Traffic Warden Blocks Car in Space While he Writes Ticket
Discussion
My wife was given a parking ticket last week for "waiting on a restricted street". She was stopped on double yellows for a very short time while she bought a carton of juice for our daughter. When she returned to the car, a traffic warden was writing a ticket. She got back in the car and started the engine ready to drive off. However at that point the warden moved to the side of the car to prevent her from pulling out and shouted at her "stay where you are young lady". He then took another minute to write a ticket which he handed to her.
Is a traffic warden allowed to block a car in a space while he writes a ticket or is this grounds for appeal (which must be lodged by the 17th)?
I just want to add that the street is a quiet, wide street in a small village and that the double yellows serve no purpose and are generallly ignored. Indeed she couldn't move directly forward or backward due to other parked cars. Obviously I'll be checking tomorrow for the required signing, T-bars at the end of the double yellows etc.
Thanks for any advice.
Is a traffic warden allowed to block a car in a space while he writes a ticket or is this grounds for appeal (which must be lodged by the 17th)?
I just want to add that the street is a quiet, wide street in a small village and that the double yellows serve no purpose and are generallly ignored. Indeed she couldn't move directly forward or backward due to other parked cars. Obviously I'll be checking tomorrow for the required signing, T-bars at the end of the double yellows etc.
Thanks for any advice.
jap-car said:
Is a traffic warden allowed to block a car in a space while he writes a ticket or is this grounds for appeal (which must be lodged by the 17th)?
I wouldn't have hung around to find out - My house has a letterbox for tax bills to arrive in and my car has a windscreen to see out of.
Oh, and I think a big metal box is a bit harder than squidgy flesh - he wouldn't have played chicken for long once the car started moving.
groomi said:
Is a traffic warden allowed to block a car in a space while he writes a ticket or is this grounds for appeal (which must be lodged by the 17th)?
I wouldn't have hung around to find out - My house has a letterbox for tax bills to arrive in and my car has a windscreen to see out of.
Oh, and I think a big metal box is a bit harder than squidgy flesh - he wouldn't have played chicken for long once the car started moving.
Umm, she did say that she drove over him but I think she was joking.
(I haven't seen anything in the local paper. I think she was quite scared after he had started shouting which annoys me as no doubt my tax pays for him.
All the more reason to run him over after he became 'rude and shouting in a threatening voice',, obviously this would have distressed your wife and left her in fear for her own safety.
'I only meant to run over his toe officer, just to slow him down a bit to stop him chasing me. I really didn't mean to crush his pelvis, then reverse over his chest whilst parking up to see if he was hurt too bad'.
'I only meant to run over his toe officer, just to slow him down a bit to stop him chasing me. I really didn't mean to crush his pelvis, then reverse over his chest whilst parking up to see if he was hurt too bad'.
jap-car said:
She just told me that he also said that if she were to drive off that she would be committing two offences. He didn't explain what the second offence would be (assuming he stepped out of the way
Clearly he's lieing. Only one offense - the parking. Odious little scumbag.
gshughes said:
The jump in and drive away quickly thing has saved me from a few tickets, the wardens in Edinburgh seem to accept it too. The people who stand there arguing while the tiicket is being wriitten always amaze me, do the sensible thing and drive away !
Yes I've always said to her that she should do that but it's tricky if you would have to run someone over (with witnesses).
I see that tickets are now being issued via CCTV so perhaps the ticket could still be issued even if you did drive away.
I'm not a lawyer, but I'd have thought that the laws of tort might apply to somebody who does something which causes you a loss, for example preventing you from leaving a parking bay until a ticket had expired, or (stretching it a bit here) blocking you into a parking bay until the enforcement officer was ready to issue a ticket. Two wrongs don't make a right, but it would be interesting to know if the traffic warden was culpable if they have contributed to the offence.
Yes it does - preventing the plod traffic warden from issuing his ticket has no effect (he can issue it later) and might in fact be a separate offence (not sure on Scottingland's law on this point). With council parking attendants, provided you don't actually assault them you're in the clear to do what you like, more or less...
Not sure if plod traffic wardens can deal with moving traffic, anyone?
Not sure if plod traffic wardens can deal with moving traffic, anyone?
It looks like shaky ground for an appeal then. We still will appeal though, if only to clog up the system where my wife is taxed for a victimless offence yet in the past absolutely no interest is shown when I report that my car has been broken in to. The priorities are wrong, but we all know this.
LetMePark.com said:
This does seem heavy handed! It all depends on which Borough this is and which company has the parking contract.
Aberdeenshire (Scotland) and since traffic wardens are rare in this village and there are never any problems caused by parking then I doubt there is any company with the parking contract ie this will have been a police constable.
I'm assuming by your name that you are a bit knowledgable in this area
My understanding is that an offence has not been committed until a ticket has been 'issued'. However, the circumstances must be one of an offence and not a charge for parking. Can't find the relevent bit in the legislation but there are websites that can help with detailed interpretation.
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