Vow of common sense approach over parking fine complaints

Councils took over civil parking enforcement when the old police traffic warden system ended, but in Sheffield politicians have looked again at the policy. One objective was to make the rules more transparent and that has resulted in the council making the full enforcement policy publicly available for the first time. But it has also meant the authority making an active decision to take a "common sense" approach to individuals who complain after receiving a fixed penalty ticket. The biggest areas of contention have involved those who claimed it was necessary to leave vehicles in restricted areas on medical grounds, and those who cited loading or unloading as the reason for having a vehicle parked. As a result, the council has doubled the "observation time" which enforcement officers should allow before putting a ticket on a vehicle making deliveries. Previously they were told to allow five minutes but that has been increased to 10 minutes, which should be enough to monitor movement if deliveries are taking place. For businesses which need longer delivery times, they can contact the council to register vehicles and agree "appropriate" times. In one instance, a business has been allowed 30 minutes for loading. Most of the complaints from individuals about parking fines include claims that there was a medical need, with such genuine cases expected to be examined sympathetically in future. In addition, taxi drivers will be allowed to claim an exemption if they receive a ticket after leaving their vehicle to help a disabled passenger safely into their home. However, the council has stressed that motorists should obey the rules. The same approach will be taken by the council towards enforcing penalty tickets for private drivers who use bus lanes. Parking Services Manager Kevan Butt said work had been done to improve signs to warn motorists of bus lanes in the city and since that had been done numbers of tickets issued in The Wicker, which caused controversy when the changes were introduced, had halved to about 50 a day. Some of those are blamed on drivers relying on outdated information on satellite navigation systems, rather than using road signs. Decisions on whether to cancel tickets will normally be taken in the council's "back office" rather than by the enforcement officers who impose them. "Most motorists do comply; there is just a small hard-core who don't," said Mr Butt. "Some don't care but some don't understand the restrictions and if they check the signs and lines, most can be avoided." Council officials accept the new approach may leave the authority with less income from fines, although it is not possible to predict what impact it may have. The council is also planning to introduce a system allowing motorists to buy time in pay and display parking bays using a mobile telephone. It will involve users registering their vehicle and a credit card number with the authority, then texting to buy time when they park. An advantage of that scheme is that a follow-up text is automatically sent, reminding the driver of when their time is about to expire. It is expected about 10 per cent of drivers will use that system initially when it is introduced this year, although its popularity is expected to rise in future. Authorities already using the technology report a take up rate of up to 30 per cent compared to traditional payment methods.