nightrider Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Did anyone read about that guy who was fined £80 for overstaying the 2 hour free parking on a motorway services, he was 1 hour and 17 minutes over the time limit, apparently CCTV camera's log you in and out, if you overstay without buying a permit 3 days later a fine pops through your door, this was somewhere on the M40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 No didnt read it but I noticed the sign cant remember which services on the M40 but I usually stop at Oxford but I needed the toilet and stopped at another . What a con what a rip off only in England could this happen .Tired ,go on take a break ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Yes I read it Malc, ok, cameras and automation apart, how ridiculous was that to fine him for kipping at 2am? Surely the technology is there to override the system in the early hours of the morning. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrider Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 LordThornber - 2009-05-21 5:05 PM Yes I read it Malc, ok, cameras and automation apart, how ridiculous was that to fine him for kipping at 2am? Surely the technology is there to override the system in the early hours of the morning. Martyn The man stated that the carpark was empty at that time of the morning, so why fine him? as it happens the man was a newspaper reporter going back home south after doing a job up north. When he got in touch with the carpark management he happened to mention that he was a reporter on a national newspaper... lo and behold they dropped the charges. If you do happen to stay overnight on the services as I will be doing tonight at Tebay, dont throw away your paid for parking permit keep it in your glove compartment just in case they try to say you haven't paid the fee, the fee for staying at Tebay is £10 and £3 of that is a voucher towards a cup of tea and toast the following morning, so really speaking you are paying £7 for 24 hours of parking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Much rather have the French system and pay for the tolls using the services without having to wonder if we have to pay .You pays your money and gets what you pay for .But still much rather use the French system cause even in the villages if you take the B roads you dont get charged .It a recognised thing that people drive need a break and need to sleep . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 knight of the road - 2009-05-21 5:47 PM ... the fee for staying at Tebay is £10 and £3 of that is a voucher towards a cup of tea and toast the following morning, so really speaking you are paying £7 for 24 hours of parking. No, it's still £10 for 24 hours, not £7 ... I certainly wouldn't pay £3.00 for a cup of tea and slice of toast! :-S The charge for this chap overstaying his 'free' parking allowance is nothing new. The Tesco store in Hull city centre used to have 3 hours free parking, it now has 2 hours free parking and when the change was first made a lot of people ended up having to pay an extortionate penalty fee of a similar amount. Unfortunately this is the case in a lot of 'short stay' parking areas now. They'd much rather have the through business than encourage you to stay longer. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W3526602 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Hi, Parking on the road is no longer a criminal offence, which means you can no longer go to court, plead Not Guilty. Now they send you a demand for money, closely followed by the baliffs. I believe the councils have their own (civil) courts set up to pass judgement. Scarely seems that justice is paramount. So what is the position with M-way service stations? Can they FINE you, or just send a demand for payment. What is the latest on clamping laws. I assume the service station proprietor doesn't have his own judge on a retainer, and Small Claims procedures apply. I read on another group that some parking companies are sending out invoices disguised to look like official fines, which is illegal. I also read something which suggested that DVLA are not supposed to identify a vehicle's Registered Keeper in a case like this. ????? 602 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Parking on the road is no longer a criminal offence, which means you can no longer go to court, plead Not Guilty. Now they send you a demand for money, closely followed by the baliffs. I believe the councils have their own (civil) courts set up to pass judgement. Scarely seems that justice is paramount. I'm not sure whether decriminalisation or parking is countrywide as yet but it is certainly spreading. The reason for decriminalisation is that for several years the police have not had the resources to pursue illegal roadside parking. Whether or not one agrees with it probably depends on one's attitude to unpunished indiscriminate parking on yellow lines, pavements etc. Councils do not have their own courts. There is a procedure for challenging penalty charge notices laid down by the legislation, details of which are usually placed on the web sites of councils which have adopted decriminalisation. So what is the position with M-way service stations? Can they FINE you, or just send a demand for payment. What is the latest on clamping laws. I assume the service station proprietor doesn't have his own judge on a retainer, and Small Claims procedures apply. I started looking into parking at Motorway Services a couple of months ago. Still awaiting some responses but the information I have received so far is on-line Here I read on another group that some parking companies are sending out invoices disguised to look like official fines, which is illegal. I also read something which suggested that DVLA are not supposed to identify a vehicle's Registered Keeper in a case like this. ????? Owners of private car parks can not levy fines. They can only demand compensation for breach of contract. A Google search for "private parking fines" will bring up plenty of information. Anyone can obtain the name and address of the registered keeper of a vehicle if they can demonstrate ‘reasonable cause’ for needing the information. See The DVLA web site for details. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightrider Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 While on the Tebay south services last night the fee's for overnight parking are.... trucks, £10 per night including a voucher towards a morning cup of tea, caravans and motorhomes between the months of march and october £15, private cars £8. Security staff patrol the site at night, if you have not displayed a ticket on your dash board they will clamp you, release fee £150. On the Tebay north bound services they have hard standing with hook-up and all facilities from £15 per night or 24 hours. The services are well lit and secure, so what is your best option when travelling long distances? parking up on a layby for free with all the possible dangers or park up in safety on the services? what are your thoughts on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J9withdogs Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 After reading Roon's horror story, I would plump for secure site anyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Me too, and why should we listen to the horror stories of using the French motorway aires expect any different in this country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Travelling back today from Somerset, we had to pull in to the services for the puppies to have a pee-break and yes the signs saying 2hrs only free parking were visable. The way I see it is that if you are tired and pull over for a quick nap and sleep on longer, you get fined - surely this is encouraging people to drive tired. Sometimes it's not until you stop and close your eyes you actually realise how tired you are by then 2 hours is up and it's too late to get a ticket. Surely there should be a better system? Can you really say that 2 hours is long enough break if you are tired? Once you've parked up then you might want to stretch your legs, have a drink and then close your eyes with far less than 2 hours to go. These signs on the motorway gantry saying tiredness kills take a break are not so much for safety but for revenue? If it was for safety then someone sleeping needs to and you can tell whether it is genuine snooze or an overnight stop by the length of time. Perhaps someone with common sense needs to oversee the issue of fines. There are enough crazy drivers on the roads as it is, so more should be done to encourage you to take a break for everyone's safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 The 2 hour limit has been a long standing policy - and part of the contracts between the government and the MSA operators - and the only way it is going to change is to persuade the government that change is necessary. The main purpose (reflected by the 2 hours free policy) of MSAs is to provide areas for short rest breaks rather than long breaks. All revenue from parking fees for longer breaks goes to the MSA operators. It could be argued that if a driver is so tired that more than 2 hours rest is needed then that driver is at fault for not taking a break several hours earlier. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 GJH - 2009-05-26 6:57 AM It could be argued that if a driver is so tired that more than 2 hours rest is needed then that driver is at fault for not taking a break several hours earlier. Graham Fair point Graham, but I still feel more should be done to provide more frequent places to stop for a short break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Rapido-lass - 2009-05-26 8:19 AM GJH - 2009-05-26 6:57 AM It could be argued that if a driver is so tired that more than 2 hours rest is needed then that driver is at fault for not taking a break several hours earlier. Graham Fair point Graham, but I still feel more should be done to provide more frequent places to stop for a short break. Only just seen your post as we've been away for a couple of days. I suppose distances between MSAs vary with different motorways. The ones we comonly use tend to have them every 30 miles or so if memory serves. There are several web sites around which list truckstops and other services which aren't far from motorway junctions but are not MSAs. Try Googling "just off the motorway". Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.