Rant : parking Wardens.

[zhardoum]

Dont you just love parking wardens, I mean they do do a good job and all, and stop inconsiderate people from blocking roads & pavements etc etc.

However, what grabs my nads, is the overzealous ones, try this out, yesterday i went to the shop, parked right outside my shop door, the meter is on the other side of the road, I have no change, so I unlock the shop, turn off alarm, go into office, unlock safe, grab a couple of euros change, leave shop quickly, and.. I have a parking ticket.. like wtf.. I must have been about 2 min 12.00079 seconds..

What was the git doing, pretending to be a dog turd and the second I leave the sight of the car, they magically metamorphise back into a parking warden, second they hear you coming back, they morph back into dog turd again.

Today, I am expecting a delivery, they are due at 10.00 am, my parking ticket runs out at 10.15a.m. the people turn up at 10.14, I sign for it, I run from the shop to my car.. and you guessed it, I have a parking ticket.. and the time on my watch was a couple of hairs short of 17 minutes past.

Gah...

Anyway, on the upside a parking fine in ibiza is €3 (about 2 quid) if you pay on the same day, otherwise its €30, so im not exactly going to be broke, but its the damn principle of the thing, I mean surely they should give you a minute or two leeway, i have half a mind to write a letter of complaint, I mean, sure 15 minutes over and then id expect to have a warden lurking somewhere near my car, but less than 2 minutes, thats just taking the piss..

[Storme]

You could always try time sort of detterent device to stop them from approaching your car? May work.


Either way, they must be stopped!

[Mu5icMan]

Make your car say "Stand back you are too close". Then if they don't it should say "You ignored my warning, now die (then gun fire)"

[Cheez]

Or you could try not parking illegally. They won't give you a ticket then. It doesn't matter how long you are there for, you are breaking the law.

[t!mo]

Chris, what a load of crap. Do you drive?

[chluke]

£2 for a parking ticket! think yourself lucky they are about £24 in carlisle, uk.

[Blood Sport]

i work for a dept collection company (bailiffs) :eek: that deal with all the major councils in london in regards to parking tickets

i deal with the vehicles that have been removed because of unpaid parking tickets

i hear this all day long and it does makes me laugh


but yer some times they can be a little unfair

[Optimus]

I parked outside my student house in the residential parking zone on the Sunday when I moved in and even left a note on the dashboard saying 'New Resident - getting permit tomorrow (Monday)'...

go out Monday morning, 9am sharp, and I got a bloody ticket...

I wouldn't have minded if I was actually using the 'law breaking' aspect for convienience, but the fact the entire road is one huge residential parking pos, its not funny, and cost me £30...

altho apparantly, the entire of Swansea and their grandmothers have complained, and the council is re-assessing the residential parking layout over the summer...

[Guigsy]

i got one yesterday...
i went to york shopping... i parked in a pay and desplay... went and got a 3 hour ticket at 12:24 (i know because i still have the ticket on my desk) return to my car and put it on the dash, as you would do. i return 2 hours 55 mins later. excelent timeing if i do say... to find a ****ing parking ticket under my wiper! i was like wtf i'm not late...

I baught a 3 hours ticket. i remember doing that.
I remember putting it on the dash.
I remember putting it printed side up.
I check to make sure this is infact my car. I actualy asked my friend "this isnt my car, this cant be my car, is this my car?". Turns out it is.
so i check the ticket... and its facing printed side down... WTF! so i've been given a ****ing parket ticket for not properly desplaying my ticket. which i am 100% sure i did correctly. The ticket hasnt run out. I'm not harming anyone. i paid my money... but i came to the conclusion that when i closed the door the wind caught the ticket and blew it over... Its a ****ing joke. i couldnt believe it. and i have to pay 30 feckin quid ontop of the 3 i already paid to park there.


ARRRRRGH

[Optimus]

£30 is just ludicrous compared to most of the world (which charges low fees for quick payments), but think of these new fines they are meant to be introducing...

£80+ fines for parking more than 50cm from the kerb, regardless of conditions?! I mean, wtf... Are the traffic wardens going to carry rulers?

its just gone like the speed cameras where the government is inventing more and more new laws simply to make money for the police because they reallocated all their yearly funding blowing up Iraqi's...

[Zenith]

Not exactly a parking ticket story (I've never had one), but when I went to Chester shopping a couple of weekends ago, I used a multi-storey carpark.

The rate was 60p PER 15 MINUTES!!!!
That's right, £2.40 an hour. 2 hours, so that was £4.80. I'm never parking THERE again.

I was gobsmacked. Around here, £1.20 gets you 2 hours of parking on the pay and display.

[Tsung]

One of my m8's is a parking warden, and to be fair he isnt over zealous at all. Usually he'll give people a few minutes to get back to their car, and then he'll take his time writing the ticket. If they return whilst he's doing this (and they dont give him grief), he will explain how they might be able to avoid paying the fine.
However a traffic warden isn't the most rewarding job, most people hate you and give you grief if they get a ticket, so it's understandable they get a little over zealous.

