Is this really a vote winner for the voting British public? All this will mean is that when people pay for one hour they will think they are entitled to one hour 10 minutes and when they get a fine for being one hour 11 mins. Then they will want a 15 min grace, then 20 mis and so on. Some traffic wardens are total scum and go out their way to give tickets out, was watching them giving out tickets Christmas Eve once where people were about 10 minutes early from when restrictions were lifted. Also when we had all that snow a few years back and people had had to leave their cars all over the place, I do think these got cancelled if people appealed. Parking is a problem and is expensive but the momey has to come from somewhere and those who do use the bus should not lose out to those who insist on driving. I would much rather the council came down hard on people who used disabled spaces or abuse disabled badges. I think there are bigger problems then giving people an extra 10 minute free parking. It can't be that difficult to work out when you need to back at you car.
As you say the first thing that comes to mind is that the papers etc will be full of people whinging at having been caught at 1hr 11mins. The other thing about parking is that for every person who wants to see the end of parking controls you can find one who understands why they're there and wants them to remain and yet another person who wants them to be even tougher. Another non-issue successfully resolved by this inept government :dismay:
It's something they didn't really need to announce. It should just have been a directive/guideline for the traffic wardens. As others have mentioned, it will just encourage people to push the boundaries further.
This. Apparently there's an election around the corner - who knew. It won't happen, just like every other 'policy' idea announced between now and May. Grinds my gears that these announcements get made willy-nilly at the moment purely on the basis that, on the surface, they sound like fundamentally good things to the majority of folk. Maybe they do win a few (naive) floating voters but, as you guys have shown already, you only need to think about it briefly to realise these 'policies' are unlikely to work or be affordable in practice. Besides, as iamofwfc said, this type of thing is hardly the biggest priority right now. Dogwhistle/soundbyte politics at it's finest.
TBF to them I parked outside the Vic' to get something from the Hornet's Shop. I paid for something ridiculous in the meter (15 min?) to go in, get a shirt and come out. I got my shirt, started walking towards the car when I forgot that I was supposed to get something printed on the back. I think I had abot 4 mins on the clock and as there was a warden there checking tickets I asked him what should I do - would he let me pay for another 15 min or would I have to move the car or would he "nick" me. He said that I shouldn't worry as we always give people 10 minutes on their ticket times anyway. I don't think this is anything new as even the scummy PPCs give you 10 minutes "grace" to find a place or leave the car park.
Ten years or so ago I parked outside a shop and popped in for change for the meter, can't have been more than forty five seconds ... Yup you guessed it, ticket stuck to window yet not a warden to be seen. He must have been in a hurry though because he got a digit wrong and that's probably why they didn't send me a bill.
Thank goodness for that. Almost as important as changing the salt content of the smiley faces served on Fridays at Leverstock Green Primary School.
You are confusing parking with a service. This is just a strip of road someone is able to meter. I had a similar experience to Godfather. Parking spot limited to 30 mins, went into Argos for large item, queued ages, got back seconds after the deadline, seconds. I asked the Warden writing the ticket if he had been waiting for me and he said that was exactly what he was doing. I'm not sure it's in the public interest or high street retailers that my council lays traps for me.
Well no. But I think in that situation you should put another £1 in the meter as you've overstayed and the parking attendant walks away. If you're 5 mins late though I don't see why people feel hard done by to get a ticket?
It's a bit of a leap though from 5 mins on a £1 or £2 fee to £50 fine. The finite space on the roads needs to be managed, but this was too much about cash and very Kafkaesque at times. I got another ticket on a Saturday next to a pay machine that said Sat/Sun B/H free. I sent them a picture of the machine but they enforced the fine anyway. I appealed and obviously won, but this was months later. They said 'on this occasion' they would waive the fee. Madness. I'm with the Tories on this one. Well done Dave. Now where's the TV debate?
Parking on double yellow lines is unsafe and can cause fatalities, in the most extreme examples. This should carry a much larger fine, in my opinion. Overstaying a pay and display/stop and shop is silly. Especially now that pretty much everywhere (not that I drive in Watford/London) seems to have the ability to pay by phone. Having said that if it were up to me, on street parking would be free for up to 15/20/30/60 minutes as appropriate with an option to pay for longer. The high street can't cope with parking charges. No doubt the big nationals with huge car parks like to ensure local parking costs are huge.
So if you pay for 6 apples and take six you should not be done for shoplifting as there is one Apple of grace, the line has be drawn somewhere, extra stop on the tube, bus or train and not get the £20 fine? In London I think you can pay for 12 minutes so now that means you get 22 minutes, so that will mean they have to put up the rate for 12 minutes? Hits the people that only do want only 12 minutes?
60minutes for each hour paid now. After the election, 70 mins. But in five years' time we'll be getting, what, 81mins40s? Christmas will be every 14 months, so we all save there. I will be more than a decade younger. There's more to this than meets the eye is all I'm saying.
It's parking not shoplifting. We own the public highways and are being charged for their use. It's not 'theft'.
They used to be in the Tory paradise of the Borough of Westminster. Funny how the financial incentivising led to corruption.
I'm not incandescent about parking, but I do believe in limited time free parking with a definite end time. Pay for more time if you need it, that to be finite too.
But how do you control it? If you get a ticket when you park up, people would just be going back to their vehicles near the end of the time and getting another free ticket. Edit: I suppose you could punch in your registration when you get there - there's a car park my son uses in Rickmanswoof that does that. But even then, you'd have to replace all the ticket machines to achieve it.
It works very well where I live. 1 hour parking. Wardens photograph parked cars then in an hour compare photos with what's on the street and ticket accordingly. Local shops get business. Customers can visit the shops they want without having to pay for parking. It does work very well.
