Can somebody clarify the rules on parking on pavements?

bondy_lad

mildred1978 wrote: »

I don't think you're ever supposed to cross double yellows to park on a pavement!! That's not really any different to straddling the double yellows. And of course pavements aren't meant for cars (in their entirety).

I hope they chuck a very heavy book at you.

out of order, the op was looking ,,for clarification, before he paid,,also had done this along with others for some time,,,,so with comments like this you are a disgrace to this wonderfull site.there you go,,and jobs certainly not a good one in this case.

Coupon-mad

What a shame it looks as though this thread started off on the wrong board maybe? Can't see why else there would have been such a flurry of uninformed responses in some cases above. What a shame some people here are being so judgemental of the driver but not the Council - just because someone gets a PCN doesn't mean they have broken a law or even that they will end up having to pay the thing!

There is soooo much more to appealing a Council PCN than has been posted about - and in most cases they CAN be appealed successfully. In the majority of cases at adjudication, the motorist wins.

If you haven't paid it yet, Cardinal-Red, why not at least try an early appeal? If you check the small print on the back of the PCN you will usually find that if they reject an early appeal received before day 14, they 'will usually' re-offer the discounted penalty. So you lose nothing at all by trying an appeal.

But don't just fire off a basic letter, get specialist help on pepipoo:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

Like I say, most people win in the end as there are sooo many things to consider.

Double yellows do apply from property boundary to property boundary - but where is the property boundary at that place? Is it misleading due to a change in the tarmac? As well as appealing, email the Council for the Traffic Order for that street - what does it say about this stretch of road and the boundary?

mildred1978

bondy_lad wrote: »

out of order, the op was looking ,,for clarification, before he paid,,also had done this along with others for some time,,,,so with comments like this you are a disgrace to this wonderfull site.there you go,,and jobs certainly not a good one in this case.

So wheelchair users and children in prams should be forced into the road so that people can use pavements for cars, should they? Do people really think that double yellows don't mean no parking at any time?

(Note the use of just one comma in 2 whole sentences )

AltheHibby

Mildred,

Your advice may be right, but your tone is what's annoying people. Chill.

Cardinal, if you want to park on pavements go to Inverness. My mate from there parks over the pavement all the time, and when he visited me he parallel parked his Mini on the pavement, blocking it completely. The fact that my 4 car drive was empty didn't even come in to his thinking!

TrickyWicky

I've not read all the other replies so please forgive me if I drag up other posts..

I'm an ex CEO for a council - AKA Traffic Warden. Parking on the pavement on a road with DYL IS illegal though not in a criminal sense. The DYL cover the road up to the middle and also the pavement upto the boundary with private property. There are many things that could have happened:

The council only recently went decriminalised
They only recently started enforcing your area
They've got a new contractor in
The local CEOs had been turning a blind eye to your car and the contractor is ticket thirsty

It's also quite possible that they never realised previously that the spot where you park was enforceable by them. This is quite common in the council world of decriminalised parking. I've also done the same thing in the past - stumbled onto areas that are enforceable that others have never noticed and issued a PCN. The owner comes out ranting and then you point out its public land enforcable by the YLs and they suddenly realise how lucky they are to have gotten away with it for so long. I found a car dealers doing this once many years ago - none of my colleagues had noticed it for over 10 years. We went past in the van and I noticed it straight away because it was blocking a dropped kerb - issued a PCN and had the dealer go nuts at me. When I pointed out the car wasn't within his private property boundary but actually the other side of his metal posts on public land he realised he didn't have a leg to stand on. I also once found a road behind a load of car dealerships that no-one knew existed. DYLs everywhere and 7 cars up on the pavement - my colleague and I were absolutely flabbergasted as both our handheld computers had crashed and we had to do it the old fashioned way - manual PCNs which took forever to write out. When I got back to the office no-one there knew the road even existed yet alone had any DYL - it wasn't on the handheld computer and even our highest ticket issuer who was an ex cop never knew about it.

So there you go, a bit of insight into the not so great world of parking enforcement and how these odd situations occur.

There is also a seperate contravention for footway parking which is usually accompanied by a sign and DYL. This is typically used in areas to stop kerb damage from heavy vehicles un/loading but can be applied in all sorts of areas. Stupidly they're often in the areas where the road is extremely narrow so the good locals put their vehicles up to help people get past with ease. Then the bonkers council decides to tell them to park in the road instead and screw up the traffic - stupid isn't it.

