaking to a mate of a mate's uncle who can do us a cracking deal on a Luton box van.
You get the aircon unit.
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To the original poster,
Yes parking is a DAILY offence
you were there two days, you got two tickets.
still tough doodoo
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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i got a parking ticket in 1980/1 and it stil annoys me to this day as i didnt realise i had done wrong so i understand original posters position.
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I?m not entirely unsympathetic, impounding someone?s car and relieving them of several hundred squid is hardly a fitting punishment for a parking infringement.
On the other hand there?s probly some wheelchair user here who?s been circling round the block for 24 hours cos someone?s nicked his spot. If he?d posted here first your sympathies would no doubt lie with him.
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Message to TVM:
Is this a fact or an opinion? I can't find anything in what I've been able to find on the internet about parking law to support this. If it's a fact, I'll relent (though I'll still only offer to pay the original £40) but I'd appreciate some corroboration.
Regards,
A
" To the original poster,
Yes parking is a DAILY offence
you were there two days, you got two tickets.
still tough doodoo
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TourVanManTM < Ex RF >"
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COE,
I would regard dvd's earlier post as the most definitive reply to your situation. It is at least based on knowledge and expertise.
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I can't add anything factual except to say that I work in Putney, and have seen cars with multiple tickets posted, so it's not unusual.
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