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Ian Rawlings

Guest
Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any roads,
they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens this time.
The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and "marine rescue",
not just normal cars.

It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing out
speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they claimed
that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost them a lot of
money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed out that there
didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police cars!

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:25:47 +0000, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any roads,
>they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens this time.
>The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and "marine rescue",
>not just normal cars.
>
>It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing out
>speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they claimed
>that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost them a lot of
>money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed out that there
>didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police cars!

Just another example of how stupid and blinkered the authorities are
these days.

Alex
 
....and Alex spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...


> On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:25:47 +0000, Ian Rawlings
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>> London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>> by traffic wardens...

<snip>

>> It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing
>> out speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs,

<snip>

> Just another example of how stupid and blinkered the authorities are
> these days.
>
> Alex

Is it just me, or is this becoming a general thing throughout the UK? There
used to be a bit of room for discretion over things like the odd 2 mph over
the speed limit, or 2 minutes overstay on a parking space. Now the rules
seem to be enforced blindly, with no wish to understand the circumstances or
willingness to see things from the other point of view. Like those poor
buggers in London who had their number plates cloned, and who were taken to
court and fined, despite being able to prove they were not in London that
day (I think the authorities relented on that, but only because one guy had
the energy and stamina to find and photograph the offending vehicles, or
something). Fining the rescue services for illegal parking, convicting an
ambulance driver for speeding on a blue light call (while a police officer
is let off for doing a hundred and stupid mph on a public road) - the list
goes on. And it's not just in the area of motoring law either. Pensioners
go to prison for withholding a few quid on Council Tax (while 2Jags gets
away with an apology for failing to pay thousands). Things seem to have got
much harsher for the average bod in the street, when it comes to dealing
with the "authorities".

<rant over, thanks for listening>

--
Rich
==============================

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.


 
Richard Brookman wrote:


> Is it just me, or is this becoming a general thing throughout the UK? There
> used to be a bit of room for discretion over things like the odd 2 mph over
> the speed limit, or 2 minutes overstay on a parking space. Now the rules
> seem to be enforced blindly, with no wish to understand the circumstances or
> willingness to see things from the other point of view. Like those poor
> buggers in London who had their number plates cloned, and who were taken to
> court and fined, despite being able to prove they were not in London that
> day (I think the authorities relented on that, but only because one guy had
> the energy and stamina to find and photograph the offending vehicles, or
> something). Fining the rescue services for illegal parking, convicting an
> ambulance driver for speeding on a blue light call (while a police officer
> is let off for doing a hundred and stupid mph on a public road) - the list
> goes on. And it's not just in the area of motoring law either. Pensioners
> go to prison for withholding a few quid on Council Tax (while 2Jags gets
> away with an apology for failing to pay thousands). Things seem to have got
> much harsher for the average bod in the street, when it comes to dealing
> with the "authorities".

No, it's not just you! .... and your list is just the tip of the iceberg.


 
Ian Rawlings wrote:
> Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
> London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
> by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any roads,
> they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens this time.
> The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and "marine rescue",
> not just normal cars.
>
> It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing out
> speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they claimed
> that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost them a lot of
> money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed out that there
> didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police cars!
>


Who funds the 'marine' rescue/ambulance service?

I'm betting it's some local body or govt. dept., so your taxes/rates get
to pay for the tickets.
 
Brian wrote:
> Ian Rawlings wrote:
>> Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>> London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>> by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any roads,
>> they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens this time.
>> The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and "marine rescue",
>> not just normal cars.
>>
>> It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing
>> out speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they
>> claimed that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost
>> them a lot of money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed
>> out that there didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police
>> cars!
>
>
> Who funds the 'marine' rescue/ambulance service?
>
> I'm betting it's some local body or govt. dept., so your taxes/rates
> get to pay for the tickets.


You owe me £500 :)
Voluntary workers for a charity dependent on public donations according to
the BBC.
The fines have been waived though.

