Acceptable Grace Period

esmerobbo

Asked BPA AOS what they would deem an acceptable grace period.

As follows!



Dear AOS team

Your code of practice requires your members to give a grace period for someone to enter land controlled by them. Read the signs conveying the conditions of parking to the driver, then for the driver to accept or decline the offer. Then either park or leave the land.
What would be the minimum grace period you would deem acceptable? As if it needs to be just a "Grace period" it could be 10 seconds!

Dear Esmerobbo

Thank you for your e-mail.

Each car park has a different grace period please contact the parking operator concerned and request the information directly from them stating the particular one in question.

Kind regards
AOS Investigation Team


Dear AOS investigation team,

I am not requesting information about a specific operator, however I would assume that if its a condition of complying with your code of practice which I presume is auditable there should be a starting point!

I understand every car park would need its own period setting, but there must be a starting point otherwise as I wrote earlier it could be set in seconds!

Surely if a sign is compliant to convey a contract it must contain certain elements, it then follows that it would not be to difficult to recommend a minimum grace period. Even if it was set to the actual time it would take on average to read the sign.

Assuming you stopped and read a compliant sign at the entrance even before parking it would take a certain amount of time. Otherwise an operator could state grace period 25 seconds after that period a contract would be deemed formed.

If it was the operators decision to set a short grace period then how can someone enter a car park, read the signs decide not to enter offered contract and leave the car park without receiving a parking charge.

Simply stating that you must have a grace period without a minimum is unworkable.

I would hope you could give me a more concise answer.

Regards



Dear Esmerobbo

Thank you for your e-mail.

The time a parking operator allows for the grace period is entirely decided by them. In our Code of Practice when recommend offering a grace period but no recommendation as to what length it should be.

Kind regards

AOS Investigation Team



I can just imagine it!!


Dear BPA member

We have had a complaint that a grace period was not allowed at your ripoff car park.

Kind regards

AOS investigation team.



Dear AOS investigation team.

We do allow a grace period at our ripoff carpark, we allow 1.5 seconds to confirm acceptance of our contract.

Regards Payusthedosh Parking



Dear BPA Member

Thats acceptable!

Kind regards

AOS investigation team.

peter_the_piper

Whilst it could be seen as a "Grace Period" I firmly believe that all ANPR systems do not offer parking but just time on site, this being 2 entirely different things. On most sites a short period would suffice and you parking for 3 hours would be ok to get out in a reasonable time. However on the larger sites, at busy periods, its sometimes not possible to get in/
out within (say) 1/2 hour. Naturally a grace period would always be shorter than the time taken to get to the exit. I would imagine at Xmas there could be thousands a day ticketed. The signs compound the fraud by offering 3 hours parking. Sorry, just a particular bee in my bonnet.

Stroma

It's another secret clause to parking, like the show us receipts and we may cancel, IMO if its not on the sign it's unworkable and unfair. Who thinks about a grace period in reality?

A scenario for you

10.00 - Enter car park - logged by ANPR
10.05 - Park car after finding spot
10.07 - Read signs on parking
10.08 - Wait in a queue to buy p&d ticket
10.11 - Buy a ticket
10.13 - Go shopping
12.00 - Return to vehicle
12.05 - Leave parking spot
12.07 - Wait in queue to leave car park
12.10 - Leave car park - logged by ANPR

Roll on two weeks or so and get a NtK for leaving the car park 10 after paying the initial 2 hours of parking, by this time the p&d ticket binned, and as you went bowling/cinema/browsing for a kitchen you don't have receipts.

This is played out everyday up and down the country.

Coupon-mad

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Whilst it could be seen as a "Grace Period" I firmly believe that all ANPR systems do not offer parking but just time on site, this being 2 entirely different things. On most sites a short period would suffice and you parking for 3 hours would be ok to get out in a reasonable time. However on the larger sites, at busy periods, its sometimes not possible to get in/
out within (say) 1/2 hour. Naturally a grace period would always be shorter than the time taken to get to the exit. I would imagine at Xmas there could be thousands a day ticketed. The signs compound the fraud by offering 3 hours parking. Sorry, just a particular bee in my bonnet.

It's particularly shocking at MSA (Motorway Services) car parks where the Government has said that people MUST be allowed up to 2 hours rest. And yet you have parasites there like PE with cameras at entrance and exit, their pathetic evidence based on times which may well include queuing/getting petrol/water/air/checking luggage is secure etc. And their signs don't comply with DFT rules for all traffic signs at MSAs either.

And of course, no 'reasonable adjustment' made at all under the Equality Act 2010 which is illegal because it's a statutory requirement to adhere to that Act.