Coupon-mad

mildred1978 wrote: »

So wheelchair users and children in prams should be forced into the road so that people can use pavements for cars, should they? Do people really think that double yellows don't mean no parking at any time?

(Note the use of just one comma in 2 whole sentences )

Errr...but they don't! :rotfl:

So in your book (the heavy one!) wheelchair users should be forced to park away from a shop because according to you, double yellows mean no parking at any time. Blue Badge exemption, have you heard of that?

And according to you, a delivery van has to park away from a shop because according to you, double yellows mean no parking at any time. Loadng exemption, have you heard of that?

You have missed the point and got all alarmist simply because a Civil Enforcement Officer thinks that a PCN was warranted. That does NOT mean that the OP should just pay it - there is so much scope for appeal we could write a heavy book about what Councils do wrong!

The OP should go to pepipoo, win the case then come back and tell us. Not saying the parking was right or wrong, just saying it CAN and SHOULD be appealed just like every Council PCN. In some areas, 90% of PCNs are chucked in the bin when appealed. CEOs are not perfect and nor are Councils.

give_them_FA

I really don't think Mildred should be giving "advice" to anyone. This is a help forum, not a discussion one. This holier than thou attitude is something we really do not need.

warehouse

TrickyWicky wrote: »

I also once found a road behind a load of car dealerships that no-one knew existed. DYLs everywhere and 7 cars up on the pavement - my colleague and I were absolutely flabbergasted as both our handheld computers had crashed and we had to do it the old fashioned way - manual PCNs which took forever to write out. When I got back to the office no-one there knew the road even existed yet alone had any DYL - it wasn't on the handheld computer and even our highest ticket issuer who was an ex cop never knew about it.

..and you probably wonder why people loath traffic wardens? Where is the common sense approach, IE let the car owners/dealerships know that this area was noticed and from tomorrow tickets will be issued?

To**ers.

TrickyWicky

warehouse wrote: »

..and you probably wonder why people loath traffic wardens? Where is the common sense approach, IE let the car owners/dealerships know that this area was noticed and from tomorrow tickets will be issued?

To**ers.

1) You're making an assumption that we didn't try to clear the area or give people a chance

2) We not only asked the staff at the local dealers who's cars they were and could they be moved but were told that they were parked up by other staff on the industrial estate and they didn't know where they worked. One bloke did move his but that was it and to be fair, before issuing we gave a full 5 minutes before issuing the PCNs.

Who's really a to**er then? If the owners are stupid enough to park on DYL and then clear off to the other side of the estate where no-one can find them or inform them then that is their problem not mine. In a bright yellow coat, hat and uniform I don't think it's unreasonable if we stand in the middle of the road in broad daylight for 5 minutes to expect to be seen is it.

As for giving them 24 hours notice, no why should they get that? The lines were bright yellow, it had clearly been going on for many months / years and frankly they've had YEARS of unpunished illegal parking courtesy of the council being totally unaware of the lines being there. When they then get caught and fined why should they have any warning? - They know what DYLs mean like every other motorist. If they choose to take the pee and park there then its their problem. My conscience is clear.

Coupon-mad

TrickyWicky wrote: »

1) You're making an assumption that we didn't try to clear the area or give people a chance

2) We not only asked the staff at the local dealers who's cars they were and could they be moved but were told that they were parked up by other staff on the industrial estate and they didn't know where they worked. One bloke did move his but that was it and to be fair, before issuing
we gave a full 5 minutes before issuing the PCNs.

Who's really a to**er then? If the owners are stupid enough to park on DYL and then clear off to the other side of the estate where no-one can find them or inform them then that is their problem not mine. In a bright yellow coat, hat and uniform I don't think it's unreasonable if we stand in the middle of the road in broad daylight for 5 minutes to expect to be seen is it.

As for giving them 24 hours notice, no why should they get that? The lines were bright yellow, it had clearly been going on for many months / years and frankly they've had YEARS of unpunished illegal parking courtesy of the council being totally unaware of the lines being there. When they then get caught and fined why should they have any warning? - They know what DYLs mean like every other motorist. If they choose to take the pee and park there then its their problem. My conscience is clear.

Assumption proved in your own words! :rotfl:

I have never seen a CEO try to clear the area or give someone a chance! WOW...5 FULL MINUTES...HOW GENEROUS!