Huw


 
Huw wrote:
> Brian wrote:
>> Ian Rawlings wrote:
>>> Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>>> London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>>> by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any roads,
>>> they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens this time.
>>> The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and "marine rescue",
>>> not just normal cars.
>>>
>>> It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing
>>> out speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they
>>> claimed that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost
>>> them a lot of money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed
>>> out that there didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police
>>> cars!
>>
>> Who funds the 'marine' rescue/ambulance service?
>>
>> I'm betting it's some local body or govt. dept., so your taxes/rates
>> get to pay for the tickets.
>
>
> You owe me £500 :)
> Voluntary workers for a charity dependent on public donations according to
> the BBC.
> The fines have been waived though.
>
> Huw
>
>

Cough, choke, splutter......500 POUNDS!!!

Clucking bell, thats a whisker over 1,300.00 NZ$......and I know I never
bet more than a dollar! :)

It's good the fines have been waived, but what a dick around for all
concerned.

I'll put the dollar in my letterbox...if you haven't collected by the
26th, I'm keeping it!
 
Brian wrote:
> Huw wrote:
>> Brian wrote:
>>> Ian Rawlings wrote:
>>>> Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>>>> London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking
>>>> fines by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any
>>>> roads, they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens
>>>> this time. The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and
>>>> "marine rescue", not just normal cars.
>>>>
>>>> It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing
>>>> out speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they
>>>> claimed that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost
>>>> them a lot of money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed
>>>> out that there didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police
>>>> cars!
>>>
>>> Who funds the 'marine' rescue/ambulance service?
>>>
>>> I'm betting it's some local body or govt. dept., so your taxes/rates
>>> get to pay for the tickets.
>>
>>
>> You owe me £500 :)
>> Voluntary workers for a charity dependent on public donations
>> according to the BBC.
>> The fines have been waived though.
>>
>> Huw
>>
>>
>
> Cough, choke, splutter......500 POUNDS!!!
>
> Clucking bell, thats a whisker over 1,300.00 NZ$......and I know I
> never bet more than a dollar! :)
>
> It's good the fines have been waived, but what a dick around for all
> concerned.
>
> I'll put the dollar in my letterbox...if you haven't collected by the
> 26th, I'm keeping it!

It's almost worth popping on a plane for a cheap holiday LOL

Huw


 
On 2006-01-23, Huw <hedydd> wrote:

> Voluntary workers for a charity dependent on public donations according to
> the BBC.
> The fines have been waived though.

Well after starting this rant off, I can see why it's probably the
best thing to do; if they slap fines on vehicles with stickers like
"Marine Rescue" in the window or hastily pencilled notes in the window
telling them that they're part of the whale rescue team (as the
rescuers did), then the rescuers can then appeal afterwards.
Otherwise you'd get thousands of "Marine Rescue" stickers in car
windows throughout the towns of Britain. Fine 'em just in case and if
they are what they claim to be, then let them off. Which is what
happened.

Of course this depends on the appeals process being fair, I know that
I was let off a parking fine in Croydon when I supplied the ticket
that I'd bought, the traffic warden had seen it face-down on the floor
of the landy where it had blown due to draughts and noted it on the
fine sheet, when I appealed and supplied the legitimate ticket I was
let off. This is despite the requirement to display it clearly, which
I hadn't complied with really. So they can be reasonable.

The London congestion charge appeals process is a model of
beaurocratic close-mindedness however, and consists of 4 tick-boxes
next to reasons like "I'm dead", "I am under the age of 2" and a few
other unlikely reasons, with no means to appeal on the grounds of any
reason that isn't on the selection list. And of course you have to
pay before you go, which isn't fair on those who don't live in London
so don't know the rules *before* they travel..... (Guess who got
caught out on that one!)

Err, so yes I think the original poster on this thread was being
perhaps a little unfair as fining the rescuers then allowing an appeal
was the only practical approach! Shame on the OP! *cough*

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:22:24 +0000, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 2006-01-23, Huw <hedydd> wrote:
>
>> Voluntary workers for a charity dependent on public donations according to
>> the BBC.
>> The fines have been waived though.
>
>
>Err, so yes I think the original poster on this thread was being
>perhaps a little unfair as fining the rescuers then allowing an appeal
>was the only practical approach! Shame on the OP! *cough*

And what is the betting that had they not said anything, and the
resulting stories in the paper had not appeared, the fines wouldn't
have been waived?

