Parking Fines

[ck1]

What would be the consequence if nobody across the whole of the UK incurred any kind of parking penalty, whether it be congestion zone, local pay and display, getting towed / clamped etc. How long would we have to be 'good' to make the business non viable for the companies who are charging �200 to remove a clamp or trafic wardens who will give a fine 30 seconds after a ticket expires???

[jake-the-peg]

Hmm what about if we gave people points on their driving licenses for parking offences?

How long before we stopped getting people blocking up roads by parking on double lines "just for a minute" or blocking up the line of sight on the white zig-zags or my personal favorite of parking in disabled spaces whilst they nipped into the shops.

[ck1]

fair point jake-the-peg, but when was the last time you saw a ticket on a car parked in a disabled bay, or when you are stuck in traffic because some fool has parked on double yellow lones I have never seens warden anywhere near them. I am not at all against enforcing proper parking restrictions but the private companies who have been seen to clamp hearses, police, fire engines etc are a joke and I dont really see any value in their services.

[jake-the-peg]

True enough although get this.

Where I live - Buckingham - is one of the few places I know of that still has free parking in the town centre.

Incredible but true - on a Saturday mornings I regularly see wardens out giving people tickets for parking on the double yellows on the main street when there is well signposted free parking to be had 50 metres down or up the road!

No doubt these people return and curse the wardens!

[Grunty]

For centuries, taxes have been a way of limiting the number of people entering a town or taking a cut from the commodities they bring in to sell.  As Buckingham is clearly in favour of visitors, it will make a handy stopping place on my frequent trips to London.

There is no excuse for the behaviour that jakethepeg describes.  I once saw a church burn to the ground because the fire engine was delayed by illegal parking.  Free parking was available there too.