We (euphemism for my partner, which she employs to get me to do the dirty work) recently picked up a ticket for overstaying our welcome in a thirty-minute zone. The ticket wrongly states the waiting time as one hour, so is it enforceable? (Offence code W658.)
Hampshire Constabulary are stonewalling, saying that we should see them in court if we want to pursue the matter, so I'd like to know the chances.
Please don't bother to tell me that we should pay up and stop whingeing - I know we committed an offence (it was over an hour) but we have to have our documents in order...
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The signs in the parking area should clearly state the times allowed for parking.
If not you've got a case.
I don't think the ticket will help - even if it is wrong.
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Doesn't look good JBJ.
Limit 30 minutes - ticket says you were there an hour? or am I missing something?
If it is a defect in the wording then I would say they have still got you as it also appears it is a ticket issued by a Traffic Warden working for Police so they can push to a Court case and have all the evidence. Now had it been a LA Traffic warden then there is an approved appeal procedure with more chance of a let off on defects as LA do not Criminal Court transgressors IIRC but recoup through Civil Court as a debt.
DVD
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JBJ, hope you don't mind me asking my own parking ticket question in your thread.
I had a slightly garbled message from my younger Daughter, who's away at university in Reading. It seems she was out with a friend in their car and they pulled over to the side of the road, onto double yellows so another friend could get in the car and be given a lift. They say the engine was running throught, but a warden jumped out and gave them a ticket for stopping on double yellows! Sounds like it was one of these council employed wardens.
I'm expecting more details this evening, but it an offence to have stopped like that?
Thanks
Paul
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Paul, assuming this to be normal double yellows, then no, no offence has been committed.
The Highway code states that you are allowed to stop to set down or pick up passengers, even in an urban clearway. On 'red routes' marked with red lines then yes it is an offence to stop.
The only really foolproof way of knowing exactly what you can and cannot do in a restricted zone is to read the roadside plate referring to that zone. Locally we do have some zones around school entrances which have no stopping periods around school start and finish times but they are marked with yellow zigzags.
Can't see that your daughter has committed an offence but best get her to check the plate and then appeal, many tickets are issued on the basis that you will pay rather than go to the hassle of appealing hence lining the local councils pockets wrongly.
Good Luck!
Cockle
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Parking wardens are often on commission as well - this makes them over-zealous.
Double red lines = no stopping.
Double yellow = no parking/IIRC stopping to let someone off/in is ok.
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Double red lines = no stopping.
Most red routes that I know are pretty clogged with traffic. I presume I couldn't be done for being stopped in traffic ... but could I be ticketed if my passenger got out while waited for the traffic to move?
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Paul R.
Double yellows are laid on the road in compliance with a Waiting Restriction made by the Local Authority. Within this Order will be what is or what is not allowed. IIRC majority of such Orders have an exclusion clause permitting the picking up/dropping of passengers. Some loading/unloading features. Emergency vehicles and for Statutory provisions.
If your daughter has been given a ticket then contact the L.A. to have sight of the Order to see if this clause is within it. If so it is no offence. Whilst I would imagine a Traffic Warden would know his patch and what is/or not allowed by the Orders, so numerous are these now that he may have made a mistake.
Ticket should give some information on Appeal procedure to have dropped.
DVD
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At a slight tangent may I point out that double yellow lines are not legal unless, at both ends of them, they are closed off by a yellow line across the ends and extending as far in as the kerb. Not painted right = not legal
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At a slight tangent may I point out that double yellow lines are not legal unless, at both ends of them, they are closed off by a yellow line across the ends and extending as far in as the kerb. Not painted right = not legal
Presumably this leads to all sorts of potential 'scenarios' where lines have worn away in patches and the new 'ends' are not properly terminated...
Recently, the council decided to paint white lines on the roads to denote areas where you should not park to avoid obstructing passagesways etc. Do these have any legal standing or are they simply indications?
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Many thanks for all the information, she's going to send me a copy of the ticket, so I may have some more questions then!
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Thanks DVD (and Spinner). You've probably told me all I need to know - I was just hoping that the fact that the sign said one thing and the ticket another might be some sort of defence. I can well imagine a magistrate viewing the matter entirely differently, so I'm not going to pursue the matter if it isn't reasonably watertight.
I assume that offence code W658 is a general infringement code, rather than one for a specific interval?
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