Fighting parking penalties
This was one of the comments waiting to be checked this morning:
Why don’t you put a note on your site referring drivers who are being ripped off by Private Parking Companies that they may wish to visit moneysavingexpert.com or pepipoo.com for advice before making their payments. Or are you, as I suspect, less ‘independent’ and less driver/customer orientated than you let on.
Apart from the unjustified paranoia (the fact that we don’t link to your favourite websites doesn’t mean that this site is any less independent), there’s a fair point there. The penalty charges incurred for overstaying your welcome at MSAs are, in many cases, probably unenforceable. So, for those who wojuld like to read more on the subject, then I would recommend this page:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets
What I wouldn’t recommend, though, is taking advice from unqualified conributors to various website forums. In particular, the other website mentioned above – pepipoo.com – is one that I’d avise you to steer well clear of. Although it does contain a lot of good, accurate advice, there’s also a vast amount of dross posted in the forums by well-meaning but ignorant bar-room lawyers. Unless you’re capable of telling the difference between the good advice and the rubbish, then don’t go there – and if you can tell the difference, then you probably don’t need to!
If you’re looking a for a forum in whch to discus legal matters (including parking, clamping, etc), then my suggestion would be to forget the web and go to Usenet instead. The uk.legal.moderated newsgroup has a high proportion of intelligent, informed contributors and you’re far more ikely to get good advice there than on any web-based forum.
As an LGV driver coming out of Cornwall to go anywhere I have to use the motorways, usually the M5 and M4 mainly, driving early morning or through the night, most of my work is to the eastern counties so I am frequently on the M4 corridor driving through the night, no services on the Motorways offer a hot meal during the night for drivers who normally work on nights, and also the parking is limited to 2 hours, as an LGV driver I have the option of reducing my nightly rest period to 9 hours instead of 11 hours, if I have a 3 hour rest period during my driving time, as the services restrict parking to 2 hours, I am not able to do this, unless I leave the motorway system and park in a layby,( if I can find one)as motorway services are obliged to allow you to park for 2 hours free,I dont see any reason why this should not be increased to 3 hours in order for LGV drivers to take advantage of the reduced nightly break.Also they should be forced to indicate that the 2 hour free parking, includes fuelling up, etc, and clearly indicate that the 2 hour restriction is to the site not simply parking.
Comment by FRANK BOYCE — 31 October 2011 @ 1:25 pm