Decriminalized parking enforcement (DPE) is the name given in the United Kingdom for civil law enforcement regulations, conducted by civilian enforcement officers, operating on behalf of either a local authority or a private company. Road Traffic Act 1991 (c.40) is provided for decriminalizing parking-related offenses committed within controlled parking zones (CPZ) maintained by local councils throughout the UK. CPZ under local council control is also referred to as yellow route and they can be easily identified with yellow lines marked on the road with the relevant time plates. Some boards employ parking officers to enforce their CPZs directly while others contract their on-street parking enforcement to private companies.
The main reason behind the provisions of this Act is, among other reasons, to ensure people do not end up criminalized for car parking violations, such as potential people with multiple driving offenses. However, some parking violations can still be enforced by police with fines, failure to comply which may lead to criminal proceedings and even the addition of points on the driver's license from the perpetrator. Such parking violations enforced by police traffic officers are a parking violation committed on the
Video Decriminalised parking enforcement
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With increasing congestion problems in the city center, and demand for street parking, coupled with pressure on police resources, and the low priority provided by some police forces for parking enforcement regulations, the Road Traffic Act 1991 allows parties local authorities to propose legal counsel to take over enforcement of road rules on the road, as well as off the street, parked cars from police, in return they will be allowed to keep the results. So in areas where DPE has been granted, parking violations are no longer a crime.
Without the DPE, a permanent penalty (not a fine, since the recipient may exercise their right to a court hearing) of the parking ticket problem by the police is collected by the Penalty Office (each constituting part of the local Magistrates Court in each region or metropolitan) and forwarded directly to the central government. With DPE in place, local authorities retain revenue generated from parking fines to finance parking enforcement and certain other activities such as local transport actions. The local authorities have been able to charge for parking on the highway since 1958, but without the effective enforcement provided by the DPE, such charging has limited effect. Local authorities that adopt DPEs typically employ contractors to run their schemes.
The powers granted by the DPE to deal with parking violations include:
- Charge Notice (PCN) Penalty Issues - parking penalties that can be paid or challenged by appeal (see below)
- Vehicle immobilization - usually by clamping - until the release fee is paid
- Removal of vehicles from the road
Appeals to board decisions on PCN may be made to the Parking and Traffic Application (PATAS) Service in London, Traffic Sentencing Court (TPT) in England and Wales, Scotland Parking Application Service in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Traffic Penalty Court in Northern Ireland. These bodies are courts established under the DPE; appeals against their decisions can generally be made only at legal points, through judicial review. They are independent of the council, although funded by them in England and Wales through the cost of 60p per PCN issued. In Northern Ireland, the Tribunal is operated by Northern Ireland Court Service and all PCNs are issued by the Regional Development Department as opposed to local councils.
Maps Decriminalised parking enforcement
Income potential
Local authorities collect more than Ã, Â £ 1 billion a year from parking fines. Some of the money collected goes into the cost of operating the system. The local authorities should report their income from fines and parking penalties and must also state what surplus is spent. Usually the income from the scheme (if losing parking fees from abuser riders is excluded) is greater than the cost of running the scheme and surplus entering into the common wallet, along with the income of parking fees. The surplus revenue is ring-fenced to be used for transport-related expenditures unless the Board is rated 'excellent' by the Audit Commission, in this case the surplus goes into the Council's general budget (as for Kensington and Chelsea). In 2005/6, the City of Westminster received GBP 65.4 million in parking revenues for on-street parking. From one street in London, £ 3.2 million was raised in 2005-06.
Several councils have used, tried to use or accused of trying to use parking enforcement as a source of income.
Benefits
Benefits claimed for DPE include:
- Lack of congestion due to lack of obstacles
- Higher parking turnover - so it's easier to park
- Reduce pollution and fuel usage due to lack of traffic circulation and reduce congestion
- A safer road due to less-than-expected traffic
- Increased access to emergency services due to unobstructed roads
- Reduce police resource requests
Reform
A summary of the parking policy and enforcement investigations by the House of Commons Transport Committee Committee of Transport states:
In addition to the primary task of introducing an integrated parking enforcement system in the UK, we have found that the following actions are required:
- Clear performance standards for implementing parking restrictions must be set
- It should be explained to the driver what rules apply and how compliance should be achieved
- Proper recruitment, remuneration and training are required to ensure professional parking services across the country
- The process for challenging penalty charge notification must be made much more transparent
- The impact of the parking adjudication service should be improved and the profile increases
- The investigation of the local authority parking department is very inadequate and needs to be strengthened
- Local authorities should develop a parking strategy that meets the full local objectives, focusing primarily on congestion, security and road access.
See also
- Controlled parking zone
- Westminster motorcycle parking fee
Note
References
- Parking Law - History from the National Park Parking Service website for England and Wales
- London Assembly Inquiry: Parking enforcement exception from the RAC Foundation
- Bill Garrett (2006-08-03). "Parking is crazy". BBC.
External links
- The UK Parking Association - The official website of Member Associations representing organizations in the Traffic and Parking Management Industry.
- The British Parliament Transportation Committee - The official website of the committee that reviews the spending, administration and policies of the UK Department of Transport and its associated agencies
- UK New Car Act - Brief information and advice on parking laws in the UK since the introduction of DPE in 2008.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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