i just got a ticket for parking in a disabled bay with my blue badge clearly on show. i was only gone 2 minutes.
was he following me?
no way am i paying this fine.
grrrr dont need this stress
carole x
Thats awful, I kow how frustrating it is i got one but my badge had fallen off the dashboard onto the floor, I appealed but no chance. We’re both parts of your badge on show, I know in my,area there very hot on that and the number of cars just displaying one part. Can you see,any reason why you’ve been given a ticket? if only there 2 minutes and badge out I can’t understand why, no wonder your fuming. Take care try and chill and enjoy the rest of your weekend xx
both parts were on show. i have no idea why i got a ticket. it wasnt written on the ticket.
surely they should state why the ticket has been given.
hopefully i will have calmed down by tomorrow and then i’ll ring them.
carole x
Carol, this happened to me, some bays have a time limit on how long you can park there, and if your not showing your clock part, then they have no idea how long you have been there. I appealed, but they said…“it clearly states 2hr time limit” I lost the appealxx
Hi, this is so wrong and you do right to be annoyed. If you had both parts and the correct time clearly showing, then why have you got the ticket?
Some months ago, we fought a ticket fine. Hubby droppped me off and collected me about 3 hours apart and the camera only showed us entering and said we had stayed 331 mins, with no ticket. Disabled badges are not exempt from payment.
We fought the ticket and won…but after a lot of anxiety and temper…mine!
Good luck with your challenge.
luv Pollx
i think the least they could do would be to explain why i was given the ticket and why it wasnt written on the ticket.
no. 1 on tomorrows to-do list!!!
carole x
Hi Carole, good grief how annoying for you. where I live not all disabled spaces are free - it depends which car park I go in. Some friends recently who have a blue badge for their severely disabled daughter where caught out in the lake district cause they parked in a disabled bay and displayed their badge and clock correctly but hadn’t realised they still had to pay and came back to a ticket. Ironically they’d have been better off parking in the road and displaying their badge. Sounds like he was lurking to me and saw his chance to get you.
@ Pat - that is really shocking that they have targets to meet. Crikey! How ridiculous is that? Your poor hubby must have found that a nightmare!
Our local council car parks have free disabled parking spaces. But the ones not run by the council, for example NCP ones, have disabled spaces which aren’t free.
The larger sized spaces are great even if they only make it easier for me to get in or out of the car!
Hi
The first question is was it a parking fine issued by the council for parking on public land or a penalty charge notice for parking on private land.
If the first then contact them and ask for their proof that there was a problem parking in that space. It could range from badge problems to parking over the lines.
If on private land and a PCN then ignore it. It is an invoice issued by a company. I got one last May and got lots of threats but no final action.
See Moneysavingexpert (martin lewis’s blog) and type in parking fine. There is lots of hints and tips on there.
Good luck.
Neil
Hi, was your badge displayed upside down? If so they will give you a ticket. Any excuse to get money. I hope you appeal and win. Anne x.
@ neil
it wasnt private land. it was a side street with disabled parking bays.
my badge wasnt upside down and the correct time was displayed.
i only nipped into the paper shop for a paper and some cigs for my son.
ohhh i was mad before but having festered on it all sunday, woe betide them when i ring tomorrow.
Hi Carole,
If you phone them they’ll only say you have to put it in writing. Its so annoying.
I got a ticket whilst on holiday and couldn’t understand it so when I saw another traffic warden I asked her to have a look at my blue badge as I had in on show properly with the clock organised correctly too. She looked and said the writing on the badge had faded and couldn’t be read so that was the reason for the ticket issue. My local council had used the wrong ink! Anyway I got it overturned but it wasn’t an easy process and it cost me in postage terms and telephone clls to the council and to the holiday destination.
I hope you are able to get this sorted as it is very unfair and even though Traffic Wardens have targets I think there should be some penalty if they issue them incorrectly as it does cost money to get it resolved and is also causes unecessary angst.
BW, Mary
I am a traffic warden for a council area in the north and have been for 6 years. In all the time I have been there we have never, ever worked to a target system. Although I can not say how other councils work I can clearly state that I would be more likely to be disciplined for issuing too many tickets than too few. The role of a traffic warden is to keep the flow of traffic moving and only as a last resort to issue a ticket. A traffic warden can only issue a ticket if it is deemed that somebody has parked in the wrong place or not considered the lines and signs displayed.
We are human beings and can make mistakes. We also sometimes issue to disabled badges because they have expired, details hidden from view, are upside down or the clock has not been displayed correctly or not at all. In these cases it is the fault of the person who displayed the badge if a ticket is issued in this respect. The reason why we issue in these cases is so the badge can be checked as we can’talways wait for people to return. The advice that we always give to people who are issued with a ticket is to appeal; never just pay a ticket regardless of circumstance.
I would ask you not to demonise people as a number of my colleagues and myself have suffered great abuse even to the point of being attacked. This is down to people with unfavourable attitudes. We now wear cameras to protect ourselves and the public as conversation and actions are recorded. From experience when traffic wardens are removed from an area it results in chaos and reduced revenue to the shops and businesses in that area. I will reiterate that we are there to control traffic, allow steady flow of pedestrian foot fall to businesses and to keep the traffic flowing. I an often amazed at how little the modern car user is not aware of the rules and regulations of the highway code.
As I said I cannot account for other authorities but it is in the authorities interest not to have a team of heavy handed traffic wardens as this only chases away business from the high street and local area. In the current economic climate we need all the business we can get into our high streets rather than chasing it away to out of town shopping.
I have written this to put forward the measured response of a traffic warden who is very happy in the work that I do and would hope people would consider my side and not demonise all wardens.
Andy (Sarah’s OH)
That explains a lot. I know that private contractors are more profit based than local authorities.
Honest, I’m a nice guy. Please don’t assume we’re all the same!
Andy (Sarah’s OH)
Hi Carole,
Think the warden would have taken a photo of your car showing the reason for the ticket. So, if the disk wasn’t displayed the photo would show it. (know you did do yours) If you appeal they could show you the photo.
Andy - I always smile at traffic wardens, everyone has a job to do, some are just a little more difficult than others.onCarole, let us know how you get on,
Jen x