20 replies to this topic

[shedonwheels]

I just got back from a trip to town during which I managed to get myself a parking ticket!

I parked in a council owned (I believe) carpark, there were no spaces left except for a very small corner end space which was marked as a bay but with white hashed lines on it. This is where I parked my mini. It fitted in the space with room to spare on all sides.

This carpark is also a bus station and there are lots of areas that are marked with yellow hashed lines that I didn't even consider parking in.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows the rules for parking on white hashed lines in a carpark(off-road) area? I've looked about and googled but can't seem to find any regulation info for white hashed lines.

The ticket I got stated 'parking outside bay markings' as the reason for my fine. I'm probably going to pay it but was just wondering what anyone thought? Am a little annoyed as I made doubley sure I wasn't causing any obstruction to any other vehicles and that I was inside the main lines of the bay. It's just that there were white hash lines in that bay. I guess rules are rules and presumably I broke the rules in this case. I just can't find anything on the net that says what the rules actually are!!


Just got to head out again for a doc's appointment, I'll try and take a photo of where I was parked to make this clearer.....

[Guess-Works.com]

With carparks you are at the mercy of the people who govern the use of it... essentially you have parked in a marked area not suitable for parking, for what ever reason, it may be an access issue or just the space is not big enough...

Eat humble pie and pay the fine...

[Ethel]

White hashing on the highway means you can't drive on it. Always worth a go trying it on & asking them to justify the ticket - not your fault a Mini fits where others don't.

[freaker]

as ethel says actually,

haven't you seen the pics with special park spaces for mini's or smarts ?

you paid for your parking time and didn't cause any problems for other users then why not.

freaker

[yorkshirechris]

You may as well try and appeal.

But if the reason is "parked outside a marked bay" and you were parked outside a marked bay and it's signposted to say you can't, then I'm afraid, as unfair as it seems (and is) you've been had.

[Dan]

Don't all car parks in the civilised world say 'park within marked bays'?

On the road if the hashed lines have a solid border you may not enter them ever, if they have a dashed border you may use them as roadway in an emergency. White hashed lines are a refuge.

[sazal]

Arent the white hashed areas for motorbikes?

[shedonwheels]

So I re-parked in the space and took some photos.....



photo showing YELLOW hashed lines not white, hard to make out they are yellow they are so old.



just to show rear of my car not impeaching the back line of my 'space'.



from a distance, you can see the road not blocked in any way by my car, you can also see my car is directly in line with a car parked a couple of rows back. This was later on today after I had got my ticket and the carpark had lots of free spaces-there was none earlier at the time of my ticket.



and a photo of the sign which states the 'rules'.




"You will be issued with a penalty notice if you do not park in a marked bay". That pretty much makes my ticket a no-brainer I suppose. Humble pie here I come.

I'm slightly tempted to try and appeal but am not sure I can be bothered. There are a couple of points I quite want to make to the council, I think the only reason this bay had the white hashed markings is that there is not enough room for an average sized car to park in it. Even though my car fitted in with room to spare. They probably didn't put the usual 'mini bay' on it because I doubt a new mini would fit in and there could be some kind of confusion there! I might suggest they make it a 'small car' bay. But then what defines a 'small car'? I doubt making any suggestion will have an effect on my council but maybe it's worth a try for the benefit of future parkers!

Secondly what exactly defines a "marked bay"? If I'm honest I do know what the term means and I just didn't read the sign properly because it is 8 feet up and I couldn't be arsed to crane my neck because I wasn't feeling very well! Having said that I don't think the term "marked bay" is fail safe and if I could be bothered I could probably argue that the term isn't clear enough and that any areas which might be perceived to be a parking bay(by folks with very small cars like myself) but which aren't should either have YELLOW hashed lines or NO PARKING painted over the space to avoid any confusion.

[Bungle]

appeal it

send them the above and see what happens, at worst you will have to pay the fine

[shedonwheels]

Well the fine is only £25 for a fortnight then goes up to £50. I'm not sure if I have much to appeal against! But maybe I will, now I've got the photos I suppose I've got nothing to lose in writing a punchy letter!!

[Bungle]

once you start the appeal they hold the charge at £25 until after the out come

you then have 14 days to pay before it goes up to £50

if nothing else it gives you time to save up

[gregh55]

to be honest its hereford is it the carpark behind the cinima?

[shedonwheels]

to be honest its hereford is it the carpark behind the cinima?

I know ! yes behind the cinema. The one with all the pot holes at the entrance which are deep enough and wide enough for a mini wheel to fall in! (also the one where all the boyracers gather when all the buses have gone!) I've changed my mind, thankyou bungle et al! I'm going to appeal it afterall. Will report back with the progress! doubt I'll get anywhere but what's the harm in trying....

[che]

they are put there for a reason, odd corners are often hashed out as parking in these areas can inhibit traffic flow or hamper fire protection. If the car park is used for local buses the areas could be hashed out to allow for large vehicles turning

[shedonwheels]

I think that's pretty much what the council will say che! Not sure if you can see but in the first photo there are two spaces for cars to park behind me. My car would need to be parked forward so the nose sticks out for it to be any more of an obstruction than the two cars behind me or the one next to me. This is the reason I think they have made the area white hashed because if a fairly average sized saloon parked here it's nose would stick out and could possibly cause an obstruction to a bus.

I made a geeky diagram whilst watching the dinner cook....

You can sort of see better where the buses have to drive, they will not be turning around directly infront of my car because there is a one way system in place and also further car parking spaces on the other side of the 'road'. There are slanted spaces much furthur along the brick wall (you can see the very high brick wall in the photo showing the yellow hash lines) where some buses park(look for the Yeomans bus in background of one photo) and the exit is on the opposite side due to the one way system in the carpark.

blah! I'll give it a go and appeal.