Parking Ticket - Un-Marked Disabled Bay

[C.A.R.]

P*ss is boiling right now.

Just parked up in my local town centre in a space which I genuinely did not know was reserved for disabled badge holders only. I didn't know this, as the only thing to differenciate this space from the hundreds of other spaces was a pair of small signs at either end of the 'bay' approx. 50 yards apart. There is nothing on the ground to indicate that these spaces are for disabled people, nor are they obviously any different from the opposite spaces which are not signposted in the same way.

Picture of the family wagon parked in said 'disabled bay' -



What's the official line here? Do the tiny signposts uphold the guidelines on sufficiently marking the bays as disabled? I didn't get a decent shot of the signpost unfortunately but will return and get another.

EDIT - signage visible on Google Streetview -



Local council have issued the ticket and a charge of £35 has been levied against me (£70 if left unpaid for 28 days).

I'd normally suck it up if I felt that I was to blame here, as I do my best to avoid parking in disabled bays having grown up with a terminally ill parent who relies on them. I just feel like I've walked (driven!) straight into a bit of a trap here, where are the yellow / white lines?

Yes, £35 isn't a lot to pay for not making a good enough observation, but as somone who drives and works in North London all week I'm normally pretty good at spotting these things and paying for my parking where I have to.

Grrr!

Link to Google Streetview : Click

I think I'll just pay it and remember not to park there again, but surely these bays should have some form of paint marking them out?!

[marshalla]

They're only disabled bays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Saturday (inclusive), outside those times they're available for anyone to use. Painting them would cause more confusion.

[eltawater]

Never mind that.

Did you make it all the way to The World's End without being mulched?

[Riley Blue]

The signs are similar to those across the road limiting stopping to one hour between the same times, no yellow lines there either for the same reason.

[PurpleMoonlight]

I don't know the legal answer, but surely when parking in a bay it is reasonable to expect the driver to look for the restrictions applying to that bay. If not, how do you know how long you can park for?

Had you done so you would have seen the disabled only restriction.

[TooMany2cvs]

C.A.R. said:

EDIT - signage visible on Google Streetview -

Bang to rights.

[Vee]

The sign is clear. If it's your local town centre where do you usually park ?
Honest mistake but even I wouldn't waste time contesting that.

[matjk]

Ha, I got my one and only ever parking ticket on Leys Avenue, to be honest with parking spots like that you should have applied the 'to good to be true' analogy, spots like that on that road are rare as hens teeth. Your spider senses should have been tingling, pretty much every time I see a plum parking spot with no one in it, its because its Residents/handicap/loading only ...etc etc. They probably don't paint the road because "do you know how much the heritage foundation spent on sexy block paving" you can't fart in Letchworth with a permit in cause you spoil the heritage of Englands first garden city! Pay up, move on, the fine is actually pretty good compared to parking eye.

[Red Devil]

n

TooMany2cvs said:

Bang to rights.

A town where you can park on street for an hour without charge (see the opposite side).
Wow, I didn't think such a thing existed any more. At least not in the home counties.