Who is watching the watchers?

Councils use CCTV to collect £3million in 'ghost' parking tickets every year
By Scott Warren

Daily Mail
12th January 2010

CCTV cameras are being used to issue 'ghost' parking tickets by 34 councils, generating £3million a year in fines.
The cameras record parking rule infringements, with automated fine notices then sent to the vehicle's owner.
Always watching: CCTV parking fines amount to
£3million a year

More councils are expected to soon adopt the technology.
Motoring groups say 'ghost' tickets are unfair, as it makes matters more difficult for motorists hoping to mount an appeal.

They also argue the cameras cannot tell an illegally parked car from one with a disabled permit, or from a car that has been briefly stopped so the driver can consult a map.
AA president Edmund King said: 'We regard them as 'ghost tickets' because drivers are unaware of their alleged offence for some time afterwards.
'These tickets are very hard to challenge because drivers are in no position to check the roadside signs or whether the ticket was issued by mistake.'

Throughout England, 265 local authorities collected £328million in parking fines last year - more than three times as much as speed cameras raked in.
Fines range from £120 in London to £70 elsewhere, with a 50 per cent discount offered for offenders who pay their fine within 14 days.
Cameras help authorities issue tickets for parking over yellow or red lines, in bus zones, on zig zags or in a restricted bay.

Not fair': AA boss Edmund King said because motorists didn't know they had been fined until afterwards, it was more difficult to check signs and mount an appeal

Most councils issuing fines based on camera evidence are in London.

Westminster is one London council using the technology. It saw the number of fines increase by almost 100,000 a year to 823,836, while in Enfield, north London, camera-generated tickets accounted for 40 per cent of all parking fines in the first year.

Department for Transport advice says the cameras should only be used where it is too difficult for personnel to issue tickets.
A Local Government Association spokesman told the Telegraph: 'Councils will not apologise for giving out parking tickets to stop cars parking illegally.
'If people do not want a parking ticket, they should not park illegally.'

The camera never lies ... Well, Lambeth Council's does

Jonathan Greatorex has just been awarded costs and had his ticket overturned.
However, thousands of other motorists have been fined unlawfully at this location. If you are one of them simply email us at enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk and mark it 'Salter's Hill' we will keep you fully informed of developments regarding restitution and refunds.


UK Motorist Proves to Judge that the Traffic Camera Lied
London,

UK officials caught manipulating photographic evidence to issue traffic tickets worth millions.The spread of photo enforcement depends upon the truism that the camera never lies. A photograph presents a record of exactly what happened, free of the human problems of bias or misrecollection. This month, however, a UK motorist was exonerated after he proved conclusively that a traffic camera photograph issued in the London Borough of Lambeth did lie. Read the rest of the story here

A full copy of the ruling is available in a 390k PDF file at the source link below.Source: Adjudicator Response (Parking and Traffic Appeals Service, 4/1/2008)

If you had TicketM8 then you could prove your location with pinpoint accuracy at the time the photo was taken proving that you were not swerving to avoid another car.

"Another Fine Mess" ... Parking Chaos starts today

In a calamity worthy of the slapstick comedy heroes the new Traffic Management Act comes into force today ... ill-thought out, ill-conceived, unregulated and guaranteed to create "another fine mess."

The difference is however, that this one isn't funny.
There will be nothing amusing when you get a parking ticket issued through the post alleging a contravention some weeks earlier. I struggle to recollect events from the day before, but trying to retrace my footsteps (or my vehicle's tyre steps) from weeks earlier will be an impossible task.

Add to that the fact that as the Registered Keeper of a vehicle yo will be responsible for paying the Penalty Charge Notice ... and therefore responsible for tracing other persons steps ( ie. any other legal user of the vehicle).


Penalties will range from £40 to as high as £120 – rising to £180 for late payers – simply according to where in the country you park.

Two tier penalties will be introduced with higher penalties for more serious contraventions ... but no need for the call to the rocket scientist for a quote ... you guessed it, most of the contraventions (the most common) fall into the higher bracket thereby increaing the revenue for councls.

CCTV will be rolled out across the country to harvest revenue in the most profitable areas. Amusingly Wigan Council claimed that they would only be siting CCTV cameras where it was too dangerous for Parking Attendants (now renamed Civil Enforcement Officers under the new legislation) ... I personally do not want to live in a country where it is too dangerous for ANYONE to go and the priority under the Crime and Disorder Act is for the Police and Councils to reduce crime (and the fear of crime) in such areas ... not put up CCTV to harvest fine revenue.

This legislation is going to result in chaos and abuse of the belegured motorist who is going to become even more of a stealth tax victim.

Read what the Daily Express thinks here

Rosie Winterton thinks its 'FINE'

Unfortunately things are not 'fine' and the never will be ... because Justice Collin's in Robin Decrittenden's case, stated that parking tickets were not 'fines' they were 'civil responsibilities' and as such did not fall foul of the Bill of Rights 1689, which states:

"That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void."

Under Decriminalised Parking Enforcement there is no recourse to a Court ... the council raises the 'fine,' issues the 'fine' and collects and keeps the fine revenue.

You can appeal of course ... to an independent adjudicator. How is he funded? Well, he receives a levy of 60p from every 'fine.'

This is precisely why the Bill of Rights 1689 was created ... to prevent the abuse of the people by those in power ... and now they are 'at it' again. Is it any wonder that Decriminalised Parking Enforcement has decended into the lawless, uncontrolled, unregulated shambles that it is ... nothing more than licensed highway robbery.

The other amusing statement from 'our future is Rosie' was that all the councils were ready. At this moment in time we shall beg to differ ... but we have the evidence that she doesn't ;-)

The 31st March 2008 is the beginning of the end of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement. CCTV enforcement rolled out across the country. Civil Enforcement Officers allowed to issue parking tickets by post?

