Taxi Driver Online

This reads like a clever Dick who thought he would take advantage of a lack of road markings to park on a rank.

He's a photographer for Google Maps


Frustration over fine after parking in ‘incomplete’ Taunton taxi rank

https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk ... taxi-rank/


Image: Tom Leaman/Somerset County Gazette

A TAUNTON man has expressed his frustration after being fined for parking in an ‘incomplete’ taxi rank outside Primark and Argos on East Street.

Nigel Freeney and his wife were fined after they parked on the road outside the stores on Friday, November 25.

He was fined £75 but told the charge would drop to £35 if paid within two weeks. 

However, he has challenged the fine through Somerset County Council's online system on the basis that fresher tarmac has ‘obliterated’ the end of the taxi rank.

Pictures show that newer tarmac has been laid over the taxi rank's boundaries, making it appear to not have an end. 

Now, the council has encouraged other drivers to challenge fines if they believe there are “mitigating circumstances” such as unclear signs and lines.

Mr Freeney, an IT consultant and Google Maps photographer, says pictures he has taken show the taxi rank has not been complete since at least November 2020.

He believes other drivers who have been fined for parking there, or in any places where the signage or marking are unclear, should be entitled to a refund.

He says another driver, who was parked behind his family's car, was fined at the same time, despite staff from a local business challenging the enforcement officer.

“There’s a strip of tarmac that goes over the end of the pavement and it obliterates the taxi rank,” he said.

“The taxi rank, if it was completed, would encroach onto Argos.

“If Somerset County Council aren’t maintaining the road properly, it’s conceivable that other people are paying for tickets they don’t need to.”


Image: Tom Leaman/Somerset County Gazette

He says the enforcement officer took seven photographs of his car, but they made were taken facing towards the road and made it “difficult to ascertain where the car was parked” in relation to road markings and signs.

“I find it frustrating that I’ve wasted my time challenging a ticket that shouldn’t have been issued,” said Mr Freeney.

“It’s not the cost; it’s the issue of going through and making a challenge.

“It’s two years since the taxi rank was complete. That’s the bit that bothers me, and the enforcement officer not knowing it was not complete.

“It seems inconceivable that nobody else has received a ticket. How many people have received a fine for road markings that haven’t been maintained?”

Mr Freeney also said the process for challenging a fine is “really not user-friendly”, such as only allowing complainants to upload three files to make their case.

A Somerset County Council spokesperson said: “Drivers who receive a penalty and consider there are mitigating circumstances are encouraged to contact the council and challenge the penalty as detailed on the penalty.

“Where signs and lines are unclear we will arrange for them to be refreshed.

Obviously the markings on the photo are very faded, and the line at the front of the rank has been obliterated by the new tarmac. (Athough the photo looks like it's been taken in the dark, so the lines may be be a bit easier to see in daylight - see the Google views below.)


But maybe what bothers other people is that he knew fine it was a rank (pardon the pun), but took advantage of the fact that the markings were incomplete to park there.

This is it on Google Maps (which no doubt he's consulted), which certainly shows the new bit of tarmac, but it's still unmistakably a rank, and the signage is still there:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.01486 ... 384!8i8192

This from a slightly different angle shows the 'complete' rank:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.01483 ... 312!8i6656

Clever dick hasn't had that appeal accepted yet, and it's not as easy as he is implying.

The lines might not be as clear as they should be but that's not the beginning and end of it.

Anyway, it will all be down to the traffic adjudicator, but the point being made is this is someone trying it on, whilst the trade suffers, is a valid one.

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IDFIMH