Safe Speed Forums

Unfortunately the office block isn't a new idea.

The one I work in has roughly 400 people working in it and around 100 parking spaces - which cost £386 per year each - so their is an ongoing war between the office workers and the local residents over on street parking - there's a big middle class estate right behind the offices that was built at the same time, and some 30+ years ago.

Though regs have been tightened up with regards to parking (though they can be got around) a lot of the problems weren't apparent when the offices were built. Which isn't to say I forgive the Councils but I do appreciate they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

Barkstar

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The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has limits.

So perhaps the council shouldn't have started to charge people for using what they've already paid for?

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Rumour has it that the previous owners of Telford shopping centre were cajoled into introducing parking charges by the then Labour administration of Telford and Wrekin Council. This was so The council could introduce car parking charges in their car parks. This caused a meltdown in the Labour group who threw out the leader and abolished parking charges. Too late, though. They lost control to the Tories for the first time ever.

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www.thatsnews.org.uk / www.thatsnews.blogspot.com / http://thatsmotoring.blogspot.com/

It's 5 years since I got my last (and only) parking ticket, which was fully deserved. A lack of enforcement meant it was common knowledge that you could park in the 40 minute bays in town for much longer, and one day I got a ticket. Of course the flip side to that was that if you did want to nip in for something there was never a space. You also used to see such bad parking that I remember seeing a Policewomen ticking off a driver that had blocked the entrace to the pedestrian high steet and gave the driver the perfectly legitmate argument that it was blocking emergency service vehicles. Of course the motorist was protesting that they "were only nipping to a shop". As a result of this we probably got the enforcement we deserved.

If parking is difficult where I want to go I will consider taking the bus, train, walking, or going at a quieter time. It's no big deal, really.

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In a former life I was Capri2.8

My father in law used to drive a fire engine before he retired. He didn't really mind cars parked in the way - he "nudged" (his term) them out of the way!

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COAST Not just somewhere to keep a beach.

A young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

What about hospitals? I overlook a hospital car park and about four years ago they introduced a fee.

I see people hobbling to the meter; the elderly fumbling in their purses for change they can probably not afford. Everyone going there is probably stressed because of the reason for going only to have it added to by a damn parking meter!

It's an absolute disgrace!!!

No hospital, especially A&E, should make people pay who are there for a genuine reason IMO.

I had to do this about three years ago when my sister came off her cycle. I picked her up in my car and rushed to the A&E. (I may even have done 5mph over the limit that day too). I was able to drop her off but then I had to run around a full carpark, pay to park and run back to find her! I didn't want to miss her coming out and so I ended up overstaying my welcome by about half a hour!!! I got a ticket.

I was so angry I could have crushed a grape with my bare hand.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

Not a very convincing argument though is it BB, i.e we shouldn't start doing X just in case people are too selfish to behave responsibly.
And lets face it, Telford Council were hardly breaking new ground when they implemented charges for town centre parking, I understand that they were only free in the first place to incentivise shoppers to use Telford over nearby Shrewsbury (much more attractive) and Wolverhampton (more shops).
As for having already paid, well I suppose we could sit down and anaylse the charges levelled by any supplier of goods, services or facilities and indentfy a funding stream through which we might declare we've already paid for it.

As for why they introduced the charges, I have no idea whether TN's rumour is true or not.

Big Tone - I know Gloucester hospital charges for parking on their gounds, but this is only to put off the terminally selfish who would happily fill up the hospital carparks and then go off to work in the city centre for the whole day.

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

So why gleefully ticket people who are half an hour over?

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Paul Smith: a legend.

"The freedom provided by the motor vehicle is not universally applauded, however: there are those who resent the loss of state control over individual choice that the car represents. Such people rarely admit their prejudices openly; instead, they make false or exaggerated claims about the adverse effects of road transport in order to justify calls for higher taxation or restrictions on mobility." (Conservative Way Forward: Stop The War Against Drivers)

My point was that the council started to charge for something that had already been paid for, and created a problem by displacing cars. And just because it had been implemented elsewhere doesn't necessarily make it right, imo.

Personally, I don't think people should have to pay to park on public roads, but yes, we do need certain restrictions in place, i.e. where doing so will cause congestion.

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

One of my personal bugbears. Royal Berks in Reading put their charges up. It used to be £2 for 2 hours (minimum ticket time) then it went up to £2.40 for 2 hours. I only had £3 so put that in. I'm sure you can guess what change I got back

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Prepare to be Judged

Yes I know. And I suggested that this was the product of an oversimplfied analysis of the situation.
If the carparks were being filled by workers then where are the shoppers supposed to park? There is only so much real estate for carparks. The council didn't create the problem, the people who couldn't make alternative arrangements in an altruistic manner did.
If revenue wasn't being raised from carparks it would be raised in some other way, through council tax.
If only the solutions to town centre economics were as simple as offering free carparks for all with as many spaces as necessary.

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Godamit, this thread has jinxed me, I've got two tickets since I posted on it, although I've contested one, but the other was fair and square, not checking the signs properly.

You can check them here.
Don't forget to check the lines too. They are often wrong. 1028.4, 1032 and 1033 are the most common lines. Restriction signs are around 660 +-.

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Andrew.

It looks like the Universal Theory that Einstein was after.

The document should be called 'Everything you wanted to know about Traffic Signs Regulations but were too affraid to ask'.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

You wish!

It has amendments (nothing major, new speed limit backing board design, "home zone" or "quiet lane" or some such.)

It doesn't include red routes. It doesn't include "restricted zones".

There can be special authorisation for any other signs.

You would have thought that the councils who install their restrictions would have read this document. Apparently not all have, or not very well...

If you've read all of this as much as I have (and I don't know it all) then you can play "find the enforceable parking restriction". It's harder than you might think!

Don't forget Know Your Traffic Signs (6MB) which is also available as a book. Notice how many pages there are for parking restrictions. 24 if I remember. That's about 16% of the whole book.

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Andrew.

Okay can I park my self in your lounge room?

Why drive, when you can shop online, as it is all about saving money and not having the stress when you shop online?

http://www.dixons.co.uk/

to whom Johnny

Ahem..

Irony: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c: an ironic expression or utterance.

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Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.