I stopped round the corner from a local corner Newsagent once which had double yellows on the side road.
I knew it was a risky area of town, so scanned the side street and main road and saw no wardens.
I was in and out in 1 minute, not 2 minutes, not 5 minutes (the shop was never busy, which is why I did it)
And 20 yards away, the double yellows finished and the rest of the road allowed parking (but always full), so in no sense was I causing an obstruction.
When I came out, a Warden had appeared and was keying in my numberplate into his electronic device.
He couldn't know if I was the owner or a random pedestrian customer.
I said not a word but got straight in, started the engine and drove away in the blink of an eye (checking for other traffic, of course, and that he was still behind the car)
I expected a letter, since Wardens always say "I've started the ticket" etc, but it turns out that unless it is served it is not valid. I never did hear.
I look for parking restriction signs on the road if I park up. If there are restrictions, there will be a sign...even if it's 50m away.
Trouble is, if you go trudging off looking for signs, a little weasel will jump out from a doorway and slap a ticket on your car. This happened to me when I went looking for a functioning pay & display machine. When I got back (with my ticket in hand) there was a warden gleefully making out a parking fine. I had been gone no more than two minutes. I managed to stop him before he completed the form. Tw&t.
What time should they have started charging for you? 9.10? 9.15? if it's 9am and you are still there at 9.05 then you have to pay for the time you spent parked.
When in hospital for cancer treatment, the correct formula to solve the problem of what time they should have started charging him after 9am, is an 8 on its side after 9am.
Parked outside the local train station when I was picking someone up not long after I'd passed my driving test. The parking bays were split inbetween the station and the hotel next door. Having never driven there before, I (unknowingly) parked up and turns out I was in the first bay of the hotel which require a permit from the hotel. It was sign posted but in opposite direction to entrance of station so never saw it.
Went into station to pick the person up and help with their bags, must have been gone 5 mins. Came back and there was a clamp on my wheel. Had to pay this meathead arsehole £70 for the pleasure of releasing it.
There's literally no room for error with these people. They must hate life.
Of course only a cynic would think this was deliberate...
What happens is that it starts off at £1 then there are changes in vat 17.5 to 15 to 17.5 to 20. Then there are inflation changes, so it gradually creeps up. Can't say I have noticed anything other than ending in a 10p multiple. Don't think there is anything sinister in it.
A number of council car parks now accept pay by phone or text or you can have an app too (which handily allows you to extend your stay). I've use this one: http://www.mipermit.com/index.asp in various parts of the country.
Nobody should be allowed to operate a cash system not capable of giving change.
As you say, theft.
That really hacks me off. Where I live, the machines don't take the newer 10p and 20p coins. Unless you have a little stash of old-style coins, which are getting harder and harder to come by, you often have to pay over the odds and don't get any change.
You can pay by phone, of course, but they charge you 20p for doing that!
What happens is that it starts off at £1 then there are changes in vat 17.5 to 15 to 17.5 to 20. Then there are inflation changes, so it gradually creeps up. Can't say I have noticed anything other than ending in a 10p multiple. Don't think there is anything sinister in it.
If car park machines gave change it wouldn't matter, but I wonder how much extra is generated each year nationally because people haven't got the exact change and end up putting in more than is necessary, so people paying £2.00 because they haven't got the required £1.60 for example? That was my point.
A number of council car parks now accept pay by phone or text or you can have an app too (which handily allows you to extend your stay). I've use this one: http://www.mipermit.com/index.asp in various parts of the country.
Which is fine but there are still a lot of people who either don't have a mobile phone or only have a basic phone which can't use an app.
Nobody should be allowed to operate a cash system not capable of giving change.
As you say, theft.
There is currently nothing in law that says change has to be given, it is up to the customer to offer the correct amount, also think about it if the machine had to be able to crack open an infinite number of £50's every day they'd be grindered off 5 mins after being topped up with probably 10 grands of change inside.
But we could always go and do what that welsh town did and not have any parking wardens and let the chaos commence as i'm to idle to find a spot so i park my car in the middle of the road blocking both lanes while heading off into town to while away a few hours.
There is currently nothing in law that says change has to be given, it is up to the customer to offer the correct amount, also think about it if the machine had to be able to crack open an infinite number of £50's every day they'd be grindered off 5 mins after being topped up with probably 10 grands of change inside.
But we could always go and do what that welsh town did and not have any parking wardens and let the chaos commence as i'm to idle to find a spot so i park my car in the middle of the road blocking both lanes while heading off into town to while away a few hours.
