Wednesday 23rd April 2008

Motorists Paying Millions To Park

Anger over huge amount of money Britain pays to park every year

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Cash machine

Motorists are ‘being treated like murderers’ over parking, it has been claimed.

Drivers are paying out millions of pounds a year just to park their cars through parking meters and pay-and-display-machines, said the Association of British Drivers.

In London’s Westminster motorists pay £33.3million a year to park their cars.

In Leeds the figure is £14.2million and in Newcastle people are forking out £7.3million.

Edinburgh (£6million) is next up, followed by Birmingham (£6million), Liverpool (£1.9million) and Manchester (£1.8million).

Drivers in Bristol and Wolverhampton have it easy with just £700,000 in each city.

Hugh Bladen, founder of the ABD, said: ‘It is absolute madness. The amount of money taken from motorists for parking in this country is absolutely extraordinary.

‘Motorists are being treated like they’ve committed murder. The revenue being collected goes straight into the coffers.

‘It would be nice to think it is being spent on what is needed, but you only have to look at the state of the roads in this country to see roads are the last thing that money is being spent on.’

[RB Will]

Noticed this problem round my way, price of 1 hour parking in town had gone from 50p to £1.20 yet the car park is still the same no maintenance etc

[Rich VRS]

costs me over £200 a year for parking at my work and that's because I get permits, if not its over £400. same with car tax but isnt going to change unless evryone in the country goes on strike and all stops on the motorways or something.

[Fetchez la vache]

Dont you know? We're public enemy #1

[sniff petrol]

I imagine most of the revenue only goes to cover the costs of the enforcement, but at least it keeps some people in (crap) jobs.

[_James]

Parking's expensive, I'll not deny that - but murder? Surely the guy could have thought of a better parallel? I, for one, have never seen a motorist given life imprisonment for parking.

Edited by _James on Wednesday 23 April 11:26

[LukeBird]

Fetchez la vache said:

Dont you know? We're public enemy #1

Disappointingly true

[puffpuff]

What ill informed, sensationalist, illogical comment by a writer who appears to have little understanding of his subject.

[NiallOswald]

Can I pay to be allowed to commit murder for £1.50 an hour then?

OTT overreaction IMO. Parking charges are hardly new, and in many places city-centre parking *is* a genuine problem.

[fatboy b]

I see all the side streets in Leamington have now been converted to P&D. Apparently before, Leamington & Warick had one traffic warden. They now have 32!!

[Chrisgr31]

_James said:

Parking's expensive, I'll not deny that - but murder? Surely the guy could have thought of a better parallel? I, for one, have never seen a motorist given life imprisonment for parking.

Edited by _James on Wednesday 23 April 11:26

Wasn't there a case late last year where someone was convicted of manslaughter following an argument over a parking space?

Personally I try and avoid paying for parking, and will walk for 10 or 15 minutes to park on the road for free. Has an added benefit that its good for me too!

It certainly appears that around Crawley more people are parking outside the controlled parking area and walking in, now charges have increased further.

[Tim Sture]

What an unbelievably stupid, crass, idiotic thing to say, likening parkers' treatment to that of murderers. Guaranteed to make absolutely sure that nobody will take any notice of what is being said - other than to mark the ABD down as being a bunch of idiots who are unable to keep any perspective. Whoever is the ABD's spokesperson wants to be sacked for that - they have done ABD a disservice.

[robwales]

LukeBird said:

Fetchez la vache said:

Dont you know? We're public enemy #1

Disappointingly true

But the point is, most of the public _are_ drivers.
They just use the term "drivers" or "motorists" so it doesn't sound so much like it's going to affect you when you read it.
"Motorists will have to pay blah..." vs "You will have to pay blah..." - which one sounds better? The first one sort of sounds like it affects someone else.

[peter pan]

Given the lenient sentences handed out to those kill these days, and the ever more onerous punishments meted out on those who have the temerity, to want to drive a motor vehicle it would seem we are fast approaching a point where motorists will indeed be treated not much different to murderers.
If the greens are anything to go by with their ridiculous tunnel views on matters environmental, motorists are already killing the Earth. All this would be a joke if it wasnt getting so near to what is now happening in the UK.

[GPSS]

Its the same down here in Plymouth, everywhere is P&D or meters. Parking is just another form of secondary tax. We are being forced out of our cars, and it is not going to change.

[therealpigdog]

£800 per year (including discount for permit) for the privilege of a fifteen minute walk into leeds city centre every day. at least double that if i want to park closer.

added benefit of a (not at all) cheery civil enforcement officer at the car park eevry morning putting tickets on cars. i have a permit and have still had two pcn's already this year (graciously withdrawn by leeds city council when i pointed out the permit next to the ticket).

bless 'em.

rant over - although agree, not quite up there with murderers.

[ALT]

Don't even get me started on hospital car parks! Coventry hospital costs £3.00 for up to two hours with no lower/free price for less then 15 minutes!

[ALT]

fatboy b said:

I see all the side streets in Leamington have now been converted to P&D. Apparently before, Leamington & Warick had one traffic warden. They now have 32!!

Yeah, but it's much better in Leamington Spa and Warwick now. Before people would park all day in two-hour spaces and even on double-yellows as they'd never get caught. Now it's £1 for two hours or just 20p for 30 minutes: much better!

[PPPPPP]

In London's West End, you are required to phone the company and pay them parking fees over the phone using your credit card. And to boot, it's an 0870 "premium" line number.

Some people don't use mobiles, most people hate 0870 numbers (useful site to avoid 0870 numbers http://www.saynoto0870.com/ ), many people don't trust traffic wardens and that lot and then to give them your credit card number for what is a small amount of money (but expensive for car parking!!!) -motorists truly are under threat, and it's only going to get worse.

Edited by PPPPPP on Wednesday 23 April 16:34

[PJR]

And we've not even mentioned how much it costs to park at an airport yet...

P,

[Peter Ward]

ALT said:

fatboy b said:

I see all the side streets in Leamington have now been converted to P&D. Apparently before, Leamington & Warick had one traffic warden. They now have 32!!

Yeah, but it's much better in Leamington Spa and Warwick now. Before people would park all day in two-hour spaces and even on double-yellows as they'd never get caught. Now it's £1 for two hours or just 20p for 30 minutes: much better!

But town is quieter now.

There was some free parking inadvertently left on the Coventry road out of Warwick. It quickly got filled up by people parking there, I guess people who work in Warwick. Of course, it's now become restricted.

Has the bus service improved so we can leave our cars at home? What do you think? We just don't go out shopping as much any more. If that's what Leamington and Warwick (and Kenilworth) want, fine. If I really need to go out, I'll go somewhere much more convenient like Touchwood in Solihull. Park underneath the shops for no more than onstreet in Leamington. Or of course I can still (temporarily?) park at out-of-town places for nothing.

Perhaps eventually when all the shops shut for lack of trade, the council will wake up to there being something wrong. Until then, it's heil hitler to the CEOs.