New regulations: Councils will have the power to use video footage to issue fines where it is deemed impractical for wardens to hand out tickets
Posted on 03/24/2008 1:57:40 PM PDT by Stoat
New regulations: Councils will have the power to use video footage to issue fines where it is deemed impractical for wardens to hand out tickets
Councils will be given the power to use video footage to hand out fines where it is deemed impractical for traffic wardens to issue tickets in person.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport (DfT) said it would be left to local authorities to decide exactly what "impractical" meant, but high-speed lanes were likely to be included.
The new regulations said CCTV should not be used where residents' permits or disabled bays were in force, she added.
The guidelines, to be brought in next Monday, will also allow traffic wardens to issue penalty notices without putting tickets on windscreens - to discourage drivers from speeding off to avoid a parking fine.
Where drivers are not given a ticket on the spot, penalty charge notices will be sent through the post.
Under the new rules, parking fines will be divided into bands: £40 or £50 penalties will issued for less serious offences, and £60 or £70 penalties for more serious offences such as parking on double yellow lines.
A spokesman for the DfT said: "No-one likes parking tickets but parking rules exist to help beat congestion and improve road safety.
"The new guidance will make parking enforcement fairer, more transparent, consistent and easier to challenge."
Last month consumer magazine Which? warned that the new regulations could make it more difficult for motorists to appeal against unfair parking fines.
Drivers issued with tickets based on CCTV evidence would not have the opportunity to gather necessary evidence to challenge tickets which they think have been unfairly issued, the magazine said.
Drivers to get parking tickets in the post from 'Big Brother' CCTV cameras the Daily Mail
Millions of motorists will receive parking tickets by post after being caught on CCTV camera under rules that have been called "Orwellian".
Drivers spotted by the "Big Brother" cameras also face fines of up to £120 as part of a Government shake-up of parking regulations which comes into effect from Monday, March 31.
Until now, wardens have had to hand a ticket to a driver or leave it on the windscreen.
But now they will also be able to issue the tickets remotely, without the driver knowing about it until they receive the Penalty Charge Notice through their letterbox.
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Drivers spotted by CCTV cameras will receive parking fines in the post as part of new government regulations which come into effect next month
There are fears that councils will use the regulations as yet another way to raise money.
Remote CCTV teams will be able to monitor streets to spot drivers who park on a yellow line or overstay at a meter.
The rules also give councils the power to set a sliding scale of fines of up to £120 for different types of parking offence.
Motorists in London face the highest fines, while those outside the capital can receive a maximum fine of £70.
The higher charges will be given to those who commit more serious offences such as parking on a double yellow line on major roads.
Lower fines - up to £80 in London and £50 elsewhere - will be set for those who overstay at a meter or pay-and-display bay.
Transport minister Rosie Winterton said the parking enforcement would be fairer and easier to challenge, and could see fewer tickets issued.
The scheme could also apparently see wheel-clamping used only for persistent offenders.
But motoring groups have condemned it as a "moneyspinning scam". They fear the changes will lead to abuses, including questionable tickets being issued to drivers who were unaware they had committed an offence.
The AA said tickets should be "issued in real time, not extra time".
In a move which the AA calls "Orwellian", uniformed traffic wardens and attendants are to be renamed Civil Enforcement Officers and handed wideranging extra powers.
Councils are expected to follow the example of the London's Westminster which has used CCTV - and even mobile cameras mounted in cars - to film parking transgressors.
Some councils have cameras specifically trained on certain bays and roads. Wardens are also now routinely equipped with cameras to record eviafterdence of illegally-parked cars.
In May, traffic attendants in Salford became the first to trial head-mounted video cameras.
The regulations state that a ticket can be issued by post if "the Civil Enforcement Officer had started to issue the Penalty Charge Notice, but did not have enough time to finish it or serve it before the vehicle was driven away".
AA president Edmund King said: "We believe this could lead to more 'ghost tickets' and ticketing of Blue Badge holders or people delivering or dropping off passengers.
"Enforcement should be about prohibiting obstructive parking, not about postal fines the event.
"Motorists may be unaware that they can get ticketed for parking at a dropped kerb or half a metre from the pavement."
Parking fines have quadrupled in five years to 3.4million a year. But the Government said councils must not use them as a tool for raising revenue, and should not set targets for the number of tickets issued.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "For a Penalty Charge Notice to be issued by post for 'drive-aways' or when an attendant is prevented from serving a PCN by violence, the attendant must have clear evidence that the vehicle was parked in contravention, and have already started to write the PCN."
Paul Watters, head of roads and transport policy for the AA, said: "The overriding principle to date is that tickets issued by attendants have to be given to the driver or fixed to the vehicle to be valid.
"We fear that these guidelines may be relaxed to allow tickets to become active if the attendant is merely thinking about writing one or simply saw an illegally-parked vehicle.
"If the Department for Transport wants to change the rules on ticket issue, it must bear in mind the trust factor between attendants and drivers.
"Removing the physical criteria for making a ticket active increases the chance of disputes and challenges."
The Brits need to overthrow their overlords and install a democracy.
The Brits are just a few steps further down the road we’re on. I’m sure this angers the average Brit, but they’ve lost the will to change it.
Coming to a city near you... very soon.
Either that or just build a big dang wall with razor tape on top all around the island and call it the "British Penitentiary.” Then the only people there with rights and freedoms will be the two-bit, worthless, self-serving,Communist bureaucrats.
Just curious....is there commonly-available technology now which would allow something like this to be done in an automated fashion, or would it still require someone viewing the CCTV screen and identifying an infraction?
Oh great!! I’m sure Bloomberg is unloading the cameras and computer equipment as we speak. Some day this is all going to hit the fan just like that April Morning 233 years ago. I probably won’t be around to see it, but I hope my daughter is there to take part in it.
“Sure you can put up a camera. What could possibly go wrong?”
Maybe they should shoot out the cameras. Oh wait, they’re not allowed to own guns.
They can own shotguns.
A goood spray or wipe of glass etching solution is quieter.
Thank you very much for pinging your list :-)
My question: will the Muzzie Overlords use the CCTV cams to make sure EVERYBODY is down and facing the right way toward the big black rock in suckie aray-a-bee??? Most likely
Why do they even bother sending out the tickets? That costs money. They should simply withdraw the fines directly from the perps’ bank accounts.
I wonder if there is any way to jam these cameras. I assume that they transmit over the air waves.
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That picture makes my brain hurt.
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