Parking Fine for having a puncture

Bossyboots

You are wise to pay this fine. It is one that is enforceable in the Magistrates Court not, county court and you could end up paying costs as well.

The fact is you left the vehicle without even a note saying you were seeking help. Had you had a spare and been fixing it, you probably would have been allowed to finish up without paying or you may have found they would cancel your ticket should one have been issued.

It was your responsibility to check whether you could leave the car there without paying and you did not do so. You really can't blame anyone else for you getting a ticket. The only issue is whether the council could be lenient in the circumstances but clearly they do not want to be and you can't actually prove to them you had a puncture. I think they would in any event argue that responsible motorists carry a useable spare and that it is not their problem. It won't matter to them why you did not have your spare. Whichever way you turn this, I really don't think you are going to have any different result.

Chalk it up to experience and a valuable lesson learned, that not all areas allow free parking, even in bays at the side of the street. Also, even you think you know a parking area well you should double check. One of our high streets that was free parking for 2 hours is going to be changing shortly to pay and park so no doubt that will be a boost in income for the council for few weeks while people get used to it.

dchurch24

I just hate being ripped off. I'm appearing on the BBC next week regarding financial 'things' - I might try and slip this into the conversation.

Shame really, as I quite liked the IOW - I won't be going again now.

photome

dchurch24 wrote:

I just hate being ripped off. I'm appearing on the BBC next week regarding financial 'things' - I might try and slip this into the conversation.

Shame really, as I quite liked the IOW - I won't be going again now.

I dont think you have been ripped off...I think you have learnt two lessons

1 to check where you leave your car
2 always carry a spare wheel

greenwich

Bossyboots wrote:

It is one that is enforceable in the Magistrates Court not, county court and you could end up paying costs as well.

Bossy, I am not saying you are wrong but can you explain why you think this? My belief is that under the Road Traffic Act 1991 (as amended), local councils that want to take on parking enforcement (including on public roads) can do so. If they choose to do that, breaches of parking regulations become 'decriminalised', i.e. they don't go through the magistrates courts but via the procedure I mentioned in my earlier post. Now, I wasn't sure if IoW council has opted to do this but the fact that it's they who issued the ticket led me to think that they have. Do you have more authoritative information?

Bossyboots

greenwich wrote:

Bossy, I am not saying you are wrong but can you explain why you think this? My belief is that under the Road Traffic Act 1991 (as amended), local councils that want to take on parking enforcement (including on public roads) can do so. If they choose to do that, breaches of parking regulations become 'decriminalised', i.e. they don't go through the magistrates courts but via the procedure I mentioned in my earlier post. Now, I wasn't sure if IoW council has opted to do this but the fact that it's they who issued the ticket led me to think that they have. Do you have more authoritative information?

You need to read the pages in your own link.

If you look here http://www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/IveReceived/IveReceived.asp you will see that tickets issued for on street parking bays etc are dealt with differently to those issued where people have flouted the rules of the road.

dchurch24

photome wrote:

I dont think you have been ripped off...I think you have learnt two lessons

1 to check where you leave your car
2 always carry a spare wheel

That's a fair point, although it's not illegal not to carry a spare wheel, and I had no intention of stopping there, if it were not for a bit a of bad luck.

greenwich

Bossyboots wrote:

If you look here http://www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/IveReceived/IveReceived.asp you will see that tickets issued for on street parking bays etc are dealt with differently to those issued where people have flouted the rules of the road.

Thanks for the reference. We don't need to have this argument, but I think you've misunderstood the situation. The significant thing is not where you park, it's whether the local council has taken taken over parking regulations enforcement from the police. I think so far dchurch has just talked of a parking 'ticket', which is a generic term. If he/she made clear whether it's a PCN, ECN, SCN or FCN we would know for sure whether this is a matter for the magistrates court or the National Parking Adjudication Service and the county court.

Bossyboots

dchurch24 wrote:

That's a fair point, although it's not illegal not to carry a spare wheel, and I had no intention of stopping there, if it were not for a bit a of bad luck.

But you did stop there and didn't pay the asking price to do so. You have not been ripped off. You have encountered an local authority who will not listen to your pleas for some leeway but the fact is they have legally issued a ticket. If you cannot accept your own part in these events, then perhaps you should switch the blame to the tyre company.

Bossyboots

greenwich wrote:

Thanks for the reference. We don't need to have this argument, but I think you've misunderstood the situation. The significant thing is not where you park, it's whether the local council has taken taken over parking regulations enforcement from the police. I think so far dchurch has just talked of a parking 'ticket', which is a generic term. If he/she made clear whether it's a PCN, ECN, SCN or FCN we would know for sure whether this is a matter for the magistrates court or the National Parking Adjudication Service and the county court.

he/she has indicated further back (see post 11 onwards) that it was a pay and display parking bay at the side of the street. Therefore it comes under the ECN or SCN. It has never been a criminal offence to park in a council car park without paying as that is private property in this context and therefore subject only to being a civil issue between the driver and the council. In any event, the link is quite clear that pay and display parking not a matter for the NPA.

I am not sure why this then transposes to being enforceable in the magistrates court and not the county court but perhaps its just a hang over from olden days.

wazza

i think for future carry a can of tyre weld in the boot. available from halfords etc. when you have a punture simply attach to air valve and press button. it fills the tyre up with foam which eventually sets and plugs the hole. it is a short term fix. i am a large man capable of changing tyres but always carry a can in the boot. dont fancy changing a tyre on a hard shoulder on a motorway would rather use the can.