This was the day they went just a step too far.

CCTV watching motorists in Wigan... because the streets are too dangerous!

New powers in the Traffic Management Act allow councils to monitor motorists by CCTV and serve Penalty Charge Notices through the post.

There is however a massive and fundamental flaw in allowing the use of such devices for the monitoring of parking contraventions ... and we will be reporting on why in the coming months ...and how every CCTV PCN could be deemed unlawful.

Meanwhile, Wigan is first out of the blocks ... but look at the weasel words of justification from the council ... "The cameras will only be used in areas where it would be too dangerous or difficult for a traffic warden to issue a ticket, such as a busy junction or a fast-flowing road."

Firstly, there should not be anywhere in the country that is too dangerous for ANYONE to go ... if it is then it is a council and Police problem that needs addressing immediately.

Cars parked in 'fast-flowing roads?' .... whereabouts? In the middle forcing Parking Attendants to weave through traffic? Or do the fast flowing roads have pavements where Parking Attendants can roam?

This is patronising nonsense from the council in a thinly veiled attempt to extort as much money from motorists for as many contraventions as they can.

We are going to witness enforcement anarchy. Politicians you have been warned.

Cameras to catch illegal parkers
By Natalie Walker

CCTV cameras could be used to catch motorists who park illegally in Wigan.

As part of the government's overhaul of parking regulations, from March 31 local authorities will be allowed to use CCTV cameras to detect parking offences.

The cameras will only be used in areas where it would be too dangerous or difficult for a traffic warden to issue a ticket, such as a busy junction or a fast-flowing road.

With no ticket issued, drivers won't know they have been caught until they receive a letter up to 14 days later. Wigan Council said it is considering the new measures. More ...

The number of parking tickets set to escalate as the war on the motorist set to reach firestorm proportions

Be prepared for a massive escalation in the number of fines issued right across the country. No controls, no checks or balances. Adjudication bodies funded by, and financially dependent on the very industry they have to adjudicate upon. The Department for Transport neutered as councils attempt to 'dumb-down' the strict and pedantic requirements of the signing legislation, assisted by the adjudicators who are adopting the man on the Clapham Omnibus stance of 'well, it looks like a loading bay / yellow line / parking space ...' forgetting or ignoring the fact that the legislators have created the specific signing requirements for a reason.

2008 is going to be the year that motorists reach 'tipping point' and say enough is enough. Get a voice ... and join http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/

Councils to use cameras to catch drivers
By David Millward
Daily Telegraph Transport Editor
25/02/2008

Motorists face having to pay millions of pounds in fines after councils are given the power to use road cameras to punish minor traffic offences.

From the end of next month, town halls will be able to cash in on motorists drifting into bus lanes, ignoring no right-turn signs and getting trapped in box junctions. Even parking more than 19in from a kerb can be picked up by camera and trigger a fine of £60.

The new rules bring to an end the existing system where enforcement is left to the police, who are able to take into account the circumstances surrounding any offence. Transport for London and the local authorities in the capital have enjoyed this power for some time.

However, there have been complaints camera operators in control centres have issued tickets even when there is doubt the motorist's manoeuvre is illegal.

Motoring groups warned allowing councils to take over the enforcement of the traffic laws - and keep the proceeds - will lead to a surge in both the number of motorists being fined and the amount of cash being extracted from their wallets.

"My fear is that the bad councils will milk this," said Sheila Rainger, the acting director of the RAC Foundation. "There will be times when the need to raise money will take precedence over common sense."

The "decriminalisation" of parking - handing over enforcement to councils and allowing them to keep the cash - has already led to a surge in fines. Now there are fears allowing the same thing to happen for routine traffic matters will make life even worse for the motorist.
Several councils, including Manchester, Brighton and Hove, Nottingham and Sheffield, have already voiced an interest in taking on the new powers.

The change has been seen by critics as further evidence of what they regard as the "war on the motorist". It comes alongside a change in parking rules, revealed by The Daily Telegraph last week, which will enable councils in England and Wales to use remote cameras.

Barrie Segal, whose organisation, AppealNow, challenges thousands of parking and traffic offence tickets a year, warned motorists could find it hard to challenge any fines.
"You could get the ticket 28 days after the incident happened and if you travel the same road every day, it will be hard to remember what you are doing," he said.
"There are all sorts of reasons why people can stop in a box junction. Motorists can do so when turning right, but proving this could prove difficult. There could be other extenuating circumstances, such as making space to allow a police car or emergency vehicle to pass.
"I had one case where a London motorist was prosecuted for stopping in a yellow box, even though the photo shows that had he kept going he would have run two people over.
"If there is pressure to issue tickets because it's in a council's financial interests to do so, at the very least motorists won't be given the benefit of the doubt."

The changes have also alarmed Paul Watters, the AA head of roads policy. He said: "Some local authorities have shown varying degrees of ineptitude at dealing with parking enforcement so this doesn't bode well if they take on moving offences.
"Moving offences are very different to static ones. Mitigation may exist such as when a road closure or accident may necessitate an 'illegal' manoeuvre.
"There are many locations where traffic management arrangements are incredibly complicated or perhaps out of date. Sticking cameras up will be cheaper than 'fixing' a bad junction. What hope for unfamiliar drivers in an area using CCTV enforcement - they get home perhaps hundreds of miles away and a week later get a ticket?"
Mr Watters added: "How can they validate the legitimacy of the ticket - the CCTV image may show the offence but will it show that the sign was there and readable?"
"This type of enforcement could in some instances lead to bad driving, with drivers more worried about absolute adherence to road signs than the and people around them."