What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Is anyone lobbying against the British Parking Association's proposals to make vehicle keepers liable for penalties?
You recently mentioned in your column that the British Parking Association is lobbying Parliament to make vehicle keepers liable for parking penalties. Is anybody lobbying to maintain the status quo?
Asked on 21 May 2011 by JW, Chippenham
Answered by
Honest John
In typical British oversight no one seems to have bothered because no one realises the implications. The BPA is responsible for the very vague Section 2 Clause 56 in the Protection of Freedoms Bill. It reads:
“Recovery of unpaid parking charges Schedule 4 (which makes provision for the recovery of unpaid parking charges from the keeper of a vehicle in cases where it is not known who was driving the vehicle when the charges were incurred) has effect.”
This is so vague it reads to me as a license to exploit the keeper of any parked car in any circumstance for any cobbled up penalty. It must be very tightly defined or vigorously opposed, otherwise it will give the BPA a similar open season against motorists as the previous government gave to clamping gangs. More at: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/parking-fines
“Recovery of unpaid parking charges Schedule 4 (which makes provision for the recovery of unpaid parking charges from the keeper of a vehicle in cases where it is not known who was driving the vehicle when the charges were incurred) has effect.”
This is so vague it reads to me as a license to exploit the keeper of any parked car in any circumstance for any cobbled up penalty. It must be very tightly defined or vigorously opposed, otherwise it will give the BPA a similar open season against motorists as the previous government gave to clamping gangs. More at: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/parking-fines
Similar questions
I have for many months read your replies regarding experiences with members of the British Parking Association (BPA), and how they have used the DVLA to make money from unsuspecting motorists. I have recently...
Having been clamped on private land (where I was working, I parked in the wrong bay at a block of flats last week), I now carry a powerful angle grinder in my van. The nice Russian lad who came to remove...
Regular followers of the fight against parking pirates will welcome the news that one of the Penalty Charge Notice perpetrators, OPC Parking, was fined £26,750 plus costs in Wolverhampton Magistrates Court...
.jpg)
