Taxi Driver Online

Driver gets Smart to overturn fine


A man given a parking ticket when he stopped to read a map for less than two minutes won his battle to get it rescinded late last month.

Peter Elliot, a professional private hire driver from Didcot, was given the ticket after being caught on camera by one of Richmond Council’s Smart cars with a CCTV camera on top just before 8pm on May 22.

He explained he had been to pick up a client from a hotel but could not get up Hill Street, Richmond, as it was blocked off – he was diverted and ended up in Whittaker Avenue where he stopped to turn around, check a map and find an alternative route.

He said the CCTV car – which has been referred to as a “spy car” by some residents – was waiting in that street and he later discovered he was given a parking fine for being stationary from 7.53pm until 7.55pm.

Mr Elliot said: “This was blatant entrapment, taking advantage of a situation beyond a motorist’s control. For a public body to act this way is absolutely disgraceful.

“Logic dictates I stopped for about 61 to 120 seconds. Also their photographic evidence clearly shows my brake lights illuminated – hardly the act of a parked car.”

Mr Elliot appealed the ticket but said Richmond Council refused his appeals and threatened to increase the charge until he took his case to the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) – the independent adjudication service for deciding disputed parking and bus lane penalties.

It found in his favour and overturned the ticket but Mr Elliot is still angry it was given in the first place – although he admitted Richmond Council had done nothing illegal.

“Their morals and sense of justice however are another issue,” he said.

“A public body funded by ratepayers’ money, was acting in a wholly inappropriate manner. In their blind pursuit of revenue they have lost all sense of reason, fairness and natural justice.

“Further, in this particular case, there were probably other victims who paid up.

“I dug my heels in. The cheap option is to pay. I was delighted to win.”

A Richmond Council spokesman said the Data Protection Act meant it could not comment on individual cases.

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

aren`t all minicab drivers suppossed to be Professional ??????
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



A professional is a person in a profession that requires certain types of skilled work requiring formal training or education. In western nations, such as the United States, the term commonly describes highly educated, mostly salaried workers, who enjoy considerable work autonomy, economic security, a comfortable salary, and are commonly engaged in creative and intellectually challenging work
proffesional?

Dictionary.com:


pro⋅fes⋅sion⋅al   /prəˈfɛʃənl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pruh-fesh-uh-nl] Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective 1. following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.
2. of, pertaining to, or connected with a profession: professional studies.
3. appropriate to a profession: professional objectivity.
4. engaged in one of the learned professions: A lawyer is a professional person.
5. following as a business an occupation ordinarily engaged in as a pastime: a professional golfer.
6. making a business or constant practice of something not properly to be regarded as a business: “A salesman,” he said, “is a professional optimist.”
7. undertaken or engaged in as a means of livelihood or for gain: professional baseball.
8. of or for a professional person or his or her place of business or work: a professional apartment; professional equipment.
9. done by a professional; expert: professional car repairs.


–noun
10. a person who belongs to one of the professions, esp. one of the learned professions.
11. a person who earns a living in a sport or other occupation frequently engaged in by amateurs: a golf professional.
12. an expert player, as of golf or tennis, serving as a teacher, consultant, performer, or contestant; pro.
13. a person who is expert at his or her work: You can tell by her comments that this editor is a real professional.

So someone who sits with their foot on the brake for two minutes is a professional driver?

Message to drivers - avoid parking tickets by keeping your foot on the brake

Two-minute 'parking' fine is overturned

A DRIVER fined for stopping on double yellow lines for less than two minutes has had his ticket overturned after a seven-month battle.

Peter Elliot, a private hire driver, pulled up in Richmond to check directions when he was caught by a CCTV camera on a Richmond council Smart car.

As Mr Elliot, 62, stopped in Whittaker Avenue at about 8pm, the wardens snapped him and issued a £65 ticket, rising to £135 after two weeks. After three appeals to Richmond council, the ticket was finally quashed by the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service.

Mr Elliot, from Didcot, Oxfordshire, said: "I dug in my heels and I'm delighted to win."

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin