Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets.

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Fri 29 Sep 2006 17:14
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Enoughalready
New Bond Street, Central London.
As I'm walking along I notice a motorbike pull up, reverse back to the kerb the guy got off and took his numberplate off and took it with him. Numberplate appeared to be held on by magnets. All parking is not allowed on this section anywhere.

I don't know if it's a great idea, stupid or just plain risky. I should imagine a traffic warden would make a beeline for it (& they will there) but on finding there was no numberplate would be unable to do anything and just wait there until the biker returned got on a rode off again. I don't know if he'd thought about the tax disc - I didn't look at the time. I was a modern newish bike.

Thought the whole thing quite amusing though.


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Fri 29 Sep 2006 17:17
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Westpig
engine/chassis plate ...... wouldn't be difficult to run a check on that
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 17:18
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - peterb
"Hello, is that the pound?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"My 'bike was towed away"

"Oh dear, what's the registration number"

"Er......."
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 17:22
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Enoughalready
I guess he was a regular courier biker so is only there for about 5-10 mins which is why he gets away with it.
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 17:24
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Wales Forester
Maybe he'd forgotten his clipboard and was improvising, are you sure it wasn't held on with a bulldog clip? ;-)
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 18:07
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Vin {P}
Happens all over London. Normally involves parking the bike right up against a wall sop the tax disc can't be seen without moving the bike. Take the number plate off and hey, presto, one unidentifiable bike. Traffic warden is not allowed to move it, and if it's not causing an obstruction, he can't get it towed away.

Might sound unfair, but I walked past a warden in Soho the other day (I work there, honest!) and he was ticketing a scooter parked in a bay set into the wall of a building. When I asked him what the problem was, he said anyone coming along in a wheelchair might bang into it. Yes, if he was blind, and yes, if the wheelchair was six feet wide and expanded sideways at random points. No wonder people will bend the rules.

And lest anyone think there was a good case for a ticket in that situation, a mate of mine crashed his bike in Soho one Sunday. The wreck was leant against a wall by the ambulanceman who scraped him up. On the Tuesday three of us went to move the wreckage, only to find it had five parking tickets. Yes five, I counted them. Twice. Will someone tell me what the point is of that kind of bahviour?

No wonder parking enforcement is now held in such low esteem. And I speak as someone who used to supprt traffic wardens against any criticism at all, as they used to show discretion where it made sense. The new ones show no common sense at all.

V
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 17:58
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - henry k
.>> I guess he was a regular courier biker so is only there for about 5-10 mins which is why he gets away with it.


All the traffic wardens in my area have been equiped with digital cameras.
I feel sure one of them would be up to the challenge and take a photo of the bike sans plate and then hang around til he returns in 5/10 minutes.
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 18:04
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Enoughalready
But what would the warden be able to do? He/she still won't have any knowledge of the numberplate with which is needed to book him. I should imagine the biker would just get on a ride off, putting the plate back on when out of view.
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 18:31
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Micky
Most parking restrictions/tickets/notices are flawed, have a read of the parking forum on PePiPoo.
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Fri 29 Sep 2006 20:04
Cunning? Avoiding parking tickets. - Dynamic Dave
At least one previous post on here has mentioned covering up the number plate with a bin liner also suffices.
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