Parking Fine - Harsh?

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Parking in our narrow town cul-de-sac road can be difficult - with cars on at least one side of road having to park mounted half on pavement. Someone (I know not who) did a random bit of parking last Thursday towards the bottom of our road. Parked fully on the road with rear end of car stuck way out. Would have parked this way as clearly been unable or bothered to park parallel with kerb in tight space. As a result everyone has been having to be careful when driving past this car - tight squeeze with cars parked properly on other side. And it has been parked so until yesterday

Yesterday bin men couldn't get their truck up the road (cul-de-sac so no other way in). They called the police as the car was causing an obstruction - I had noted previously to the Mrs that a Fire Engine would not have been be to get up the road. Police arrive and booked the absent driver for careless parking, causing an obstruction or whatever - AND had the car removed and impounded.

Harsh but fair?

 

[Imurg]

Totally fair.
You can't abandon your car, blocking access for Emergency vehicles, just because you can't park where you want to...

I'm sure I heard a story, don't care if it's true or not, about a BMW owner's Insurance company taking a Fire Brigade to court over malicious damage to the BMW. 2 Beemer had parked opposite each other ina narrowish road. Room for a car to get through but not a Fire engine. Anyway, a Fire engine had to get through on a "shout", the Firefighters jumped out, checked out the Beemers and decided which was the least expensive and rolled it onto it's roof out of the way. They jumped back in and drove off.
The Judge threw the case out....

 

[Alex1975]

Parking in our narrow town cul-de-sac road can be difficult - with cars on at least one side of road having to park mounted half on pavement. Someone (I know not who) did a random bit of parking last Thursday towards the bottom of our road. Parked fully on the road with rear end of car stuck way out. Would have parked this way as clearly been unable or bothered to park parallel with kerb in tight space. As a result everyone has been having to be careful when driving past this car - tight squeeze with cars parked properly on other side. And it has been parked so until yesterday

Yesterday bin men couldn't get their truck up the road (cul-de-sac so no other way in). They called the police as the car was causing an obstruction - I had noted previously to the Mrs that a Fire Engine would not have been be to get up the road. Police arrive and booked the absent driver for careless parking, causing an obstruction or whatever - AND had the car removed and impounded.

Harsh but fair?

Harsh but fair... sadly!


Here is mine: At wedding, Camden, London, attended the service and was asked to go and get my car to take the brides father to the reception as he can hardly walk (6 foot 9, 25 stone with knackered pelvis and elderly). I drove over to him and I now know he was on the very last part of the zig zag after a zebra crossing. It took about 90 seconds to get him in the car as he real does struggle to move about and off we go. A camera operator snapped me and I got a large fine...


Harsh but fair or just harsh?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Totally fair.
You can't abandon your car, blocking access for Emergency vehicles, just because you can't park where you want to...

I'm sure I heard a story, don't care if it's true or not, about a BMW owner's Insurance company taking a Fire Brigade to court over malicious damage to the BMW. 2 Beemer had parked opposite each other ina narrowish road. Room for a car to get through but not a Fire engine. Anyway, a Fire engine had to get through on a "shout", the Firefighters jumped out, checked out the Beemers and decided which was the least expensive and rolled it onto it's roof out of the way. They jumped back in and drove off.
The Judge threw the case out....

Similar story I got from Avon Fire Service when I lived in Bristol. Typical very narrow Bristol city centre residential road. You parked as far onto the pavement as you could because in the event of an emergency they wouldn't bother bouncing all the cars out of the way - they would just drive straight up the road taking wing mirrors, wings and doors with them if that's what happened.

I'll add to my little story - if cars hadn't parked on other side of road from poorly parked car there would not have been a problem getting up the road - hey ho.

 

[woody69]

Completely fair. The driver is an inconsiderate imbecile.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Completely fair. The driver is an inconsiderate imbecile.

Being fair - he/she probaby wouldn't have realised the extent to which sticking out caused a problem - when someone else was properly parked opposite side of road.

Anyway - my sympathy is limited as I got £60 fine and 3pts from a traffic cop for stopping (for what would have been less 30secs) with one wheel on a pedestrian crossing zig-zag - at 6pm on a Sunday evening and not a pedestrian in sight - and hardly any cars - except a police motor bike.

 

[Vice]

http://now.msn.com/fire-hose-put-through-car-window-photo-gallery

 

[Hobbit]

Completely fair. The driver is an inconsiderate imbecile.

Being fair - he/she probaby wouldn't have realised the extent to which sticking out caused a problem - when someone else was properly parked opposite side of road.

QUOTE]

Don't think ignorance, especially with something so basic, is a reasonable defence.

Hang 'em!

 

[woody69]

Being fair - he/she probaby wouldn't have realised the extent to which sticking out caused a problem - when someone else was properly parked opposite side of road.

