I was wondering if anyone else has had an issue like this.
At the beginning of the month I was going home from work and got to some traffic lights by Lambeth North tube. The back protector in my jacket had moved and was very uncomfortable, it was restricting the movement in my shoulder. The lights changed and I rode about 500 yards down the road, found a clear space in front of a bus stop (single yellow line) and pulled in.
I had to remove my gloves and back pack and rearranged the back protector, I put my backpack and gloves back on and rode off. I would estimate I was stopped for no longer than 2 mins (possibly 3). I sat on the bike the whole time, with the engine running and lights on.
I was amazed to get a parking ticket from a CCTV camera with a fine of £120 (£60 if I pay up straight away) for “Parking or loading/unloading in a restricted street where waiting and loading/unloading restrictions are in force”.
It was 18:33 in the evening, I was in nobody’s way, on a clear road. What gets me even more is that further down the road is a Police Station and there are Police cars parked on double yellow lines all day and night. The camera time shows me stationary for about a minute.
If I’d got off the bike to go to a cash point or pop into a shop then I wouldn’t feel so bad about this and would probably pay up. But I feel that as all I was trying to do was make sure I was safe to continue riding the bike that this is a bit of a stitch up.
Has anyone else had similar tickets or any suggestions with how to reply to this?
Fight this one, and let us know the outcome, it is very harsh. Also check what times that the single yellow line restrictions are in force, you might be unlucky that it is 7pm, they must obviously make a lot of money from people that think it is the standard 6:30pm.
I think you should appeal, you had to stop to adjust your clothing, sounds to me like it’s a safety issue, therefore I think the reason for stopping was an emergency…
Oh and the police cars down the road are allowed to park there, using their exemptions as it’s a vehicle being used for a police purpose and that use would be hindered by adherence to the parking regulations, mainly due to the cruel police station designers who design police station yards to be as small and cluttered as possible, and not providing enough space for the large vehicle fleet they now have - although to be fair when that particular station was built in the late 60s (I think) they would only have had 3-4 cars and a van to park there. The police would use their exemption on the grounds that they need the vehicles close to the police station so that if they have a call they don’t spend 5 mins walking to their car…
Contest it, we done same thing when my mum wa driving, she got a bleeding nose so she stopped for 2 minutes, the car had the engine on at all time and lights, I was the 2nd drivier waiting to jump in her place if she couldn’t carry on.
Went to the hearing spoke to guy explained situation and that was that.
First make sure you write to them and say what you told us, if was unsafe for you to carry on and had to stop as the backprotector was hurting you. I seriously doubt they woudl go ahead, it will cost them about £2000++ if they lose.
From what I gathered when you need to stop, you stop, right there in middle of Road blocking all traffic, you can’t get any fines then since there is no stopping sings and there are no lines… so only the police can tell you to move along:) I assume pulling up on pavement would have been acceptable also.
Out of curiosity, is there a minimum distance you need to be away from the kerb, in order to claim that you are NOT parked, and have simply stopped in the road… see where I’m going with this one?
I think with a car when parking, you’re allowed up to 18". I got a
off a ticket once when I parked half on the road, and half on the pavement, stating that emergency vehicles couldnt get past based on two cars parked within regulation. They also told me pavement parking wasnt legal within the borough - for which I also provided them with two locations where they have it signposted.
A lot of the council workers in these departments dont know their a*se from their elbows and are encouraged to bully people into paying fines.
Fight it. Make them realise you had NO benefit from stopping there. And like Johnse said, it was an emergency case.
also check the restrictions on the signs etc along the road, i always thought you can stop on a single yellow for a lttle while, johnse1?
Now heres the clincher, yer light is on in all pics which tells any1 that you have not turned your bike off to get off/park etc.
Instead of telling em you had to adjust yer back thing would it be better to say you wer answering a phone call? i know engine has to be off but they dont know that it was or not, the light suggests the ignition is on but dont mean yer didint turn engine off…
I thought there was a minimum time that you had to be stopped for before a ticket can be issued - 3 minutes or 5 minutes I cannot remember exactly. It is to protect you form being ticketed for just the sort of thing you describe or for example to look at a map.
We have had problems locally in Ealing with people being ticketed by a council camers for pausing to drop passenger off outside Ealing Broadway Station, but that is stopping on zigzag lines where there is no grace period.
I would not say phone call as that would be admitting another motoring offence (the engine appears to be running) - I would stick with adjusting clothing for safety reasons
yep here we go cameras levying parking fines without justification, the cost of fighting these things will soon mean even more of them to cover the cost of fighting them…
the point is you were not causing an obstruction and you had an emergency to solve, you may have been able to find a better spot but thats not neccessarily true…
Its just pointless nasty council income so that they can spend it on some stupid scheme to improve traffic for london…like more cctv camera systems collecting money…
no one will ever convince me that this is worth the grief it causes and the money it raises is disgraceful…60 pounds for stoping for 2 minutes…ridiculous…
Firstly, no matter how uncompfortable I would have maintained my rule of refusing to stop at the roadside in Lambeth for any reason whatsoever unless I or someone else was involved in an accident!
Secondly, as others have said, I would contest this on the grounds that I had stopped for the sole reason of adjusting safety equipment and that you did so to ensure you were able to have proper control of your bike and make proper rear observation without restriction to your movements. You therefore stopped for safety reasons, but took care to make sure you did not cause an obstruction. You therefore belive the ticket is unfair, and that if it was not unfair, there are very strong mitigating circumstances for you stopping.
BTW, safety is number one in Lambeth’s list of parking enforcement priorities so remind them of that and point out that you did not obstruct anything or anybody. I also note that whilst their website lists loads of things they won’t cancel a ticket for, they don’t list the things that they will!
Make sure you write to your MP about how motorists are constantly harassed by parking authorities who are only interested in making money and are thereby destroying local businesses and clearly making the roads unsafe as demonstrated by your case as in future you will be forced to ride on despite being uncompfortable and unable to properly contro lthe bike and make rear observation etc.
Not happened to me personally, but I friend of mine had a similar thing where her bike cut out so she stopped at the side to get it going again. She contested successfully, It’s a similar case I think. My feeling is they’re not going to go through the effort of carrying one. Worth a try surely.
Well as I mentioned we won it on the basis of safety. This was recently about 3 months ago. I forgot where it was but was Central London, close to Kings College, think it was towards Fleet Street. Anyhow… it is silly as they need to judge the situation. Since it is a safety issue I would stop no matter what, my life is more important. Riding with something poking in your back on a bike is no joke, your concentration would be affected and could cause you to have an accident.
In theory they should stop there and cancel it but if they don’t the guy at the hearing will. If they don’t I would suggest asking them to make a written statement saying that your safety is less important and that they encourage people driving/riding in a dangerous situation which in return will cause an accident. After all this is exactly what they mean.
thats what i am saying but apart from seeing exhaust smoke form cans (which you can not) they cant prove engine was running only that left ignition on show others can see his lights.anyway, surely leaving engine running whilst on phone is a police thing not council.
I assume pulling up on pavement would have been acceptable also.