Alex
 
Alex wrote:

>
> And what is the betting .........
>
> Alex


Careful....it seems the minimum bet here is 500 pounds! :)
 
Brian wrote:
> Alex wrote:
>
>>
>> And what is the betting .........
>>
>> Alex
>
>
> Careful....it seems the minimum bet here is 500 pounds! :)

Absolutely.
Although there is no way of proving that bet except by trying it again the
next time a whale swims up the Thames past London.
The one time I had a ticket, in Birmingham, I appealed by post and it was
waived with no problem.

Huw


 
On 2006-01-24, Alex <[email protected]> wrote:

> And what is the betting that had they not said anything, and the
> resulting stories in the paper had not appeared, the fines wouldn't
> have been waived?

It's possible, but as I found, the traffic fine appeals process isn't
necessarily just a whitewash, personally I reckon they'd have gotten
off even without the papers but I don't know the council involved.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
Richard Brookman wrote:

> ...and Alex spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
>
>
>
>>On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:25:47 +0000, Ian Rawlings
>><[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>>>London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>>>by traffic wardens...
>
>
> <snip>
>
>>>It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing
>>>out speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs,
>
>
> <snip>
>
>>Just another example of how stupid and blinkered the authorities are
>>these days.
>>
>>Alex
>
>
> Is it just me, or is this becoming a general thing throughout the UK? There
> used to be a bit of room for discretion over things like the odd 2 mph over
> the speed limit, or 2 minutes overstay on a parking space. Now the rules
> seem to be enforced blindly, with no wish to understand the circumstances or
> willingness to see things from the other point of view. Like those poor
> buggers in London who had their number plates cloned, and who were taken to
> court and fined, despite being able to prove they were not in London that
> day (I think the authorities relented on that, but only because one guy had
> the energy and stamina to find and photograph the offending vehicles, or
> something). Fining the rescue services for illegal parking, convicting an
> ambulance driver for speeding on a blue light call (while a police officer
> is let off for doing a hundred and stupid mph on a public road) - the list
> goes on. And it's not just in the area of motoring law either. Pensioners
> go to prison for withholding a few quid on Council Tax (while 2Jags gets
> away with an apology for failing to pay thousands). Things seem to have got
> much harsher for the average bod in the street, when it comes to dealing
> with the "authorities".
>
> <rant over, thanks for listening>
>
Definitely not you. I read an article recently about a ticket machine
that will be used in carparks. It controls 2 bays, takes a photo of the
number plate, using character recognition, issues a ticket and then
checks the number plate at the end of the time. If the car is still
there it automatically issues a fine!
Of course, this is NOT a money making scheme. However couold they make a
profit when each machine costs £3000!!

john
 
I recently parked in an NCP car park in lincoln, collected ticket from
man, left car about midday, returned about 9pm, after the man had gone
home. The gates to the car park were left open (I had checked they
would be!) and we were free to drive out without paying. There was a
little notice left undr the wiper - "This vehicle A123ABC has incurred
a charge of £5 (or whatever) which has not been paid. Please post
your payment to xxx or pay on your next visit." That was so effing
*reasonable* that I paid up, just to reward their reasonableness. Mind
you, that was NCP, a private company, not the loacl authority or the
police.

Contrast with Oxford, where I paid to park overnight (6pm - 8am) at a
meter in a back street, overslept, returned to the car at 8.10am to
find a £40 fine. The wardens must start each day with a sweep of the
meters near the colleges, looking for oversleepers in that first
critical half hour.. OK, it's 100% within the rules, it's perfectly
legit, but it ruined my day - and for what? Not NCP, local authority.
I agree with what was said in an earlier thread - we're losing the
ability to compromise and give and take, and the UK is getting a
harsher place, full of jobsworths and iron rules. I mean, what's this
crap with the congestion charge - you can appeal, but only for reasons
that we approve of. I drove into the area as I had to get a dying
child to a hospital. Sorry, Sir, if your excuse isn't one of the four
we accept, we aren't listeining, la la la.

 
On 24 Jan 2006 03:51:56 -0800, Dave P wrote:

> I mean, what's this crap with the congestion charge - you can
> appeal, but only for reasons that we approve of. I drove into the
> area as I had to get a dying child to a hospital. Sorry, Sir, if
> your excuse isn't one of the four we accept, we aren't listeining,
> la la la.

and On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:22:24 +0000, Ian Rawlings wrote:

> And of course you have to pay before you go,

I think I'm missing something about how this congestion charge thingy
works. Being several hundred miles from London I assume it works just
like any other toll or car park charge.

