(case won!!) would diabetes be grounds to appeal for pcn?

Ron_James

Hope some people can find this usefull, I had a London parking ticket overturned on the grounds that I suffer from type 2 diabetes and needed a sugary snack.

below is the origianl query........

Hello all,

I really hope someone can help here! I had a penalty charge notice place on my car, just outside a tesco extra in London . The exact charge is code 01 "parked in a restricted are during prescribed hours".

The reason I want to appeal is that i was on route home and started feeling a sugar low (as i mentioned i am diabetic type 2). in a slight panic, I popped into the tesco to buy something to ease the symptoms (to be precise it was a mars bar, the first + quickest thing i could grab). since returning to the area i was issued the ticket, there do not seem to be any of the 9 official grounds to appeal that would suit.

Would having a diabetic blood sugar attack be enough grounds to stand on? I was literally in the shop for about 3 minutes, I tried to explain to the warden but he just took of on his moped with an "L" plate on it. it was half past 9 on a saturday night, I was not blocking any traffic, there was in fact another car in front of me, parked in the same place when I turned up, and was still there when I left (they also had a ticket by then). Ive had a look at the area since saturaday, there is a very small sign there that specifies the times, but its not lit up and faces the road so you would not really see it, unless you were standing in the road if that makes sense?...............also the fact I was suffering from the sugar low did not help, i was more concerned with keeping my body regulated and assumed that the fist sign i had seen (restricted 7am-6.30pm) applied where i had stopped too.

They are trying to charge me £120 (£60 if payed in 14 dys), for what I consider to be me just acting very precautiously, if i do not bring sugar levels back to normal i will just get weaker, or potentially pass out, Would they prefer i carried on in this state, or simply grabbed a chocolate or fruit and drove on safely? I normally am well prepared for these situations i. e i have a banana/apple or even a couple of sweets around.

I hope there is enough info here for someone to be able to give me some advice,the way it seems to go I will probably have to pay this, but i feel like im genuinely being punished here.



Thanks

p.s ive never used this forum before so i dont know if it alerts me if you respond, or how I will find this post again! please msg me if you can

trisontana

The first thing to ask is did you actually park in the Tesco car-park or in the road? I.E, was this a private parking ticket or council. If it was a private parking ticket then you can safely ignore it.

Ron_James

trisontana wrote: »

The first thing to ask is did you actually park in the Tesco car-park or in the road? I.E, was this a private parking ticket or council. If it was a private parking ticket then you can safely ignore it.

no, its a civil penalty not a criminal one, its a tesco "metro" or maybe "extra" just one of the small ones that are popping up all over the cities and towns, there is a small bay next to it on a side road that is a one way street.


its to the left on this google street view, but this is from at least a year ago, before the tescos took over the empty blue building. this forum wont let me add links but its hayes place london, the testcos is not on the google street view though as its fairly new, it shows what is to be the loading bay opposite the bus though if that helps ;~)

peter_the_piper

Right, the first thing is to work out how to post links to images. What you do is to take your pics/scans/copies and host them on tinypic. This will give you a url, copy this and paste the link into a post and remove http://. all good browsers will bring up the page. Next is to take pics of both sides of the pcn and lines/signs of the bay and remove all personal details but leave dates, host as above.

iamana1ias

Ron_James wrote: »

Hello all,

I really hope someone can help here! I had a penalty charge notice place on my car, just outside a tesco extra in London . The exact charge is code 01 "parked in a restricted are during prescribed hours".

The reason I want to appeal is that i was on route home and started feeling a sugar low (as i mentioned i am diabetic type 2). in a slight panic, I popped into the tesco to buy something to ease the symptoms (to be precise it was a mars bar, the first + quickest thing i could grab). since returning to the area i was issued the ticket, there do not seem to be any of the 9 official grounds to appeal that would suit.

Would having a diabetic blood sugar attack be enough grounds to stand on? I was literally in the shop for about 3 minutes, I tried to explain to the warden but he just took of on his moped with an "L" plate on it. it was half past 9 on a saturday night, I was not blocking any traffic, there was in fact another car in front of me, parked in the same place when I turned up, and was still there when I left (they also had a ticket by then). Ive had a look at the area since saturaday, there is a very small sign there that specifies the times, but its not lit up and faces the road so you would not really see it, unless you were standing in the road if that makes sense?...............also the fact I was suffering from the sugar low did not help, i was more concerned with keeping my body regulated and assumed that the fist sign i had seen (restricted 7am-6.30pm) applied where i had stopped too.

