Parking enforcers fine crash victim
Edinburgh Evening News
Alan Roden
Transport Reporter
A CRASH victim who was injured when joyriders smashed into his car was punished with two parking fines for abandoning his battered vehicle.
Peter Bishop, who suffered whiplash after a head-on collision in the city centre, said he was told by police to leave his wrecked car at the side of the road.
But when the 37-year-old returned to pick up the vehicle, which had a "Police Aware" sticker on the window, he found Enforcers had issued two penalty notices within just two hours.
Mr Bishop said he was "completely gobsmacked" to find the £30 fines and immediately appealed to the city council.
Parking chiefs agreed to overturn one penalty, but insisted the second ticket - for leaving the car in a bus lane - should be paid. Mr Bishop, from Wester Hailes, today said it was "unfair" to make him pay for an accident that was not his fault.
"I was driving around Abbeyhill in the early hours of a Saturday morning, when a BMW came racing down the wrong side of the road," he said. "It smashed straight into my car, and the driver and passengers jumped out and ran away. The suspension on my car was completely ruined and the car couldn't be driven on the roads, so the police asked me to move it to the side of the street.
"First thing on Monday morning, I arranged for the vehicle to be picked up by staff from my garage, and they got there at 10am. But earlier that morning, Enforcers had slapped two fines on my car."
The car crash happened in October. A BMW hit Mr Bishop's Nissan Primera on Cadzow Place.
Police today said they have been unable to find the occupants of the BMW, which had been reported stolen.
Mr Bishop works in an accident repair shop and could have arranged for his car to be uplifted earlier, but waited until the Monday morning. As a result, the Enforcers were within their rights to issue a ticket.
However, Mr Bishop said the Enforcers need to use more "common sense".
It is policy for Enforcers to telephone the police if they find an abandoned vehicle. Two tickets can be issued if a vehicle needs to be towed away, but one is often cancelled at a later date.
A council spokeswoman said today: "We checked with the police before issuing the first ticket. We apologise for issuing two tickets, but we resolved this a few months ago by cancelling one of the tickets.
"Mr Bishop was advised he had to dispute the second ticket within 28 days but chose not to do so."
Alan Roden
Transport Reporter
A CRASH victim who was injured when joyriders smashed into his car was punished with two parking fines for abandoning his battered vehicle.
Peter Bishop, who suffered whiplash after a head-on collision in the city centre, said he was told by police to leave his wrecked car at the side of the road.
But when the 37-year-old returned to pick up the vehicle, which had a "Police Aware" sticker on the window, he found Enforcers had issued two penalty notices within just two hours.
Mr Bishop said he was "completely gobsmacked" to find the £30 fines and immediately appealed to the city council.
Parking chiefs agreed to overturn one penalty, but insisted the second ticket - for leaving the car in a bus lane - should be paid. Mr Bishop, from Wester Hailes, today said it was "unfair" to make him pay for an accident that was not his fault.
"I was driving around Abbeyhill in the early hours of a Saturday morning, when a BMW came racing down the wrong side of the road," he said. "It smashed straight into my car, and the driver and passengers jumped out and ran away. The suspension on my car was completely ruined and the car couldn't be driven on the roads, so the police asked me to move it to the side of the street.
"First thing on Monday morning, I arranged for the vehicle to be picked up by staff from my garage, and they got there at 10am. But earlier that morning, Enforcers had slapped two fines on my car."
The car crash happened in October. A BMW hit Mr Bishop's Nissan Primera on Cadzow Place.
Police today said they have been unable to find the occupants of the BMW, which had been reported stolen.
Mr Bishop works in an accident repair shop and could have arranged for his car to be uplifted earlier, but waited until the Monday morning. As a result, the Enforcers were within their rights to issue a ticket.
However, Mr Bishop said the Enforcers need to use more "common sense".
It is policy for Enforcers to telephone the police if they find an abandoned vehicle. Two tickets can be issued if a vehicle needs to be towed away, but one is often cancelled at a later date.
A council spokeswoman said today: "We checked with the police before issuing the first ticket. We apologise for issuing two tickets, but we resolved this a few months ago by cancelling one of the tickets.
"Mr Bishop was advised he had to dispute the second ticket within 28 days but chose not to do so."
posted by Neil Herron at 3:18 PM
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