Afternoon all,
Swmbo's just called and told me I've got a penalty notice for parking in a bus stop in Croydon - I did stop in a layby (might have been a
bus stop) to drop someone off near the train station, I must have been stopped for all of 45 seconds, don't recall seeing any no stopping signs
or warnings there - has anyone managed to get the fine dropped from these? A 60 quid fine will pretty much wipe out the overtime I was doing the day I
dropped him off! 
Cheers,
Vince
If you were still in the driver's seat with the engine running, then surely you were merely stopped, dropping off a passenger to catch their bus, not parked.
That's my understanding of parked or not....
Wasn't there something on Watchdog on the TV about this, it's usually a camera watching the bay which automatically generates a fine?
The law states that if you have stopped due to a mechanical fault then you can abandon your vehicle in a bus lane until recovered.
my recomendation would be to say your car was running very rough and becoming unsafe to call. you pulled into the bus lane to let your partner out due
to the mechanical fault. you was then moving to a safe place to get recovered.
that would be my suggestion. obviously that would have to be true to write to them to get it dropped.
also if you dont stop the engine or get out you are not parking in a bus lane so maybe you just pulled in to let a emergency vehicle past although i
guess you wouldnt recall what it was.
dave
I had a similar one (fined for moving our the way of an ambulance into a bus stop, then straight out again) i got all upset and saw a solicitor and
she told me not to bother trying... it's non endorsable.... plus you cant recover the defence costs which'd be more than the fine....
She was telling me that she'd also had a case where a guy got points and a fine for pulling through a red light as the ambulance was sat behind
him with thumps going and was even in the picture... came to court and he was told he should have just sat there and waited!!!
[Edited on 2/12/10 by Rek]
Croydon has the worse reputation for parking fines in the UK. It is actually counted into the council tax figures. When they dont generate enough
revenue from parking meters etc, to meet the expected council tax off set, they go hell for leather to recover the loss. They sent teams out even in
the middle of the night to fine people who park on the pavement.
So whatever you do, dont park illegally or even dare to stop anywhere you shouldn't
I pulled into a bustop to drop off my wife at the train station, she was heavily pregnant and couldnt physically walk from the car park, not even the
disabled bays
result
3 points, £60 fine TS50 endorsement
what pissed me off was that I followed 3 cars in, and there were 2 behind me, but ol bill came roaring in and only did me WTF, again never actually
parked, engine was never turned off, got out to help wife out of car, but jumped straight back in to go and park it.
If its a bus stop, then its there for buses to stop, not for dropping of passengers, otherwise it would be called a drop of area. I know its not want
you want to hear but even if you only pulled in to drop someone off then you have stopped in a bus stop. Dont lie and say your car was playing up and
waiting to be recovered as you will have to prove it, just accept it and you wont be doing it again. Its like getting out the way of an emergancy
vehicle, if you pull forward over a red light then you have crossed a red light. Guilty as charged........just life Im afraid.....
I'm not sure if it still applies, but in my younger days the legal definition for parking was 'a period in excess of 3 minutes' less
than three minutes was considered to be 'waiting'.
This is borne out by some signs stating 'no parking or waiting' whereas others will say 'no parking'.
Could be worth arguing the point (after checking the signage in the bus stop of course) that you were never parking, merely waiting for a passenger to
leave your car.
I've looked on the Croydon website and their enforcement of stopping in a bus stop is "instant". Next time I'll just block the road instead. b'stards.....
The law is an arse on occasions like this.
I got fined and points for crossing a red light at a road works. The contractors were moving plant, and although I had passed the board saying
'wait here' when it was green, it was turning red when I passed the light. Also being a roadworks there was no issue of crossing traffic.
I went to the magistrates and argued that if I had stopped I would have jammed up the whole road works as there were cars behind and oncoming vehicles
would have no way out.
The magistrates were sympathetic but said they had to enforce the law as it was written. Discretion can only be exercised by the police in deciding
whether a charge is brought or not. Once a charge is brought the law has to be enforced by the courts. They have no power to vary it however bonkers
it is.
A couple of years ago SWMBO got stopped for going through a No Entry sign which was at the end of a bus lane. She was given an 'on the spot' fine which she paid but two weeks later got a letter from the Police saying that a mistake was made - she should have been prosecuted for the 'greater offence' of entering a bus lane! But, as it was their error BOTH charges were dropped and she got the fine refunded. The law is certainly a bit strange sometimes.
saying all this i approaced a set of lights the other day and beyond it a car was being picked up onto a lorry (crashed?). " cops after the
lights waved the car infron thru as the lights were still on green but as i got closer they changed to red so i stopped, the cops waved even more (too
much energy from those donuts i suppose) so i proceeded knowing full well if there is a cam on the lights no judge would listen to my excuse of
folling a police officers instructions, when i went past the cops the look they gave me was of discust.
Its sad to see the law is so crap no wonder your better off as a crook in todays society.
I got pulled over for overtaking and crossing a double white line. I was following a tractor and trailer at less than 5mph. The road ahead was clear
for miles so off I went. There was an unmarked plod two cars behind me who immediately pulled out, passed the cars in front, the tractor and trailer
and then me before swerving in front of me to stop me.
He stomped over to my car, flung my door open and started to rant at me. I got out and suggested that he moved his car because now the tractor had
stopped behind my car and all the other cars were passing it and crossing the white lines.....
He insisted that the lines were there to separate the two rows of traffic so I asked him where does he drive when there are no lines. He also insisted
that overtaking the tractor was dangerous so I asked him why he had done it. At that point a marked police car turned up....... They checked my
documents and told me to be off......
Six weeks later I got a Notice of intended prosecution on the same day as I got a letter telling me that CPS were taking the matter no further. WTF???
quote:
Originally posted by FazerBob
I'm not sure if it still applies, but in my younger days the legal definition for parking was 'a period in excess of 3 minutes' less than three minutes was considered to be 'waiting'.
This is borne out by some signs stating 'no parking or waiting' whereas others will say 'no parking'.
Could be worth arguing the point (after checking the signage in the bus stop of course) that you were never parking, merely waiting for a passenger to leave your car.
Don't get me started on this one.. Anyway if there is no points involved just pay up it's going to be less hassle. Unless you fancy making a
point (and wasting more money). You will also find that if you don't pay withing a certain period the fine goes up (this will be in the letter),
so do don't waste time thinking about what to do (real PITA, I think it's almost harassment as you are pressured to pay even when the
alleged offense is a false one)..
Had the same issue with automatic cameras and buss lanes in harrow, wife has had two fines in quick succession, and our in laws suffered the same when
visiting. The actual circumstances of the offense are not taken into account..
Dan
quote:
Originally posted by FazerBob
I'm not sure if it still applies, but in my younger days the legal definition for parking was 'a period in excess of 3 minutes' less than three minutes was considered to be 'waiting'.
.
its same as stopping on the zig zag crossing lines its 60 and 3 points if you just get a fine id take it tbh