I think you are partly wrong, if a machine is not designed to give out change then that is a fair point, but if its designed to give out change so people dont have to have the correct amount then that is not correct, no differance to the auto tills in supermarkets,
There is currently nothing in law that says change has to be given, it is up to the customer to offer the correct amount, also think about it if the machine had to be able to crack open an infinite number of £50's every day they'd be grindered off 5 mins after being topped up with probably 10 grands of change inside.
But we could always go and do what that welsh town did and not have any parking wardens and let the chaos commence as i'm to idle to find a spot so i park my car in the middle of the road blocking both lanes while heading off into town to while away a few hours.
Or how about, with the technology available today, once the minimum amount has been paid additional time should be added pro rata for any extra amount entered in to the machine.
Which is fine but there are still a lot of people who either don't have a mobile phone or only have a basic phone which can't use an app.
I doubt a lot of people don't have a mobile. Those who only have a basic one can use the pay by text method.
The app is just an enhanced version of the basic "park for 2 hours in this car park" sms message.
Or how about, with the technology available today, once the minimum amount has been paid additional time should be added pro ratafor any extra amount entered in to the machine.
Or how about, with the technology available today, once the minimum amount has been paid additional time should be added pro rata for any extra amount entered in to the machine.
sounds sensible, pay £2 and get £2's worth of parking time, only got £1.80 then you get £1.80's time etc, slap the rates so upto a £1 you get a minute per penny and lets say £1.01 to £2 you get slightly more so with £2 you get 210 minutes for example.
I doubt a lot of people don't have a mobile. Those who only have a basic one can use the pay by text method.
The app is just an enhanced version of the basic "park for 2 hours in this car park" sms message.
You would be surprised, especially amongst the elderly who still drive.
I've no problem with parking charges per se BUT there is a real tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be and then penalise people for innocent mistakes.
I parked in a public car park recently, went to the machine got a PAD for an appropriate length of time; when I got back to my car found a NIP. Whatever the violation was really wasn't clear but it wasn't because I'd overstayed.
I challenged the NIP and was informed that I had parked in a "long stay bay" but paid for a "short term bay" the only demarcation? a solid white line between them. Both sorts of bays were serviced by the same ticket machine and you were supposed to tell it which type of bay you were in. The signage was poor, the layout was poor and ultimately I didn't pay the NIP but I still had to write letters / argue. The whole setup was designed to confuse people...
That sort of setup is a classic example of an unnecessarily pernickety system, which will inevitably catch people out and really lends weight to the argument that the reason behind it is purely to catch people out and gain financially.
If such a setup was absolutely necessary, EVERY pay and display carpark would have it. If you had paid the correct amount that they charge for the period of time you were there, then that should be the end of it.
The problem in having such a setup is that because it's going to be something very few carparks will have, people won't know what the demarcations will mean and especially so for visitors to the area.
A solid white line for a parking bay is a very poor choice. Solid white lines usually mean in the sense of parking bays to just mark out a bay.
They're obviously running that system on the cheap, especially if they only have one or two machines.. Sensibly if you're going to have long term and short term stay parking bays, you need to have separate machines for both.
One of the biggest councils near to me runs pay and display for long and short term parking bays: the short-term are clearly distinct - signs everywhere - and the machines will only allow you to get tickets for up to 3 hours.
My Mother had a similar issue with a council-run carpark. She didn't live in the area and unfortunately didn't realise that she'd purchased the ticket from the 'evening ticket machine.' I kid you not.
She had paid the correct amount, displayed it correctly, wasn't parked in more than one bay or anything like that. Additionally the ticket itself even displayed the date and time purchased as well as when she had paid up until.
However, she was given an NIP. She successfully appealed it and quite rightly pointed out that if the particular machine was only to be used during the evenings, why was it even operational during the daytime hours?
Comments
I knew it was a risky area of town, so scanned the side street and main road and saw no wardens.
I was in and out in 1 minute, not 2 minutes, not 5 minutes (the shop was never busy, which is why I did it)
And 20 yards away, the double yellows finished and the rest of the road allowed parking (but always full), so in no sense was I causing an obstruction.
When I came out, a Warden had appeared and was keying in my numberplate into his electronic device.
He couldn't know if I was the owner or a random pedestrian customer.
I said not a word but got straight in, started the engine and drove away in the blink of an eye (checking for other traffic, of course, and that he was still behind the car)
I expected a letter, since Wardens always say "I've started the ticket" etc, but it turns out that unless it is served it is not valid. I never did hear.
