PCN for parking in a bus stop - can i dispute?

abbas5001

Hi all,

I received a PCN for parking in a bus lane i nthe city centre. The bus lane is very long and as i approached i seen two cars parked and behind the last car there was a space so i reverse parked in behind it thinking it was fine.

Came back 5 mins later, the two cars were gone infront of me and i had received a fine. I didn't realise as i thought the other two cars are parked and that was a legitimate spot but i realise its my job to make sure and its not the attendants' fault. However, barely any of the car was in the lane, just my up to my front wheels really. So i think they were a bit overzealous.

Anyway any chance i can appeal this (asking for a photograph etc since i doubt they took one_ or should i just accept it and pay?

Thanks

peter_the_piper

copy both sides of the pcn and post it up for the experts to look at. Pics of sign, lines would help. Howto in stickies at top.

abbas5001

http://i49.tinypic.com/vec5te.jpg

Here it is. Today is the last day for appealing so if anyone can spot anything then pelase help! Many thanks

Coupon-mad

abbas5001 wrote: »

http://i50.tinypic.com/2dtc8r6.jpg

Here it is. Today is the last day for appealing so if anyone can spot anything then pelase help! Many thanks

IMHO today isn't the last day for appealing?

Yesterday (18th) was the 14th day including the date of the PCN, so if you rushed to appeal/pay today I think you'll have lost the right to pay £30 anyway? If I am right you may as well spend another couple of weeks working out a decent appeal...don't rush to give them £60!

Not sure they have worded the PCN correctly though? Someone may be able to advise further, I would have expected it to say 'beginning with the date of service' not 'beginning with the date of the notice'. However the PCN was attached to your car so considered by them to have been 'served' on that day...so I am not certain.

And to give further advice to you about an appeal, I think posters here would need to see pictures of the bus stop bay/lines and a pic of any timeplate at the stop. Can you get pics & post here?

Coblcris

Issued under the RTA 1991 ? ? ?
I am not familiar with the vagaries of the legal system in Scotland, is there no TMA there ?

Please also post a picture of reverse side of the PCN, every word counts.

anewman

I hate people who park in bus stops. Means the buses can't pull in and if you're stuck behind one and there's traffic coming the opposite way or traffic islands you get lots of angry motorists behind you.

abbas5001

Coupon-mad wrote: »

IMHO today isn't the last day for appealing?

Yesterday (18th) was the 14th day including the date of the PCN, so if you rushed to appeal/pay today I think you'll have lost the right to pay £30 anyway? If I am right you may as well spend another couple of weeks working out a decent appeal...don't rush to give them £60!

Not sure they have worded the PCN correctly though? Someone may be able to advise further, I would have expected it to say 'beginning with the date of service' not 'beginning with the date of the notice'. However the PCN was attached to your car so considered by them to have been 'served' on that day...so I am not certain.

And to give further advice to you about an appeal, I think posters here would need to see pictures of the bus stop bay/lines and a pic of any timeplate at the stop. Can you get pics & post here?

Yeah realised i was 1 day over the deadline after you informed me - doh! Oh well hope an appeal can come through.

This is the image of the back of the ticket: http://i50.tinypic.com/2ugnlf6.jpg

I haven't been able to get back to the street so i have had to google map it.

This is the pic of where the 'offense' took place: http://i46.tinypic.com/bflzkz.jpg
I have marked where i encroached into the bus lane by accident.

Also pic of the sign for the single yellow line (don't know how much use it'll be but thought i'd include it): http://i45.tinypic.com/24g0zgj.jpg

Also this is the other view of the bus lane which shows where the bus stop is and the sign for it: http://i46.tinypic.com/w044js.jpg The sign for the bus lane reads "No Stopping except local buses."

Thanks for your help so far guys i appreciate it. I genuinely parked in the lane by accident but encroached by the slightest bit. At the time two cars were parked further up ion the bus lane and there was a space that i parked into not realising i had went into the bus lane but still my responsibility to check i know.