You drive in, pay on entry (coin bin, man in booth, WHY) or pay at a
road side meter, "before you go" ie leave the congestion charge area.

Why do I get a nasty feeling I'm wrong...

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail



 
On 2006-01-24, Dave Liquorice <[email protected]> wrote:

> I think I'm missing something about how this congestion charge thingy
> works. Being several hundred miles from London I assume it works just
> like any other toll or car park charge.

Nope, it's been specially designed to catch people out. You drive
into London, you see the "C" signs everywhere, think "Hmm that must be
that congenstion charge thing I've heard about", do your work, drive
home tired and weary arriving home at perhaps 10PM and relax for a
while. The next day you phone up to pay and are told that you're too
late, you have to pay beforehand or by 10:00PM on the day you travel.
You can pay up to midnight on the day you travel but that costs an
extra £2. You can appeal but the options are extremely limited, I
can't remember what they are as they're not on the CC London website,
only on the backs of the tickets themselves.

When you protest that it's grossly unfair you are told that the
congestion charge rules were publicised on nationwide news, the retort
that you didn't pay it any heed because you don't live in London or
travel there normally isn't valid apparently, neither is the
difference in time of a year or more between you being "informed" of
the rules and you actually using it. You see, it's *LONDON* therefore
every single soul in the British isles should have heeded the somewhat
confused news reports of the time and written the instructions down
for when they came to London.....

I've bitched about this "pay before you go" lark before, it's amazing
the number of people who just trot out the "ignorance is no excuse"
line, it bloody well needs to be with those kind of rules.

Mind you, there are exemptions for vehicles with more than 12 seats,
so a 110 County could swing it. Also apparently they don't check if
your vehicle has 12 seats or not, some people claim to have applied
for an exemption on these ground and got one, despite driving a normal
eurobox.

Personally I just avoid the place like the plague, for many more
reasons than just the congestion charge.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
 
On Tue, 24 Jan 2006 01:22:46 -0000, "Huw"
<hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk> made me spill my meths when he wrote:

>Although there is no way of proving that bet except by trying it again the
>next time a whale swims up the Thames past London.

Fancy a dip Martyn?


--
Wayne Davies - Harrogate, N.Yorks, UK
Mobile 07989 556213
Per Mud - Ad Pub
 
On or around Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:25:47 +0000, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>by traffic wardens... They weren't parked blocking off any roads,
>they were on meters, so no excuses for the traffic wardens this time.
>The vehicles were marked as "marine ambulances" and "marine rescue",
>not just normal cars.
>
>It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing out
>speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs, they claimed
>that to engineer a means of making exceptions would cost them a lot of
>money, to which the ambulance drivers' unions pointed out that there
>didn't appear to be a problem when it came to police cars!

bastards.

Mind you, a TW last year managed to ticket the speed camera boys' van
somewhere, which I found hilariously funny at the time.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"It is a characteristic of the human mind to hate the man one has injured"
Tacitus (c.55 - c.117) Agricola, 45
 
In message <[email protected]>, Richard Brookman
<[email protected]> writes
>...and Alex spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...
>
>
>> On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:25:47 +0000, Ian Rawlings
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Just noticed that the rescue workers who were trying to rescue
>>> London's recent whale visitor have been handed £300 in parking fines
>>> by traffic wardens...
>
><snip>
>
>>> It's like the excuses the police were giving last year for handing
>>> out speeding fines to ambulance drivers on emergency runs,
>
><snip>
>
>> Just another example of how stupid and blinkered the authorities are
>> these days.
>>
>> Alex
>
>Is it just me, or is this becoming a general thing throughout the UK? There
>used to be a bit of room for discretion over things like the odd 2 mph over
>the speed limit, or 2 minutes overstay on a parking space. Now the rules
>seem to be enforced blindly,

If it is anything like our area the scheme is self financing. This
means that as the locals get more careful about times the wardens get
more picky about is it within the white lines etc.

It has also recently come to light (thanks I am told to the freedom of
information act) that the wardens have quotas of tickets which they are
expected to issue. The implication is that if you regularly fail to
fill your quota then your not doing your job.

This of course means they have to ticket for the tiniest excuse.

Incidentally since the Carlisle floods in Jan 2005 the police have been
parking all day every day where they should have been ticketed.

--
Malcolm Kane
 
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