They are trying to charge me £120 (£60 if payed in 14 dys), for what I consider to be me just acting very precautiously, if i do not bring sugar levels back to normal i will just get weaker, or potentially pass out, Would they prefer i carried on in this state, or simply grabbed a chocolate or fruit and drove on safely? I normally am well prepared for these situations i. e i have a banana/apple or even a couple of sweets around.

I hope there is enough info here for someone to be able to give me some advice,the way it seems to go I will probably have to pay this, but i feel like im genuinely being punished here.



Thanks

p.s ive never used this forum before so i dont know if it alerts me if you respond, or how I will find this post again! please msg me if you can

I'm not convinced that mars bars are the best way to manage type 2 diabetes. Might be worth asking your doctor about reducing carbs rather than relying on them.

In response to your question, I can't imagine it would be a usable defence. People with conditions that need managing should be taking precautions, ie by having medication or food or whatever with them. This would avoid the need to park anywhere and everywhere to rectify the condition.

trisontana

Ron_James wrote: »

no, its a civil penalty not a criminal one, its a tesco "metro" or maybe "extra" just one of the small ones that are popping up all over the cities and towns, there is a small bay next to it on a side road that is a one way street.

Just to get this straight, was the ticket actually issued by the council, or by a private company, such as Excel of Parking Eye? That's important.

Ron_James

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Right, the first thing is to work out how to post links to images. What you do is to take your pics/scans/copies and host them on tinypic. This will give you a url, copy this and paste the link into a post and remove all good browsers will bring up the page. Next is to take pics of both sides of the pcn and lines/signs of the bay and remove all personal details but leave dates, host as above.

ive gone through the 9 usual reasons for appeal and Ive also looked at flaws to look out for in signs, even how many stripes a loading bay needs with which signs etc, the council (as its westminster) have made sure nobody will get away with fines, unless there are other technicalities that are worth photographing, the sign is not lit if that counts? its states no loading between 11am and i think 5.30pm. and since looking back at it there is a small sign above, yellow with the small red circle+ cross with blue in the middle, they are covered on them sort of technicalities unfortunately.

Also when entering the road that leads there, there is just a sign that says "restricted zone 7am-6.30pm" which is probably what confused me in my state! All im wondering is would me stating why i had to urgently park and leave my car stand up as a defense? it was 9.30 on a satrurday night, plus the traffic warden just rode of when i tried to explain.

Thanks for any advie you can give though, and if you think there is reason for me to upload any photo's im sure Ill be able to do that

Ron_James

trisontana wrote: »

Just to get this straight, was the ticket actually issued by the council, or by a private company, such as Excel of Parking Eye? That's important.

it was council, "Civil enforcement officer"

peter_the_piper

Ron_James wrote: »

Thanks for any advice you can give though, and if you think there is reason for me to upload any photo's I'm sure I'll be able to do that

To be honest, no-one can really give an answer unless you do.

kandyfloss

Hi Ron,i too have type2 Diabetes{since Jan this year} controlled with diet,exercise and meds{Metformin500mg} and have been told by my diabetic nurse that passing out was highly unlikely as a type2 but more so if you are a type1.

I find that keeping a supply of oat cakes in my handbag helps with the blood sugar levels but have found that if I space out my meals then I don't start to have carb cravings and usually by the time 9.30 in the evening comes around I have already taken my evening dose of Metformin with my evening meal which usually keeps me going until the next day as it has already started to do its job.

I myself wouldn't eat a mars bar as they are too high in sugar,but would rather have the oat cakes or a banana if I was that desperate,but now I have my sugar levels under control {6.3}don't have the carb cravings that much now.

Good Luck with your problem but like other posters on here you might have a hard job proving your case unless you get a Dr's letter stating the fact that you need to eat at times to control your feelings,and I do know how you feel at times because I was like that before diagnosis and meds...

Ron_James

iamana1ias wrote: »

I'm not convinced that mars bars are the best way to manage type 2 diabetes. Might be worth asking your doctor about reducing carbs rather than relying on them.

In response to your question, I can't imagine it would be a usable defence. People with conditions that need managing should be taking precautions, ie by having medication or food or whatever with them. This would avoid the need to park anywhere and everywhere to rectify the condition.

Normally i do, I just got caught out, I did say that in th O.P... Your u are right but at times it is not 100% possible to keep at exactly the right level, im fairly recently diagnosed so i am still learning to regulate it properly, mars bar is not what the doctor would tell you, but from experience it works! I copied it of an old teacher