Also the reason i stopped was i had my younger brother in the car with me who is disabled and he needed to use the toilet. There are flats literally 20secs away from there where my cousin lives and so i tried to park as close as possible so its easiest to get my brother there so he can use the toilet. I have a disabled badge that i left out. Can this be of any use?

Thanks

Spartacus_Mills

anewman wrote: »

I hate people who park in bus stops. Means the buses can't pull in and if you're stuck behind one and there's traffic coming the opposite way or traffic islands you get lots of angry motorists behind you.

I do agree with the sentiment but this is not the thread for your personal whines.

Coupon-mad

Hope someone will be along over the weekend to advise you about the wording of the PCN, abbas5001. I am unsure about the lack of the words 'date of service' on the PCN - which I mentioned above in a previous post.

Is the area a Controlled Parking Zone? If not, was there a time-plate at the bus stop, showing the times of operation?

Have a look at this thread on pepipoo where someone was successful in geting off a bus stop parking contravention where there was no time-plate (it was not a CPZ) and they were also displaying a blue badge like you:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/lofiversion/index.php/t44912.html

In your case, you say you were only very slightly encroaching on the bus stop - as per the marked line on your picture - and you were displaying a disabled badge, and you were only gone for 5 minutes to take your disabled brother to the toilet. Maybe the Council will allow your appeal like the Council did for the case linked above (worth a try, seeing as you are too late to pay the reduced fine).

If I were you, I would register and post a new thread there on pepipoo (copy & paste much of it from here if you like, but do read their FAQs sticky first). They will need to see the pics as well and they have more experts on there as it's a dedicated motorists fightback forum - but like all of us they are busy people and it may take a few days for the experts to see the query and reply.

What you need from pepipoo is help with your appeal wording and advice about what to include. But they do like you to post up on the forum an attempt at an appeal yourself first, to show you've given it some thought. So maybe work on a few rough paragraphs this weekend and post it all up over there for their advice.

Good luck.

DaveF327

When a bus stop has a broad yellow line kerbside, it is a "bus stop clearway" which means no stopping at all. The prohibition is clarified by the sign (it's a little unclear, but the symbol at the top looks like a no stopping symbol) and the regulations state that the restriction applies where a vehicle is "stopped within a carriageway if-
(i) any point in the clearway is below the vehicle or its load (if any); and
(ii) the vehicle is stationary."

The white area isn't the problem, it's the yellow.

abbas5001

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Hope someone will be along over the weekend to advise you about the wording of the PCN, abbas5001. I am unsure about the lack of the words 'date of service' on the PCN - which I mentioned above in a previous post.

Is the area a Controlled Parking Zone? If not, was there a time-plate at the bus stop, showing the times of operation?

Have a look at this thread on pepipoo where someone was successful in geting off a bus stop parking contravention where there was no time-plate (it was not a CPZ) and they were also displaying a blue badge like you:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/lofiversion/index.php/t44912.html

In your case, you say you were only very slightly encroaching on the bus stop - as per the marked line on your picture - and you were displaying a disabled badge, and you were only gone for 5 minutes to take your disabled brother to the toilet. Maybe the Council will allow your appeal like the Council did for the case linked above (worth a try, seeing as you are too late to pay the reduced fine).

If I were you, I would register and post a new thread there on pepipoo (copy & paste much of it from here if you like, but do read their FAQs sticky first). They will need to see the pics as well and they have more experts on there as it's a dedicated motorists fightback forum - but like all of us they are busy people and it may take a few days for the experts to see the query and reply.

What you need from pepipoo is help with your appeal wording and advice about what to include. But they do like you to post up on the forum an attempt at an appeal yourself first, to show you've given it some thought. So maybe work on a few rough paragraphs this weekend and post it all up over there for their advice.

Good luck.

People weren't that helpful tbh on that site.. I am going to have to write an appeal letter and hand it in tomorrow. Can't see any technical problems with the ticket so i guess i'm going to have to appeal the tickets on the basis of compassionate grounds. What od you all think?