[Lucifa]

And then the parking wardens park illegally (ie on a corner, on double yellows) while they go off and ticket people.

Lucifa

[Mu5icMan]

Guigsy you shouldn't have to pay. If you send in a letter to the council or whoever deals with tickets there with a copy of your proof they will ignore the fine.

[Optimus]

yeah, but then there is all the effort of writing in, and if they decide 'but wait, you broke the law, screw you' (which is likely, cos they are petty money grabbing scum) you're back to stage one...

[Cheez]

Originally posted by t!mo
Chris, what a load of crap. Do you drive? Yes I drive, I also park legally. Never had a parking ticket... go figure. :rolleyes:

[Big Giant Head]

You should try parking round here, some of parking spaces have pay and display machines next to them that don't correspond to those spaces, you have to go to the one 100 metres down the road to get the right ticket.

And yes they do ticket you if they get it wrong

Add to that the fact that there are 15 different types of parking zones (yes I know I had to code the damn map for the thing) and it all gets a touch confusing.

Managed to get off one ticket by pleading confusion.

Did get another one for my ticket falling off the dash though.

And the only way you can complain is by writing

Apparantly taking your ticket and fine to the counter in the pay place isn't good enough

Go figure.

[K]

Originally posted by Guigsy
i got one yesterday...
i went to york shopping... i parked in a pay and desplay... went and got a 3 hour ticket at 12:24 (i know because i still have the ticket on my desk) return to my car and put it on the dash, as you would do. i return 2 hours 55 mins later. excelent timeing if i do say... to find a ****ing parking ticket under my wiper! i was like wtf i'm not late...

I baught a 3 hours ticket. i remember doing that.
I remember putting it on the dash.
I remember putting it printed side up.
I check to make sure this is infact my car. I actualy asked my friend "this isnt my car, this cant be my car, is this my car?". Turns out it is.
so i check the ticket... and its facing printed side down... WTF! so i've been given a ****ing parket ticket for not properly desplaying my ticket. which i am 100% sure i did correctly. The ticket hasnt run out. I'm not harming anyone. i paid my money... but i came to the conclusion that when i closed the door the wind caught the ticket and blew it over... Its a ****ing joke. i couldnt believe it. and i have to pay 30 feckin quid ontop of the 3 i already paid to park there.


ARRRRRGH
Send it or a photo copy off they cant do that as they have no method of proving it wasnt properly displayed :P

[Afty]

Originally posted by Zenith
The rate was 60p PER 15 MINUTES!!!!
That's right, £2.40 an hour. 2 hours, so that was £4.80. I'm never parking THERE again.

Yeah, there are some car parks in Manchester that will set you back £15 for parking there during a days work.

It's primarily a function of land value, and as that spirals up out of control, parking fees + fines will continue to rise, especially in city centres.

[Optimus]

eventually we will all stop using cars, hence using public transport and loosing the government loads on fuel tax...

[Afty]

Originally posted by Optimus
eventually we will all stop using cars, hence using public transport

Erm. Your justification for us all doing this are...?

[RK[CLL]]

I got a ticket cos I went into university to pick up a parking permit!! that pissed me off more than anything!!

I'd only been in there 2 mins, but the irony of getting a parking ticket whilst getting a permit to park was more annoying!!

[Optimus]

Originally posted by afty
Erm. Your justification for us all doing this are...? because parking fines, fees and congestion charges are going to spiral so high out of control its going to cost more to enter a city than it is to run the car...

If they let that new charge where 'inadequate parking, regardless of circumstances' equals an £80 fine, then I sure wont be taking my car into a city...
its hard enough parking in a tight space without power steering without some **** deciding to give me a ticket for it...

[Afty]

Originally posted by Optimus
If they let that new charge where 'inadequate parking, regardless of circumstances' equals an £80 fine, then I sure wont be taking my car into a city...
its hard enough parking in a tight space without power steering without some **** deciding to give me a ticket for it...
If you can't park a car within a reasonable distance of the kerb, you shouldn't have a license - it is one of the maneuvers you can be required to do on your driving test.

[Big Giant Head]

50cm is a pretty long way tbh

Still I know people who have driven for upwards of 30 years and have NEVER parallel parked

And its not required on your driving test either, you do 2 out of Reverse round a corner, 3 point turn, reverse park and parallel park (and mebbe 1 more that escapes me)

[Towneh]

emergency stop? :p:

[chluke]

I know someone who took 7 times to pass her test and even to this day she will drive round untill she can find a parking space she can drive into. My sister was with her one day ans he said that they cruised round town for over 30 mins to find a parking space that suited her driving skills.

[Silk75]

Originally posted by Zenith
Not exactly a parking ticket story (I've never had one), but when I went to Chester shopping a couple of weekends ago, I used a multi-storey carpark.