Anyway - my sympathy is limited as I got £60 fine and 3pts from a traffic cop for stopping (for what would have been less 30secs) with one wheel on a pedestrian crossing zig-zag - at 6pm on a Sunday evening and not a pedestrian in sight - and hardly any cars - except a police motor bike.

which is what makes them an imbecile. It's hardly rocket science.

 

[Fish]

All the cars as you say "park mounted half on pavement" are illegally parked also! One does not excuse the other! Do you have garages with an entry access? If you all do, parking on the pavement and not choosing to use your rear garages is laziness. Although the car was parked fully on the road, if it was not within 12ft of the junction it was actually, in the eyes of the law, more legally parked than all the vehicles mounted on a pavement!

Just another side to it :smirk:

 

[Fish]

Being fair - he/she probaby wouldn't have realised the extent to which sticking out caused a problem - when someone else was properly parked opposite side of road.

Anyway - my sympathy is limited as I got £60 fine and 3pts from a traffic cop for stopping (for what would have been less 30secs) with one wheel on a pedestrian crossing zig-zag - at 6pm on a Sunday evening and not a pedestrian in sight - and hardly any cars - except a police motor bike.

I don't understand this, are you saying that the vehicles that are mounted as far onto the pavement as possible are legally/properly parked?

 

[jp5]

Sounds like the problem was actually with all the cars parked half on the pavement.

 

[woody69]

All the cars as you say "park mounted half on pavement" are illegally parked also! One does not excuse the other! Do you have garages with an entry access? If you all do, parking on the pavement and not choosing to use your rear garages is laziness. Although the car was parked fully on the road, if it was not within 12ft of the junction it was actually, in the eyes of the law, more legally parked than all the vehicles mounted on a pavement!

Just another side to it :smirk:

Not necessarily true unless the local authority have raised an order prohibiting parking on the pavement (which is true for most of London I believe). If this is the case, then there will be signs that clearly point out on a particular road where parking on the pavement is specifically prohibited. The penalty for contravening this will be a fixed penalty notice.

However, parking a vehicle on the pavement could lead to an offence of obstruction being committed. This could result in a fixed penalty notice being issued to offending vehicles. It can also cause danger/nuisance for pedestrians and wheelchairs users, but just parking there isn't necessarily an offence.

 

[Imurg]

I don't understand this, are you saying that the vehicles that are mounted as far onto the pavement as possible are legally/properly parked?

"Rule" 244 from the Highway Code

244

You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs.

The word "should" shows that, although not recommended, it's not technically illegal unless signs do not permit it. Signs can also permit this type of parking in certain circumstances.

Some roads in older parts of Towns are much narrower than normal so this type of parking may be the only way to keep the road clear.
Obviously it shouldn't restrict the pedestrian access.....if it does then it's wrong...

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

All the cars as you say "park mounted half on pavement" are illegally parked also! One does not excuse the other! Do you have garages with an entry access? If you all do, parking on the pavement and not choosing to use your rear garages is laziness. Although the car was parked fully on the road, if it was not within 12ft of the junction it was actually, in the eyes of the law, more legally parked than all the vehicles mounted on a pavement!

Just another side to it :smirk:

No garages - victorian terraces. If cars parked fully on road on both sides of road you could just squeeze cars through - but delivery vans or anything bigger - nope.

And as it happens it was also parked right on the junction with a little spur side road off our road. Cars often park 'correctly' right on the junction and that makes turning inot or out of the side road tricky

 

[Fish]

"Rule" 244 from the Highway Code

244

You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs.

The word "should" shows that, although not recommended, it's not technically illegal unless signs do not permit it. Signs can also permit this type of parking in certain circumstances.

Some roads in older parts of Towns are much narrower than normal so this type of parking may be the only way to keep the road clear.
Obviously it shouldn't restrict the pedestrian access.....if it does then it's wrong...

So we don't have all the facts then to this but are happy to be judge & jury and cry GUILTY :rofl:

 

[Fish]

No garages - victorian terraces. If cars parked fully on road on both sides of road you could just squeeze cars through - but delivery vans or anything bigger - nope.

That's not the question, are their signs that ALLOW you to mount the pedestrian pavement? Forget common sense at this point.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

That's not the question, are their signs that ALLOW you to mount the pedestrian pavement? Forget common sense at this point.

No indeed there are not.

But I'll add a lot of similar width through roads nearby have single or double yellow lines on one side of the road - I assume to prevent parking obstructing through access. Ours doesn't.

 

[Fish]

No indeed there are not.

But I'll add a lot of similar width through roads nearby have single or double yellow lines on one side of the road - I assume to prevent parking obstructing through access. Ours doesn't.

So, in fact the vehicle in question wasn't illegally parked but ALL the vehicles on the pavement were! Hmm, seems a bit like mob rule to me

I think you need to petition the council to put yellow lines on one side of the cul-de-sac and signs saying it is OK to mount the pavement by no more than 50% (example).

 

[Imurg]

Whether the other cars are parked correctly or not is irrelevent.
The car in question was blocking the road.....is it ok to just leave a car blocking access..?