Are you fed up with returning to your van from delivering or picking up materials, for you only to find a PCN (Parking Charge Notice) attached to your windscreen??  Or returning to your van after carrying out emergency works on a property and finding yourself with a ticket??  Both leave you with the option of paying the PCN in the stated time for a reduced cost or to contest your ticket at the cost of your own time, money and effort…

This is where the DashBoard Advisor comes in…

The DBA is designed to be an “official advisor” for traffic wardens/attendants and the general public, so the flow of traffic is not affected by tradesman who are on an emergency call out or loading and unloading goods, as they can then be contacted and asked to relocate their vehicle if causing an obstruction.

The DBA is impossible for them to ignore when it is placed in the windscreen area due to its :
• Size and format of the information
• Use of official caution colours

The first person to receive a parking ticket from a traffic warden was Dr Thomas Creighton on 19th September 1960. He had parked his Ford Popular car outside a West End hotel to visit a patient suffering from a heart attack. However, such was the outcry in the press that the ticket was cancelled.
 
The ticket was cancelled because he was on an "emergency call".

If a tradesman is called to a property where, for example, there is no heating, the temperature is below freezing and the only occupants are a mother and new born baby - is this not considered to be an emergency.

OR

An electrical engineer is called to an old people’s home where a neutral cable has become loose and therefore poses a fire risk - is this not considered to be an emergency.

OR

A Plumber has been called to a property where water is leaking through certain electrical appliances causing an electrocution risk and also a fire risk - is this not considered to be an emergency.

All of the abovementioned scenarios are basically preventative steps to preserve life or prevent injury and are of the same importance, therefore all restrictions to parking in instance like these should be lifted or waived.

If you have grounds to challenge a ticket issued by a council you should do so as soon as possible. Although they are under no obligation to do so, most councils will “stop the clock” whilst they consider your initial representation. This means that even if they reject it they will still give you 14 days in which to pay at the reduced rate.

Don’t be scared to challenge!

Over 30% of appeals are not challenge by councils.

Councils are obliged to send copies of their evidence to you and the appeals service no later than three days before the date of the hearing. If the appeal service does not receive the evidence within the three day deadline then you will automatically win the appeal.

So the DBA should be mentioned in the notes. If not - why not? The appeal should be over due to lack of evidence.

It would appear to me to be “wholly unreasonable” if a council refused to cancel a PCN on a point of fact. For example, where evidence had been provided of loading/unloading taking place or where signs were either missing or inadequate.

This could also be additional points made to receiving costs.

Vehicles are exempted from waiting restrictions when loading or unloading goods

Loading and Unloading

Of all the many points of contention regarding parking the question of “loading and unloading” must be at, or close to, the top of the list.

In the absence of any loading restriction, vehicles are allowed to wait to load and unload for so long as may be necessary for delivering or collecting goods at a premises adjacent to the street. If a parking attendant or traffic warden finds a vehicle parked on a yellow line without seeing any loading or unloading taking place a parking ticket will be issued. It is for the driver of that vehicle to demonstrate that he or she was loading or unloading, if that was the case, and that the ticket should be cancelled.

Some local authorities state, incorrectly, that loading or unloading must be continuous, implying that there must be an uninterrupted movement of goods to or from the vehicle. This is unreasonable, as it is unrealistic to expect deliveries to be made without checking of goods and paperwork as part of the delivery process. Difficulties arise when there are delays in this process.         

Public Transport

Transport for London admits that if the capital does not get an extra £15 billion to invest in rail improvements, the level of overcrowding will reach the level of some third world countries by 2011. London underground is teetering on the point of collapse. The London Transport Users’ Committee has complained to MPs that transporting animals in the conditions experienced by commuters on London Underground and commuter trains would not be allowed.

The congestion charging scheme introduced in London in 2003 reduced the number of vehicles entering central London by approximately 20% but the revenue raised has fallen below the levels predicted. Therefore investment in public transport infrastructure from congestion charging revenue is unlikely to have a significant effect in the short to medium term.

The above facts show reasons for the use of the DBA and show admissions of loss of income and more reasons for PCNs used as an income stream.

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