Tuesday 17th January 2012

PH Blog: Politeness costs nothing...

...So Chris Harris is dismayed to discover that local authorities won't let you exercise it in a pay and display car park

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The modern road is pushing more of us to this, reckons Monkey

Manners are free, as we were correctly told when we were young, but their use on the public highway appears to become less prevalent by the day.

Do you always make a point of thanking anyone who might deserve such a gesture? I do. Partly because I feel that motorists should afford each other more than basic courtesy, because it makes what has become a hostile environment a little more pleasant; partly because anyone who drives a white Porsche with a trestle table strapped to the boot needs every opportunity to smooth the territory and mitigate against regular slappings.

And these are making...

But the authorities don't exactly help matters, do they? Everyone who drives in the UK does so in constant fear of incurring some kind of penalty that might cost them dearly, thereby creating a loaded Petri dish for the cultivation of fear, anger and lack of compassion for other motorists. We all know what these situations are, how they arise and how unpleasant the consequences can be, but there is one recent addition - so peripheral it is almost invisible - that defines the hostile environment of UK driving. Pay & display parking.

Where I live, you now have to enter a number plate to be issued a ticket. They tried this in my native Bristol in the late 90s, but the machines were calibrated for the old-style number plates, quickly became obsolete and the council didn't bother to update them. Sadly, such a machine now exists where I live.

Denying a motorist the chance to single-out another human being and say "Would you like my ticket, it still has an hour left on it" is one of the most short-sighted decisions ever made by local government. In those few words, you create a positive, human exchange that will only breed good feeling. Heaven forbid, people might actually then smile at each other and proffer further pleasantries.

...this much less common

But it isn't to be. Sociologists will probably be able to prove that the few thousand pounds gained in parking revenues will be lost through some anger-related incident further down the line - but that misses the point. Here was one of the few motoring scenarios where people could be generous to each other, interact and make outward gestures of kindness - and now they cannot.

Not being able to flag down a mother wrestling three children in an MPV and then save her the hassle of going to the machine, finding she's forgotten her purse, going again - and returning to find the gearlever uprooted by young Tommy - makes me feel sad.

The further we are forced to retreat into the hermetic seal of the motor car, to become isolated from other road users as lone, uncommunicative beings, the more hostile the roads will become. We could all do without that.

[kotafey]

A tad over dramatised in my opinion. But hey, if you need to - get it out there.

[MichelV]

Not bad. Unfortunately the author misses the point.

As anyone who has ever encountered a politician (be it local, state, federal or whaterver in your part of the woods) will testify, they can not care less nor can they read.

As long as it brings in the bacon any measure is a good measure.

And we are to blame for it as well. We elect these people or we do not bother to go against them.

UK might not be Belgium but it sure has the same issues. So perhaps Europe does exist after all?

Michel

[FloppyRaccoon]

I do like giving people a ticket with an hour or two remaining on it

I think I feel better about it than they do to be honest.

Edited by FloppyRaccoon on Tuesday 17th January 10:48

[Vanya]

FloppyRaccoon said:

I do like giving people a ticket with an hour or two remaining on it

I think I feel better about it than they do about it to be honest.

Absolutely.

[alexglenny]

It always makes my day when people give me a ticket and not the sort that is in a bright yellow envelope!

I always try and return the favour if I can too, I like to do my part to help other people.

[dapearson]

I hate pay and display. You have to guess at how much time you will need, plus some contingency time just in case you get caught in a queue. It's an utterly rubbish way to do it.

I was approx 10 mins late getting back to my car once and found a ~£30 fine stuck to the windscreen. I was furious, mostly because i nearly always come back to my car with > 10 mins left to run on the ticket!

[martyspain]

I was offered a car park ticket at the hospital last week by someone just about to leave. It's become so rare that I was surprised enough to ask the lady to repeat what she'd said, before gratefully taking the ticket.

Fully agree on the politeness thing. I try very hard to be courteous on the road, in an attempt to disprove the received wisdom that all BMW drivers are d*cks. Mind you, a friend of mine recently pointed out that while I might let someone out, it's probably certain that in the next five minutes that same someone will get cut up by another BMW driver, therefore undoing my gesture.

[seawise]

mr Harris is making a valid and relevant point here. it's a pity that the authorities care not a jot about how we interpret their actions, we being the people they are supposed to serve in public office.

[IanO]

Why in these days of such high technology it boggles the mind, do we have to guess the amount of time we want to park for when we arrive? I wonder how many local shops/restaurants would benefit from people not having to 'get back for the car'.

[angusc43]

Westminster sets out pretty draconian rules on local authorities' income and expenditure. Parking revenue is one of the very few areas where a local authority has autonomy. Hence the draconian approach to raising ever more money through that route. Sad but true.

[Skater12]

If the listed time on a ticket hasnt run out, then we as the buyer of the ticket should be entitled to transfer the remaining time to another person, in much the same way as a warranty would be transferable to the buyer of a car.

A few years back I gave a ticket with a couple of hours left on it to a rather attractive girl who said "thank you, that's very kind".
I replied saying jokingly as I walked away "you can pay me back by going for a drink with me sometime", not thinking for a moment she'd say anything other than give a polite giggle or somthing.
Thing is, she said ok. So that night we went for a drink, etc etc etc.

So the lesson is, be generous and get laid ! haha

[isee]

Is it lkegally enforceable though?
What if I don't want the local authority to have my number plate, or I can't remember it and i cannot be bothered walking back to my car to look, or i am just in a bad mood?
Whast if I punch in random numbers, yet pay for the ticket? Would it be reasonable to argue that I did what I was obliged to do (i.e. pay for the parking space) but refused to jump through hoops to do it?

[soad]

Looks like Duke Nukem is behind the wheel of a red truck

[TonyHetherington]

Entirely agree

I'm liking the PH Blogs

[pagani1]

The freedom loving people of Lewes have the best affirmative action on councils and their expensive charging parking machines-They blow them up !!

[masseyis]

The MOST annoying thing about pay and display is the need for exact change. The number of times I've had to waste money on something small to break a note, running the risk of a warden while I do. Then the rates are always something like £1.20 for half an hour, no change given. No pro-rata. They know full well that most people lucky enough to have change will have £1s and £50s, so they just pocket the difference.

Make all carparks pay-as-you-leave, pay-by-card permitted. It works and it's easy.

[mylesmcd]

dapearson said:

I hate pay and display. You have to guess at how much time you will need, plus some contingency time just in case you get caught in a queue. It's an utterly rubbish way to do it.

I was approx 10 mins late getting back to my car once and found a ~£30 fine stuck to the windscreen. I was furious, mostly because i nearly always come back to my car with > 10 mins left to run on the ticket!

exactly! Why doesn't the time accrue? I know we have the phone top up system, but I don't want to give my details for a third party data mining company!

[The Jolly Todger]

Every Pay & Display car park ticket I've ever looked at has said that they are not transferable. So as far as the car park operators are concerned, nothing has changed with this new system, it just makes it impossible to break the rules.

[Hellbound]

This article reminds me of that one time when I stopped to offer someone my ticket. It was at night and there was minimal street lighting. What happened after that was quite bizarre, but not wholly unwelcome. She got in the passenger side of my car and started playing with my little Harris (that's what I like to call it when I'm on the road). It was all very agreeable. As she left she seemed very appreciative of my generosity, I couldn't recommend it enough.

When I got back to the house I realised I still had the ticket in my pocket, but a twenty pound note was missing.

Edited by Hellbound on Tuesday 17th January 11:20

[LotusOmega375D]

I would happily pay for that lady's car-parking ticket!