I do remember enjoying watching a woman argue with the bloke who was halfway through lifting her expensive Merc onto the back of his truck. She had parked in a completely ridiculous place and presumably thought she was above all the normal things in life – the whole exchange drew a small crowd as she got more and more irate whilst he calmly told her where she had to go to collect her car (and what bus she should catch to get there 😉 )!

not so worried about ridiculous parking issues, but I have been the victim of council stupidity, where their business parking, and sign were obscured, and the simple fact that I am not telepathic, require to park my car on the street in London, and have already paid for a permit, I get no warm cuddly feeling from allowing these muppets the opportunity to fine me more, for what is an innocent mistake!

Its like musical chairs, without the fun, and a fine, and a really irate motorist/car owner….when paying for rail or other transport would mean I have to be paid the same amount as Richard Branson to commute.

This is a really bad idea, as the innocent/conforming citizen will suffer a lot more than those that disregard the rules.

It won't work; anybody who doesn't care about getting fined £60 isn't going to give a wet fart about £100.

Except for the driver/offender!!

There used to be double or even triple parking here in Madrid, which was fine until it was abused. If you needed to pop into a shop for five minutes, double park. Longer than five minutes, double park and wait for someone to honk the horn when they want to leave. The problem was that somepeople would double park then disappear for lunch!

Now you have to pay! Double parking is illegal! Traffic wardens are employed as a money making exercise. So now I have to drive further to find a legal space when I only want to do 5 minutes business. Bollox to that, it may be illegal but it is still useful in a city where parking is expensive and difficult to find.

I do use a bike in the city, but it's not always possible.

If people can afford to pay, they'll park illegaly. 😉

No one has mentioned parking in bike lanes……..

I think certain fines like parking and speeding should be at a percentage of income rather than just £60 or £100. That way it would be the same deterrent or punishment for everyone.

Ohh no – I agree with TandemJeremy. I must try harder. 😉

I watch people with little blue stickers in the front of their cars park in selfish and inconvenient places every day in the town where i work. The entire one way system backs up because one old lady wants to park on double yellows to pop into the bank and then the bus full of people and all the cars have to wait. Disabled or not, parking well is a common courtesy that should be adhered to by every driver.

The fines are becoming too much for such a small offence. £100 is well over what most people earn in a day (maybe 2) and is just a way for the councils to make more money. I'd defy anybody who drives (OP included) to say that they have never parked illegally even if for a few moments. Some get caught, most don't – the the worst offenders may well have no tax/insurance/mot so won't/don't pay the fine anyway.

"I would like to see the wardens given powers to ticket people who park on the pavement as well."

They have this power. I got ticketed when i happened to be parked on a pavement. The ticket wasn't for being on the pavement tho, it was for "parking in a suspended bay" which there was no notice of and not even a bay to be suspended! I complained about all this and they still upheld the charge. Grrr. They could've perfectly legally ticketed me for being on the pavement tho, and I'd have accepted that, so long as they also ticketed every other car in the street.

I was at the hospital yesterday and they have one bay right next to the main door which clearly says 'Drop off and pick up for disabled users only'.

So someone parked fully on the pavement right next to it instead (displaying their blue badge) and also caused an obstruction for pedestrians. Numpty. At least they hadn't parked in the drop-off space 😕

Why is it BR – if people break the law and put thier own convenience above the safety of others then why not fine them?

TJ, please read what I said – I didn't say you can't fine them, I said £100 is disproportionate.

There is a world of difference between dangerous parking, and a parking 'offence' – for example; my wife once got a ticket because her car was slightly over a line.

In England, parking has been decriminalised and local authorities can apply to take on the powers from the police. I can't wait for it to happen here; there's one street where the double yellows on one side have loads parked on them because they know the police will do nowt, while the pay&display parking on the other side is empty because the council will.

Yes. Absolutely no stopping on zig zags (or overtaking either).

You can legally park on double yellow lines with a disabled badge, as long as you are not causing an obstruction.

But saying that, the lines are usually there because parking there WOULD cause an obstruction.

I got a ticket in Bath, parked on a single yellow, where there were no signs anywhere to indicate any parking restrictions. Turns out it's a controlled zone and the sign is eight feet up on a wall as you turn into the street where the sideroad I was parked in is situated. The sign is almost impossible to see because it's right on a busy roundabout where you're concentrating on other traffic and pedestrians and cyclists. Typical B&NES council refused to accept their signing was inadequate. I did however geta ticket one Sunday morning when attending a country park for a green festival helping Sustrans. I only had a £20 note, expecting parking to be provided by the local authuority for those travelling some distance. It wasn't. No change available from others there, went looking for free parking a council official told me was available. It wasn't. Came back to see if anyone had arrived with some change, and while I was asking I got a chuffing ticket. At 9am on a chuffing Sunday! Eventually found a space a mile away and contested the ticket, which was upheld by Wiltshire Council. Bless 'em.

Parking on the zig zags outside schools

They apply 24 hours per day unless there is a sign specifically stating the only apply during certain hours.

Does my nut in when people park on zig zags, especially when it blocks my view of the pavement at pedestrian crossings (and the peds view of me). Its a criminal offence so why don't the police spent a couple of minutes teaching the lazy sods a lesson with a few points? If I ever have to queue alongside someone on zigzags I always make a point of stopping nice and close so they have to stand there and wait for the traffic to move before they can get the door open 🙂

well I'm a joiner working in Edinburgh and in my opinion at £60, the fine was already ludicrous. I quite agree with the need to restrict vehicule numbers in town, but the fact is, fat barstewards in offices up town have private parking and tradesmen like myself who can't carry half a ton of gear on a bus or on a bike have to cope with streets with no loading areas in front of them(5 mins on a yellow-line doesn't let you get much gear up to a top flat!); then you have the "2 hours max" which means you lose money (and fuel) driving around in cicles when you should be working; then there is the Visitors Permits that by the time you have scatched out your 15th one on a job you are garanteed to have forgotten the Year box or something on one of them and yes it's £60 for that ommission!
then you get the broken meter and when you return from your jaunt round the corner to find a working one you find some shilpit wee raj dishing out a ticket which he now can't cancel and hey,low and behold when you appeal: No reports of any broken meters in the area!
I try really hard to do my job and park legally, yet every year I get several parking fines.
So if the council really want a hundred notes for a parking infringement like "staying for more than 2 hours in an empty residentual street" then how about making it easier on folk who really do need a vehicule in the town!

I have no problem with fines and parking fines etc. But **** me, 100 quid is a lot of money. it's far above the amount which would be necessary to operate as a deterrant.