Oh, the irony!

Johnno · Post by **Johnno** » 24 Aug 2005, 13:01

Brown envelope on the floor this morning with the ominous "Transport for London" (now there's an oxymoron) on the back. A Penalty Charge notice for stopping in a box junction. The irony is that, for some years before the technology was common, I've been ranting about the need for cameras to enforce the courteous use of junctions! Annoyingly, as the alleged offence happened 10 days ago, it's kind of difficult to remember if there was any particular reason why I came to a sudden stop (although if any of you know Kew Bridge, coming to a sudden stop is de rigeur). Having thought about challenging, I'll probably just pay the £50 and remind myself to pay more attention to what is happening in front of me. I'm still almost 100% against bus lanes though - a 180 degree change from a few years ago.

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 24 Aug 2005, 18:08

To make any progress at all in London you have to sometimes stop on a box junction, you would be stuck at the lights forever, otherwise.
I wonder how many of Kens exploding bendy-buses have got tickets for blocking box junctions- I see this all the time, they are too big to get across in one go!!
Parking tickets are now dished out by camera as well in the London borough of Newham-they have a secret monitoring centre, take your picture if you are illegaly parked, and send the ticket in the post, so if I am working in Newham I have to be careful even about pulling over for a minute to check the A to Z. There is no leeway timewise.Mind you, Newham is a dangerous place so its probably the most sensible way to issue parking tickets-traffic disputes being generally settled there with a gun!!
Bus lanes,grrrrrr, if you want to cause congestion and slow the traffic down, put in a bus lane!!!! What I find annoying about them is that many can be used between 10 and 4 by all traffic, but some can't , so you have to check for signage all the time- some can be used by cabs, and some can't ,the whole thing is a mess and as for that one on the M4...[:(!]
Rage over.

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 24 Aug 2005, 20:52

Parking tickets have to be fully written out and attached to the vehicle before the driver returns otherwise they aren't valid, so they can't be done remotely by camera.

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 24 Aug 2005, 21:13

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Parking tickets have to be fully written out and attached to the vehicle before the driver returns otherwise they aren't valid<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Not since the London Local Authorites act 2000!!!! Newham and Croydon were the 2 pilot boroughs- they started dishing out tickets by cctv in august 2001.
i work in Newham a lot and need to be aware of this, and although its not a widely known piece of legislation, you can all bet your life its coming your way soon!!!!!Its been very succsesful-14000 tickets in the first 6 months and not a single warden stabbed!!
Its hard to fight the ticket because you get sent a very clear colour photo of your car on the yellow line- I've not had one but I have seen other peoples and its a quality pic-not the grainy crimewatch type!!!

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 24 Aug 2005, 22:44

Just park on the pavement, then the yellow line doesn't apply.

allmond · Post by **allmond** » 25 Aug 2005, 00:25

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Kowalski

Just park on the pavement, then the yellow line doesn't apply.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Oh yes it does!! Or, they could do you for obstruction.
Jamie

vanny · Post by **vanny** » 25 Aug 2005, 03:12

bus lanes
i giggle at the one on the M4 everytime i have cause to pass it, i can see the conversation in the pub
'i know what would be really funny'
'go on what?'
'stick a bus lane on the utside lane of a motorway'
'thats a cracking idea, lets do it'
'i was only ki ... bugger it lets do it

'

yangreen · Post by **yangreen** » 25 Aug 2005, 23:15

Hold on, weren't they selling London Buses fairly cheap recently? Perfect for the M4 Commute!

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 26 Aug 2005, 01:57

The Newham scheme is a good example of good technology being misused- the cameras are very high definition and were originally put in together with face recognition software to spot known criminals and street thugs going about their unlawful business, and direct the coppers straight to them- they caught loads of wanted people early on but now they know to cover their faces the stuff is used to give out parking tickets.
No doubt its good at box junctions and tax discs and can probably smell veggie oil as well!!!!
Mind you, Newham is not nice-its the first place I saw wardens wearing stab vests.......