Safe Speed Forums

The campaign for genuine road safety
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 13:21

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 20:13 
Offline
Gold Member
Gold Member

Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 23:26
Posts: 9263
Location: Treacletown ( just north of M6 J3),A MILE OR TWO PAST BEDROCK
Found in Consumer action newsletter

"Fixed cameras and camera cars used to catch people parking illegally could be banned in England.

Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles shocked local authorities ( and no doubt bailiff companies) by announcing that he is seeking to "outlaw" local authorities from using CCTV camera's and "spy cars" to "milk" parking fines from motorists !!

Other proposals include:

Changing legislation to reimburse motorists the “cost and expense” of appealing parking fines if they are successful.
Increasing the waiting period allowed for motorists before a fine is issued from five minutes to 15 minutes.
Amending the law to stop councils from using bailiffs to collect parking fines.

The reforms will go out to consultation for six weeks from this month"

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 01:21 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 02:17
Posts: 7355
Location: Highlands
BBC News wrote:
Ban on car parking cameras and 'spy cars' considered in England
Roy Tunstall, from Liverpool City Council, says CCTV vans act as a "high-visibility deterrent"
27 September 2013 Last updated at 13:00

Fixed cameras and what critics call spy cars used to catch people parking illegally could be banned in England.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said he wanted to "rein in over-zealous and unfair rules", and that traffic wardens with cameras could do the job instead.
Static and car mounted cameras have been used to issue more than 10 million fines, totalling £301m, in the past five years, the Conservatives say.
Councils say the cameras help to keep roads safe, especially near schools.
The law could be changed "well before Easter", Mr Pickles told the BBC.

“Start Quote
Camera cars have been instrumental in keeping children from being hurt or killed on the way to school”

Tony Ball Local Government Association
Some 75 councils currently have permission to use CCTV cameras or "approved devices" to enforce parking restrictions, under Labour's 2004 Traffic Management Act.
In these areas, a third of all parking fines are now issued via CCTV rather than by parking wardens, case studies suggest.
Meanwhile, a study by the Audit Commission found one in three councils was earning more money through parking charges and school meals than council tax.
Ahead of the Tories' annual conference, which starts on Sunday, Mr Pickles said restrictions were damaging town centres and being enforced unfairly.

The party has announced a series of proposals including:
Banning static CCTV parking cameras and car mounted cameras, instead allowing only visible traffic wardens to film vehicles
Publishing "open data" on parking
Updating guidelines to help people use local shops more easily
Improving people's "rights of redress" when fined inappropriately
Stopping "unacceptable and aggressive parking fine collection practices"
Reviewing "unnecessary" yellow lines

A Conservative Party briefing says using CCTV for parking enforcement "is detrimental to natural justice", as penalty notices are received in the post "with no opportunity for the driver to examine the parking location as it was at the time of the alleged contravention".

Mr Pickles added: "We want to rein in these over-zealous and unfair rules on parking enforcement, so it focuses on supporting high streets and motorists, not raising money.
"Parking spy cars are just one example of this and a step too far. Public confidence is strengthened in CCTV if it is used to tackle crime, not to raise money for council coffers."
Civil liberties campaigners called for a "serious debate" about what they said was the UK's "uniquely high level of CCTV surveillance".
"Councils should be transparent with residents about how many tickets are being issued with CCTV and how many criminals are being convicted," said Nick Pickles from the Big Brother Watch group.
"That way residents can decide for themselves if they really are better off with the cameras watching them."

'Law is clear'
But Tony Ball, of the Local Government Association, which represents councils, said parking controls were "not about revenue raising" but were "absolutely essential" for allowing people to leave their cars near shops or their homes.
He added: "Camera cars have been instrumental in keeping children from being hurt or killed on the way to school, and CCTV plays an important role elsewhere in monitoring traffic flow and keeping cars moving.
"Nobody likes getting a parking fine but the fact that less than 1% go to adjudication shows that in the vast majority of cases councils get it right.
"Income from on-street parking fines and charges is spent on parking services with any money left over spent on services like fixing potholes and providing subsidised bus travel to children and the elderly."

'Hostility'
In response, Mr Pickles told BBC Breakfast: "It's okay for local authorities to say 'oh, it's all to save the children'. No it isn't. What this is about is raking in pretty large sums of money to fill the councils' coffers.
"The law's pretty clear. It says you're not allowed to do that. What we're going to do is enforce the law."

But road safety charity Brake said it made "very little financial or common sense" to remove cameras "which make our roads safer".
"We know that cameras are a very cost-effective way of enforcing traffic laws, while having individual officers trying to cover the same amount of work would cost a bomb," said senior campaigns officer Ellen Booth.

Meanwhile, motoring groups suggested parking policies were designed to make profit rather than improve roads.
"What really irritates drivers is the street-level hostility they feel is being waged against them," said AA president Edmund King.
"Drivers feel that civil enforcement officers are lurking in every street and are not there to deter them but to issue a ticket as soon as the driver's back is turned."
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation added: "Nobody wants a parking free for all, but they do want reasonable charges and fairness, whatever method is used to achieve it."


and on video here : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... sinos.html

_________________
Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 01:28 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 02:17
Posts: 7355
Location: Highlands
What a nice return to some common sense and good to see someone realise that this is unfair and unjust.

I agree that we don't want bad parking and irresponsible or inconsiderate driving/parking but this over-enforcement with no notification that you have even committed any offence until you are weeks past the event is seriously unjust.

I hope this will end throughout the whole of the UK immediately.

_________________
Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 13:35 
Offline
Member
Member

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2005 18:54
Posts: 4036
Location: Cumbria
SafeSpeedv2 wrote:
What a nice return to some common sense and good to see someone realise that this is unfair and unjust.


Yup! That's HIS career down the tubes now!


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 22:40 
Offline
Gold Member
Gold Member

Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 23:26
Posts: 9263
Location: Treacletown ( just north of M6 J3),A MILE OR TWO PAST BEDROCK
Re Moles comment. I wonder. Fuel tax rises frozen, fuel prices under review, council motoring tax under close scrutiny .What next - a return to non robo cop motoring policing? From the appearance of our local Tory MP in local paper ,I suspect that the kiss our bums offensive for the next election has started ,and Cameroon has seen a motoring public as a force to get on his side . It's not costing central Gov't anything to stop the motorist being ripped off by local councils ( remember Pickles last attack on the parking profits).All he and the Tory party are seen to be doing is stick up for the rights of the motorist.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 17:20 
Offline
User

Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 04:10
Posts: 3244
Perhaps concentrating on where councils get their revenue from would be in order.
They are barred from increasing council tax by more than a few percent without falling-foul of the referendum lock.
Remove parking revenue and they will increase other sources, they already charge illegal amounts when using bailiffs, so what else will they do ?

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 17:54 
Offline
Gold Member
Gold Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 14:26
Posts: 4364
Location: Hampshire/Wiltshire Border
Get more efficient and stop wasting money on daft schemes?

Local councils are in difficulties about parking revenues. As said above, they have to get their money from somewhere but high parking charges have been identified as a major factor contributing to the decline of high streets.

_________________
Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.


Top
 Profile Send private message  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You can post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
[ Time : 0.029s | 13 Queries | GZIP : Off ]