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'Common sense' call over bus lane fines
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Author:  captain cab [ Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:20 pm ]
Post subject:  'Common sense' call over bus lane fines
'Common sense' call over bus lane fines from camera car


TAXI drivers are calling for “common sense” from council parking chiefs after being caught on camera dropping off passengers in bus lanes.

The plea follows a report in yesterday’s Daily Echo of cabbie John Walker’s battle with Bournemouth council after he was slapped with a £70 fine for stopping at a bus stop in Tuckton.

Mr Walker says he dropped off his elderly passenger after checking for warning notices, and claims the council has replaced a “no parking” sign in the layby since his fine was issued.

Now drivers with Winton firm Mobile Cars, who have received fines after being photographed by Bournemouth council’s camera car dropping off passengers in bus lanes at Winton and Wallisdown, are calling for common sense.

Driver Eddie Harrison said the photograph issued with his fine showed that there were no buses waiting on the stop at Winton Banks where he was snapped.

“I was dropping off an elderly lady at the hairdresser near the Hop and Kilderkin pub. There are three parking spaces, but they are always full,” he said.

“What was I supposed to do – drop an elderly person around the corner when they can’t walk?”

“We’re not asking to park in the bus stop, just for a bit of common sense. If I had parked and gone into a shop, I would expect to be fined, but not just for dropping off.”

Mobile Cars manager Phil Birt said the council’s enforcement policy amounted to discrimination against disabled passengers reliant on taxis to travel door to door.

“I’ve been driving for 30 years and I’ve dropped disabled people in bus stops. I’ve even had traffic wardens help me unload wheelchairs,” he said.

“But the camera car drives past, takes a photograph, and begins a process that ends up costing money, when it could be solved with common sense.”

But Gerry Bolland, the enforcement and parking manager at Bournemouth Borough Council, said the law concerning stopping in bus stops was unequivocal.

“The Highway Code provides information to motorists and is refreshingly clear on the point that ‘you may not stop or park on a bus stop’.

“The only exception to the rule is for emergency service vehicles responding to any emergency,” said Mr Bolland.

Drivers wishing to challenge parking tickets should appeal “with all haste”, he added.
Author:  captain cab [ Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
I seem to think Bournemouth council must have been the first port of call for nazis after WW2

CC
Author:  cabby john [ Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:15 am ]
Post subject: 
If only these fools realised the damage that they do to their own local economy. Every fine that they make is money that can no longer be spent in their local shops/pubs/restaurants etc and then they wonder why the shutters go up. Still I suppose they have to make sure that their paymasters can afford second homes. :sad:
Author:  gusmac [ Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:30 am ]
Post subject: 
Common sense?

Kerrrrchinggg!
Author:  bloodnock [ Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:39 am ]
Post subject: 
cabby john wrote:
If only these fools realised the damage that they do to their own local economy. Every fine that they make is money that can no longer be spent in their local shops/pubs/restaurants etc and then they wonder why the shutters go up. Still I suppose they have to make sure that their paymasters can afford second homes. :sad:



Why should they care about the local economy...it's not council pension pot enhancing in the same way as council fine is :roll:
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