Parking fine 'loophole' is exposed by motorist
A motorist has exposed a legal loophole which might invalidate thousands of parking tickets issued in Dacorum.
Hemel today
Wednesday, November 15:
Adjudicators wiped Thomas Palmer's £60 penalty charge because the wording on the ticket failed to comply with the Road Traffic Act.
Mr Palmer was given the ticket in June when his car was parked on the pavement on Hillfield Road. According to the parking attendant, the double yellow lines on the road applied to the pavement as well.
But the ticket was missing vital wording to state when it was issued.
Mr Palmer said: "I appealed on a technicality."
The adjudicator deemed the ticket 'unenforceable' and ordered Dacorum Council to cancel the charge. National campaigners claim there may be thousands of unpaid parking charges in Dacorum which could also be invalid.
Parking protester Neil Herron said: "Every penalty charge notice (parking ticket) must contain certain legal wording according to the 1991 Road Traffic Act.
"The ticket must have the date of contravention plus the date of issue. Both pieces of information are required for it to be valid, yet Dacorum Borough Council has been issuing tickets with only one date on them."
The National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) said: "Motorists have up to 28 days to pay their fine from the date of the ticket issue, not the date of the offence, which is why it is set in law that the tickets must contain both dates."
This will not mean that motorists who have already paid their parking fines will have a case.
The NPAS spokesman said: "As things stand you cannot appeal retrospectively so if you have paid your ticket already you can't appeal through the council or through us."
A spokesman for Dacorum Council added: "There can be no comeback for anyone who has received a penalty charge notice and paid the fine. Paying the fine is taken as an acceptance of guilt."
Since Mr Palmer's charge was dropped on November 6, Dacorum Borough Council has been seeking legal advice on whether its tickets need to be changed.
A spokesman said: "In the meantime we will continue with parking enforcement in town centres and streets."
Mr Herron said: "Local authorities are not above the law.
"It may only be wording the council has got wrong, but motorists who were 'nearly' parked in the right spot do not get out of getting a ticket. The law is a two way street."
More information on parking fines is available at http://neilherron. blogspot.com
Hemel today
Wednesday, November 15:
Adjudicators wiped Thomas Palmer's £60 penalty charge because the wording on the ticket failed to comply with the Road Traffic Act.
Mr Palmer was given the ticket in June when his car was parked on the pavement on Hillfield Road. According to the parking attendant, the double yellow lines on the road applied to the pavement as well.
But the ticket was missing vital wording to state when it was issued.
Mr Palmer said: "I appealed on a technicality."
The adjudicator deemed the ticket 'unenforceable' and ordered Dacorum Council to cancel the charge. National campaigners claim there may be thousands of unpaid parking charges in Dacorum which could also be invalid.
Parking protester Neil Herron said: "Every penalty charge notice (parking ticket) must contain certain legal wording according to the 1991 Road Traffic Act.
"The ticket must have the date of contravention plus the date of issue. Both pieces of information are required for it to be valid, yet Dacorum Borough Council has been issuing tickets with only one date on them."
The National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) said: "Motorists have up to 28 days to pay their fine from the date of the ticket issue, not the date of the offence, which is why it is set in law that the tickets must contain both dates."
This will not mean that motorists who have already paid their parking fines will have a case.
The NPAS spokesman said: "As things stand you cannot appeal retrospectively so if you have paid your ticket already you can't appeal through the council or through us."
A spokesman for Dacorum Council added: "There can be no comeback for anyone who has received a penalty charge notice and paid the fine. Paying the fine is taken as an acceptance of guilt."
Since Mr Palmer's charge was dropped on November 6, Dacorum Borough Council has been seeking legal advice on whether its tickets need to be changed.
A spokesman said: "In the meantime we will continue with parking enforcement in town centres and streets."
Mr Herron said: "Local authorities are not above the law.
"It may only be wording the council has got wrong, but motorists who were 'nearly' parked in the right spot do not get out of getting a ticket. The law is a two way street."
More information on parking fines is available at http://neilherron. blogspot.com
posted by Neil Herron at 11:27 AM
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