Fixed penalty notice

robnye

i wonder if someone can help,

my wife received a FPN for double parking in a residential area - even though people do it all the time down that road and cars are able to get past.

the code on the ticket is BC41 - obstruction unnecessary

further up the road there is currently gas pipe work being undertaken, which is gradually moving down the road, removing approx 12 space either side of the road as it moves down.

my wife double parked outside her mothers house, whilst she helped take her shopping into her flat - as her mother suffers with Asthma and has trouble with stairs.

the ticket itself is unreadable..... the carbon copy is very light..

my wife contacted the police station and was told that it was a community officer had issued it.....

during the evenings there are at least 3 cars double parked every day.
my wife wrote to the police stating the above information, and has received a reply, basically saying that the ticket has been issued correctly......

question:- is this enforcable

we are at the stage now - do we pay the fine or take our chances in court.... but if we go to court - what information can we use?

does any one have any ideas

Quentin

An offence is an offence, even if others get away with it.

Less hassle to pay up and move on.

Also apply for a disabled sticker to use when transporting the m-i-l if she's truly disabled by her condition as they may be more forgiving in the future.

robnye

but what doesnt make sense..... surely an obstruction is blocking... ie nothing can get by....... even a ambulance is able to get past

alanrowell

Emergency vehicles would have to slow down to get past the ILLEGALLY parked car

Pay the fine, if you take it to court YOU WILL LOSE

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Quentin wrote: »

An offence is an offence, even if others get away with it.

Less hassle to pay up and move on.

Also apply for a disabled sticker to use when transporting the m-i-l if she's truly disabled by her condition as they may be more forgiving in the future.

An offence is only an offence if the law has been followed correctly, and often it is not.

To the OP, go to https://www.pepipoo.com and ask there. There are many failings that parking enforcement regularly are guilty of.

anewman

People doing it all the time does not mean that it's ok to do.

People illegally park on a grass verge all the time not far from me, because they can't be arsed paying to park in town. The perplexing things is it is usually nice cars - money for a nice car, no money to park. There has been the occasional traffic warden issuing tickets to them but they always do it.

Doozergirl

I'll just second that you need to go to www.pepipoo.com to see whether the notice itself has been worded correctly. That's the only way your wife will succeed at appeal.

No doubt the offence occurred, regardless of whether or not it is usually picked up on but there are sometimes ways to get around it. We're in no place to judge, though some of us might think we are Holier than Thou and on this board solely to do God's work for him. :rolleyes:

Good luck

Hintza

You need to check it out but as far as I am aware double parking is not necessarily an offence. The reason I say this, I once cameb back to my car parked illegally but they had not started writing the ticket. I had a moan aboiut the lack of parking sapces and all trhe folk double parked and why were they not getting tickets. The reply was they were in fact not commiting an offence. I haven't a clue whether this is accurate but you never know.

headpin

Hintza wrote: »

You need to check it out but as far as I am aware double parking is not necessarily an offence. The reason I say this, I once cameb back to my car parked illegally but they had not started writing the ticket. I had a moan aboiut the lack of parking sapces and all trhe folk double parked and why were they not getting tickets. The reply was they were in fact not commiting an offence. I haven't a clue whether this is accurate but you never know.

The FPN was not issued for Double Parking it was issued for Causing an Obstruction which is an offence. Causing an obstruction covers any situation where the vehicle may impede the flow of other traffic. This could include parking too close to a corner or on a bend. You do not have totally block the road to commit the offence. On the information given it would appear the offence was commited by the OP's wife.

The only get off will be if the FPN was issued incorrectly. Take a look at www.pepipoo.com for some guidance and advice on this.

Conor_3

Just to add...

Regarding the fact you say you weren't causing an obstruction because people could get past. Were you referring to cars able to get through because there needs to be sufficient room for a lorry to get through unimpeded at high speed i.e a fire engine.

It is enforcable.

laurz121

you assume it is enforcable, you don't know how wide the road was. If it was wide enough for one lorry to fit through comfortably then would it be fair to say the OP wasn't blocking the road? Or would there need to be room for two vehicles to pass each other?

Also does 'at high speed' mean at the speed limit? or does it mean slowed down to a reasonably slow speed? as surely even a lorry or fire engine wouldn't drive dangerously by passing ANY parked car at high speed.