Police v Council
Discussion
I've read before (on here I think) that if a police officer fines someone for doing something, and the council also issues them with a PCN for the same offence/contravention, the police fine overrides the council's PCN.
But does this only apply if the police officer issues an FPN? What about if the alleged offender is taken to court? What if they're found not guilty; does the PCN kick in then? Wouldn't it be too late?
What if the police officer judges that a warning is sufficient? I don't suppose this makes a difference to a council PCN. It just seems perverse that you're almost certain to pay less if the police officer fines you than if he decides not to. Thereagain it's perverse that the value of council PCNs (particularly in the likes of London) is so disproportionately high. I don't care what anyone says: £120 for stopping for a minute on unnecessary, politically motivated double yellow lines is a frigging outrage. It's nuts. First-time shoplifting carries less of a penalty.
Can anyone find one respectable, hard-working, decent person who believes that stopping on a DYL is anywhere near as bad as shoplifting (of any kind), let alone worse? How have things got so utterly f**ked up? Motoring fines and PCNs are very often several times what they should be, especially when you consider that VED and petrol tax are so much compared with what's invested in roadspace that cars may use.
Councils should not be allowed to decide on parking restrictions which they then make money from enforcing; there's a clear incentive for them to make legal parking as difficult as possible. The system stinks. As with speed limit setting and road layouts/markings, we need independent decision-makers who actually know about traffic, and have good flow and safety as their priorities, rather than self-promotion and/or vested interests.
So there we have it; a quick question becomes a rant. Oh well, I hope it was vaguely entertaining if nothing else.
But does this only apply if the police officer issues an FPN? What about if the alleged offender is taken to court? What if they're found not guilty; does the PCN kick in then? Wouldn't it be too late?
What if the police officer judges that a warning is sufficient? I don't suppose this makes a difference to a council PCN. It just seems perverse that you're almost certain to pay less if the police officer fines you than if he decides not to. Thereagain it's perverse that the value of council PCNs (particularly in the likes of London) is so disproportionately high. I don't care what anyone says: £120 for stopping for a minute on unnecessary, politically motivated double yellow lines is a frigging outrage. It's nuts. First-time shoplifting carries less of a penalty.
Can anyone find one respectable, hard-working, decent person who believes that stopping on a DYL is anywhere near as bad as shoplifting (of any kind), let alone worse? How have things got so utterly f**ked up? Motoring fines and PCNs are very often several times what they should be, especially when you consider that VED and petrol tax are so much compared with what's invested in roadspace that cars may use.
Councils should not be allowed to decide on parking restrictions which they then make money from enforcing; there's a clear incentive for them to make legal parking as difficult as possible. The system stinks. As with speed limit setting and road layouts/markings, we need independent decision-makers who actually know about traffic, and have good flow and safety as their priorities, rather than self-promotion and/or vested interests.
So there we have it; a quick question becomes a rant. Oh well, I hope it was vaguely entertaining if nothing else.
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