PCN fine appeal help

zebra7t4

I dropped my son off outside school at 8.55am, and I stopped on the yellow zigzag lines for approx 10 seconds while my son got out. My engine was running and I was in the drivers seat.

I'd like to appeal the fine which has arrived this morning.

They also have the wrong time on the letter - it states 9.03am, when it definitely was not, as I never drop him off late.

I have read on this board the following regarding yellow zigzag lines -

The yellow lines are 'No
Waiting' times. That doesn't mean you can park there but it does mean you can
load/unload quickly or pick up / drop off passengers and move on.

Does this mean I have a good chance of winning an appeal?

What grounds could I use in my letter..? would it still be

"1. The alleged contravention did not occur.
In plain English: The traffic warden or council got it wrong."

ManxRed

I'm not aware of any conditions allowing anyone to stop on zig zags, so unsure as to the quote above. The quote just seems to refer to yellow lines, not zig zags.

Stopping on zig zags is a big no no, full stop. Its dangerous. Even for just 10 seconds.

In my opinion, its unlikely you would win an appeal on this, regardless of times. But happy to be corrected by others.

Orford

Loading/unloading and boarding/alighting exemptions do not apply to school zig-zag lines

sarahg1969

You are not allowed to stop on the yellow zigzags outside school during the prescribed time shown on the plates. These zigzags require a traffic regulation order and signs showing what times they are operational. The lines must also be painted to a specific diagram.

They are not to be confused with white zigzags, on which you are not ever allowed to stop.

In my part of Lancashire, until last year some time, the zigzags were not enforceable by the council, as they had not applied the relevant orders and there were no signs and a lot of the zigzags were too long. The council relied on drivers using common sense and consideration. The police could still have issued FPNs for dangerous parking, obstruction, etc. The council have now rectified the situation, I'm pleased to say.

OP, can I suggest you visit pepipoo for some assistance? You'll need to post up the PCN and photos of the signs and lines.

Stephen_Leak

You take your son to school and then stop on the road markings, which have been put there specifically there to prevent drivers doing this for the safety of all the children.

You drive a motor vehicle without full knowledge of the markings on the road upon which you drive.

I have no possible comment to make at this time.

HO87

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

You take your son to school and then stop on the road markings, which have been put there specifically there to prevent drivers doing this for the safety of all the children.

You drive a motor vehicle without full knowledge of the markings on the road upon which you drive.

I have no possible comment to make at this time.

And so your comment assists in which way?

Coupon-mad

zebra7t4 wrote: »

Does this mean I have a good chance of winning an appeal?

What grounds could I use in my letter..? would it still be

"1. The alleged contravention did not occur.
In plain English: The traffic warden or council got it wrong."

In this case I am afraid the CEO got it right.

Stopped is parked is waiting (all the same) even with a driver in the car. That's rather the point of no waiting/stopping signage!

Sorry to say that you do not have a good chance of winning an appeal; I go on pepipoo a lot and your only chance might be if the PCN is flawed. NEVER park on yellow zig-zags (unless outside of operation times, some signs say it's OK in August to park near a school). That's why those yellow zig-zags are there, to stop lazy parents causing danger by parking right at the school when there is never a need to do so.

You could have dropped him off and even taken him briefly across to school, if he is young, by parking briefly on a double yellow around the corner. The bit about 'yellow lines' you quoted refers to single and double yellows where you can indeed have a short period to load/unload or collect/drop people off.

give_them_FA

If this was a camera enforcement, then there is every chance of appealing it. The camera will only show a part of the picture. My experience of the situation around a school entrance at dropping off time is that it is total chaos, with people parked everywhere around even if not on the zig zags.

It is not uncommon to have someone pull out to overtake a parked car and to thereby block your forward progress and force you to stop. This would be clearly something outside of your control, because an over-riding consideration upon all forms of prohibition on stopping is that they will not apply if to fail to stop would cause an accident, or the stop was necessitated by the traffic situation in front of you.

Having stopped for some other reason, it would be an absurdity had you not taken advantage of the occasion to let your passenger off, thereby meaning you did not have to stop again and cause an obstruction further up the road.

If that was the way it happened, appeal. A friend of mine was unfairly given a PCN in these circumstances and won the appeal.

But of course you shouldn't deliberately stop.