Motorists with three unpaid parking tickets could have their cars clamped anywhere in the country under plans due to be unveiled by the Government within the next few weeks.
The same threat will apply to motorists who have three unpaid penalty notices imposed for failing to pay the London congestion charge.
Full details at
tinyurl.com/2dbcdt
The motoring organisations have raised the problem of recently purchased vehicles possibly being clamped due to the previous owner's failure to pay parking fines. Well what happens if your vehicle is cloned? Under this type of law you are guilty until proven innocent. There must be safeguards built in besides the use of a bond of £250. If you are wrongly clamped then you should also be allowed compensation for wrongful clamping denying you the right to use you vehicle and disruption to your normal life.
What do you think?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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That's far to fair to the motorist. Might encourage a few and we can't have that can we?
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Carry an angle grinder as part of your toolkit.
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Carry an angle grinder as part of your toolkit.
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Yes.When my company was based at its previous address on a business park,there were over 500 employees and only 350 parking spaces.This led to great double,triple and even quadruple parking on the site.When wheelclamping was introduced, it didn't go down at all well,especially for people who like myself spent weeks working abroad only to discover that having been away for six weeks ,your vehicle had been clamped at 5am.Needless to say that the angle grinder easily cut off the pad locks.The company bought new pad locks and we handed the clamps and new locks into the local cop shop.At one time the police turned up because the clampers were surrounded by twenty plus irate workers.In the end,my company moved into its own new purpose built site,but due to planning restrictions it was only allowed 700 spaces for over 1000 employees.This has not been such a problem as many of my work colleagues have smart cars on our mercedes lease scheme and we can park two in each space!.
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A more handy alternative to the angle grinder might be a DC dremel-type tool. You can get small cutoff discs for these, about an inch in diameter. These will cut anything, and when the disc wears down or breaks, just fit another and carry on. A friend had his bicycle stolen recently. The substantial lock had been neatly cut off, and the police told him that it was probably done with one of the above tools. In different circumstances, this could be the solution to wheel clamps, and a much more discreet method than an angle grinder. The other advantage is that it could be powered by the car itself.
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I am surprised at how few posts there have been to this thread. Perhaps I should have titled it "Clamped for 3 unpaid parking tickets" as I feel sure this would have brought a larger number of replies. Remember this also applies if you have a Congestion Charge Fine registered against you as part of the 3 unpaid items
It is still of concern that you could loose your mobility if a previous owner has unpaid parking tickets or your vehicle has been cloned, or there has been a error of data entry. How would you feel if you could not use your car as it had been clamped when you know you have done nothing wrong? Personally I would be fuming. Remember this could happen anywhere in the country.
If a car is wrongly clamped then the driver should be compensated for the clamper's mistake. At present this is not the case and you will have to prove your innocence after paying a £250 deposit.
It appears that this form of clamping will become more widespread with further misdemeanours being added by Statutory Instrument. It might include unpaid speeding fines, no road fund licence, using a SORNed car, faulty tyres, etc.
I have no problem with stopping driver who habitually break the law, but I am concerned for the few innocent drivers who might be affected by this change in the law.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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This sounds like a good idea to me. It will catch all the unregistered cars and foreigners who clock up hundreds of tickets with no penalty.
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The last time i was clamped I took a stihlsaw to it and chucked the clamp over a wall, this was a private car park. Whats to stop others doing similar.
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Buy a cordless dewalt grinder on ebay, cheaper than a release fee.
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It is still of concern that you could loose your mobility if a previous owner has unpaid parking tickets or your vehicle has been cloned, or there has been a error of data entry. How would you feel if you could not use your car as it had been clamped when you know you have done nothing wrong? Personally I would be fuming. Remember this could happen anywhere in the country.
Not in Scotland I beleive it's illegal to clamp a car there, something about demanding money with menace. I may be wrong but I have been told this...Cheers...Keo
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"Not in Scotland I beleive it's illegal to clamp a car there, something about demanding money with menace. I may be wrong but I have been told this...Cheers...Keo"
Keo - you're spot on - clamping in Scotland is only legal if done by the Police or DVLA. Not even council contracted personnel have the power to clamp. In Scotland, it comes under our "Extortion" laws, which is a subet of the Theft Act .
So not everything about Scotland is bad then!
(Other advantage is that a cop on his own can't do you for speeding - laws of corroboration apply - thanks heavens Scotland does not come under PACE (Police & Criminal Evidence Act), and is a little more precise about what is and what isn't evidence.) This explains why Scottish drivers tend to get "done"for speeding south of the border - we forget that a cop in a car on his own can "do" you in England. In Scotland, we ignore him unless he has a fixed video camera fitted!
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"This explains why Scottish drivers tend to get "done"for speeding south of the border - we forget that a cop in a car on his own can "do" you in England. In Scotland, we ignore him unless he has a fixed video camera fitted!"
That being the case, then as "speed kills", apparently, and from the above in otherwise identical circumstances the Scots speed where the English do not, the statistics must surely show that Scotland has a higher death rate from traffic fatalities than England.
I wonder if they do.
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>> That being the case, then as "speed kills", apparently, and from the above in otherwise identical circumstances the Scots speed where the English do not, the statistics must surely show that Scotland has a higher death rate from traffic fatalities than England. I wonder if they do.
Interesting thought. Is there a significant difference between the various countries of the UK?
I have tried a Google, but couldn't find the figures.
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If you are wrongly clamped then you should also be allowed compensation for wrongful clamping denying you the right to use you vehicle and disruption to your normal life.
How many are unjustifiably clamped? Not many, I opine.
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L\'escargot.
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