The rate was 60p PER 15 MINUTES!!!!
That's right, £2.40 an hour. 2 hours, so that was £4.80. I'm never parking THERE again.

I was gobsmacked. Around here, £1.20 gets you 2 hours of parking on the pay and display.

Thats what the park and ride is for matey

[Guigsy]

i would write in. but i have already paid anyway. and if i did write a letter they would say well you desplayed it incorrectly its your problem not ours.

[Bitty]

Free parking = win

[RocketKnight]

<rant>

As a taxi driver (when I'm not at uni) I'd just like to tell people who park illegally how much they piss me off. It depends on the situation, but there are times when I need to drop off a passenger but someone is parked where they shouldn't be. Not too much of a problem, except when I have elderly or disabled passengers and I have a legitimate use for the space where your car is illegally parked. Then it becomes a big deal and it makes me angry.

You aren't supposed to park your car where it can endanger, inconvenience, or obstruct pedestrians and other road users. This includes:

*near school entrances
*anywhere you would prevent access for emergency services
*at or near a bus stop or taxi rank
*on the approach to a level crossing
*opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction (except in an authorised parking space)
*near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
*opposite a traffic island or (if this would cause an obstruction) another parked vehicle
*where you would force other traffic to enter lanes designated for other vehicles, for example bus and tram lanes
*where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users
*in front of an entrance to a property
*on a bend

Long story short, you're a pain in the arse, don't do it. I'm pleased you all get tickets, you're breaking the law.

If you're confused about parking, I suggest you check the highway code. Click here (http://www.theorytestadvice.co.uk/Highway_Code_Plus/10__Waiting_and_parking__Rules/10__waiting_and_parking__rules.html) if you can't be bothered to Google yourselves.

</rant>

That wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, just people who think they are OK to park in front of an off license and jump out for ciggys. M0f0s. :p:

[Guigsy]

sometimes i have parked infront of a shop on a double yellow just to nip in and get lecky for the meter. but i dont just pull up miles from the kerb... where i go is quite a wide road. and a wide pavement... and i know this is wrong aswell but i mount the kerb (making sure not to kill someone) and get as much of my car on the pavement as i can. after all... people can walk around my car and some dopy **** in a car can do more dammage :)

[Optimus]

as I said, Residential Parking on main roads... its not needed and results in stupid fines... :)

[Bitty]

If you park on the pavement, I'll scratch your car on the way past. I will take even more pleasure in it if it's a nice car :D

[Optimus]

you just marked yourself as one of those peens who keys cars... expect arbitrary retribution on ur ass from anyone who has ever had a keyed car

(we never usually know who does it... you just made yourself a target :p: )

[mr_roll]

Originally posted by Storme
You could always try time sort of detterent device to stop them from approaching your car? May work.


Either way, they must be stopped!

You could get signs that say "Biological Hazard" and then the tape and then i dont think anyone would go near your car.

I am actually thinking of becomming a traffic warden myself, seems better than spending my life in an office.

[werewolf]

There are 3 kinds of traffic wardens in my experience.

Those who hate all drivers and love their job (see also those who get commision).
Those who follow the rules but will give a bit.
Those who are actually quite nice if you talk to them and accept you're in the wrong.

Our town has had a couple of very nice traffic wardens for the past 10 years or so, they are normally nice enough but were unfortunately not enough to keep the roads clear (2 wardens in a town of 30-40k people).

Recently though the job was awarded to a private company who are i beleive having a clamp down, all well and good but i suspect they won't give anyone a chance as i beleive they will have performance targets (in some ways this is great - less idiots parking illegally in/around the town center, but i fear they may be the jobsworths who will ticket you if you're 30 seconds late).


Our town has a serious parking problem and the police don't give a fig, as is shown by the fact that 25 yards from the police station is a very tight turn gown a hill, a turn that always seems to have a car parked just round it (next to a lowered curb).

The thing that really bugs me about parking though is twofold.
People who don't have a disabled badge parking in disabled spots and people who have off road parking but can't be bothered to use it and instead they park up on a busy, narrow road and cause major traffic problems (And normally end up complaining when a van takes their wing mirrors off).


On a personal note, i've yet to have a run in with a traffic warden most i've met have been pleasant enough and I love seeing the reaction they get as they walk down the town center (everyone hurridly vacating the "loading only" and "disabled" bays whilst the warden writes out a ticket for the first car).

[Jez_Gafys]

Originally posted by Zenith
The rate was 60p PER 15 MINUTES!!!!
That's right, £2.40 an hour. 2 hours, so that was £4.80. I'm never parking THERE again.



London street parking is worse thats like £1 for 15mins

Not like the 40p an hour parking in Holmfirth :D

And god u have cheap parking tickets I had to pay 35 quid (would have been 70 if left more then 70days) ... for not even being late the time on my ticket was later then the time on the machine issuing tickets but the warden stated it was at his discretion which method he uses to check the time and he used his watch. Btw this was in northamton Carpark the one near Aldi ... kin ripping of £$%£$