Trouble is, if you go trudging off looking for signs, a little weasel will jump out from a doorway and slap a ticket on your car. This happened to me when I went looking for a functioning pay & display machine. When I got back (with my ticket in hand) there was a warden gleefully making out a parking fine. I had been gone no more than two minutes. I managed to stop him before he completed the form. Tw&t.
When in hospital for cancer treatment, the correct formula to solve the problem of what time they should have started charging him after 9am, is an 8 on its side after 9am.
It really annoys me as well. It is also remarkable who often the price charges is an odd amount as well.
Of course only a cynic would think this was deliberate...
Went into station to pick the person up and help with their bags, must have been gone 5 mins. Came back and there was a clamp on my wheel. Had to pay this meathead arsehole £70 for the pleasure of releasing it.
There's literally no room for error with these people. They must hate life.
A number of council car parks now accept pay by phone or text or you can have an app too (which handily allows you to extend your stay). I've use this one:
http://www.mipermit.com/index.asp in various parts of the country.
That really hacks me off. Where I live, the machines don't take the newer 10p and 20p coins. Unless you have a little stash of old-style coins, which are getting harder and harder to come by, you often have to pay over the odds and don't get any change.
You can pay by phone, of course, but they charge you 20p for doing that!
If car park machines gave change it wouldn't matter, but I wonder how much extra is generated each year nationally because people haven't got the exact change and end up putting in more than is necessary, so people paying £2.00 because they haven't got the required £1.60 for example? That was my point.
Which is fine but there are still a lot of people who either don't have a mobile phone or only have a basic phone which can't use an app.
There is currently nothing in law that says change has to be given, it is up to the customer to offer the correct amount, also think about it if the machine had to be able to crack open an infinite number of £50's every day they'd be grindered off 5 mins after being topped up with probably 10 grands of change inside.
But we could always go and do what that welsh town did and not have any parking wardens and let the chaos commence as i'm to idle to find a spot so i park my car in the middle of the road blocking both lanes while heading off into town to while away a few hours.
I think you are partly wrong, if a machine is not designed to give out change then that is a fair point, but if its designed to give out change so people dont have to have the correct amount then that is not correct, no differance to the auto tills in supermarkets,
Or how about, with the technology available today, once the minimum amount has been paid additional time should be added pro rata for any extra amount entered in to the machine.
The app is just an enhanced version of the basic "park for 2 hours in this car park" sms message.
Exactly what I said.
sounds sensible, pay £2 and get £2's worth of parking time, only got £1.80 then you get £1.80's time etc, slap the rates so upto a £1 you get a minute per penny and lets say £1.01 to £2 you get slightly more so with £2 you get 210 minutes for example.
You would be surprised, especially amongst the elderly who still drive.
That sort of setup is a classic example of an unnecessarily pernickety system, which will inevitably catch people out and really lends weight to the argument that the reason behind it is purely to catch people out and gain financially.
If such a setup was absolutely necessary, EVERY pay and display carpark would have it. If you had paid the correct amount that they charge for the period of time you were there, then that should be the end of it.
The problem in having such a setup is that because it's going to be something very few carparks will have, people won't know what the demarcations will mean and especially so for visitors to the area.
A solid white line for a parking bay is a very poor choice. Solid white lines usually mean in the sense of parking bays to just mark out a bay.
They're obviously running that system on the cheap, especially if they only have one or two machines.. Sensibly if you're going to have long term and short term stay parking bays, you need to have separate machines for both.
One of the biggest councils near to me runs pay and display for long and short term parking bays: the short-term are clearly distinct - signs everywhere - and the machines will only allow you to get tickets for up to 3 hours.
My Mother had a similar issue with a council-run carpark. She didn't live in the area and unfortunately didn't realise that she'd purchased the ticket from the 'evening ticket machine.' I kid you not.
She had paid the correct amount, displayed it correctly, wasn't parked in more than one bay or anything like that. Additionally the ticket itself even displayed the date and time purchased as well as when she had paid up until.
However, she was given an NIP. She successfully appealed it and quite rightly pointed out that if the particular machine was only to be used during the evenings, why was it even operational during the daytime hours?
Right I will agree with you 100% but will you stop saying 'at the end of the day ' >:(
Why is everybody saying that >:(
My History teacher from Years 8 and 9 gave us the best response to that saying:
"it gets dark."
It is an annoyingly overused saying.
Well when people say that to me I jump in and say "its night":D