In April 2017 there were 100 Appeals which were won by the motorist, 80 which were lost and 3 where the adjudicator recommended that the council cancel the PCN although the motorist had contravened.
This means that the motorist won 55% of the time which is better than the usual London wide result of 50%. Appeals to the tribunal seem to be dropping across London and if this month is typical that is 1.3% of PCN which go to Appeal. Nowhere near enough. Motorists need to be more combative.
I have 5 tribunal reports which I have copied for you, and given you the tribunal reference, you can find the original reports here; in the first 4 cases the motorist won and in the final one he lost but the reason was original.
2170124690 Universal service provider - Royal Mail
Royal Mail Group Plc says that the driver was delivering mail. It seeks to rely on a universal service provider exemption. There is no such exemption in the Traffic Management Order but there is an exemption for essentially the collection and delivery of postal packets.
The Appellant says that it does not keep records of such activities. I think that I will need to be persuaded that the postman is delivering mail at 4:36 pm. To say that there are no such records is not good enough.
On the other hand, the Authority seemed to be confused about the Appellant's case. It refused the representation without any suggestion that it had considered the exemption claimed. This confusion carried on at the appeal stage when the Authority asserted that exemption did not apply where there is a loading restriction. The loading/unloading exemption is different to the mail delivery exemption. The former does not apply at the location but the latter does.
I am not satisfied that the Authority considered the representations in any meaningful way if at all. This is a procedural impropriety. I allow the appeal.
2170100648 Motorcycle bays not defined in car park rules
The Penalty Charge Notice was issued on the basis that the appellant’s car was parked in a bay in a car park that was for motorcycles only.
Mrs A states that she parked her car and paid to park for about 2 hours. She states that she did not see any signs to indicate that the bay was for motorcycles only.
Article 22 of the Traffic Management Order states that a Penalty Charge Notice can be issued for failing to comply with the requirements of Articles 4, 5 and 6 of for failing to display a pay and display ticket or displaying an expired pay and display ticket.
Article 4 states that no vehicles other than those displaying a disabled badge can park in a bay that is marked that it is for disabled persons’ vehicles.
Article 5 states that vehicles cannot wait in a parking place other than in a parking bay and not in a suspended bay.
Article 6 states that vehicles must park so that every part of the vehicle is within the parking bay.
The Traffic Management Order does not appear to create a contravention of parking in a car park or area not designated for that class of vehicle.
I allow this appeal.
2170117119 Just 18 seconds to end of restrictions
This PCN was issued for the alleged contravention of being stopped in a restricted area outside a school in Richmond Road at 4.14pm on 31 January 2017.
I have looked at the CCTV footage and also the site images submitted by the Council. These show that the vehicle pulled up just short of the sign next to the school entrance markings with the driver appearing to inspect the signage before reversing and pulling up on the markings at 4:14:42.
The sign next to the entrance markings warned motorists that there was no stopping on the markings between 8am and 9.30amd and between 2.45pm and 4.15pm Mondays to Fridays. A motorist looking at a standard time piece at 4:14:42 would be likely to read the time as 4.15pm and reasonably conclude that the restriction on stopping had expired. A standard watch will not show that there is 18 seconds until expiry of the controlled period. One person's time piece may also differ from another's by a small margin and there needs to be a common sense approach. I find from the evidence that the alleged contravention did not occur.
2170119249 New Years Day
The administrative practicalities of the parking scheme require a vehicle’s owner, at all times it waits in a bay or space, to pay for that time and display proof of that by way of a ticket or voucher or meter reading or to display a permit or to have paid for a virtual permit.
The Scheme imposes owner liability.
That implies that the owner may be liable even if he did not know about the contravention, which in turn implies liability without fault. An Adjudicator must balance any decision between fairness and administrative practicality.
Sometimes the latter overrides the former.
A Scheme requires that parked vehicles pay for their waiting time and that the payment is visibly displayed. Should either requirement be absent then a contravention occurs.
I find that this principle also applies equally to permits and badges. The document whatever it is must be visibly displayed and must be correct-it must cover the time and date and place in question and must clearly express all the required details.
The evidence leads me to conclude that the vehicle was in a business permit space without displaying a valid business permit.
The issue however is whether the local authority's web site is misleading. I find that it is. I find that the appellant was misled by it.
I have read the local authority's comments but I find that further clarification on the authority's web site was needed when, in this case, New Year's day falls on a Sunday.
The web site according to the evidence clearly states that New year's Day is a Bank Holiday. Without further clarification I find this is misleading.
I will therefore allow the appeal.
2170148305 Divorce
The Appellant attended in person.
The Appellant said that he did not see the signage indicating that he could not turn left. He said that he had just been informed by his wife that she wanted a divorce.
While there is a mitigating background to this matter, a motorist has a responsibility to concentrate on his or her driving. The signs are there to be seen.
I am satisfied that the contravention occurred. I refuse the appeal.
If you get an Appeal form along with a Notice of Rejection is it is a simple 5 minute job to create an Appeal on line. Do it as you have nothing to lose.
Yours appealingly
Miss Feezance
