parking fine - should I contest it?

[frank]

For the record . . . We went into town again this morning and (sad I know) decided to count the cars we saw parked illegally on the pavement, just for the heck of it.

One hundred and four cars were parked either fully on the pavement or half on and half off. This was on our 35 minute run from home and into a tiny fraction of the streets in the town itself. Some of those parked were actually causing no problems to pedestrian traffic at all as the pavements they were on were easily wide enough for people to pass by comfortably but, nevertheless, parked, according to the law, illegally. Some of them left no room at all for people to pass and would have forced anyone wanting to get past into the road. Three were parked in the same place I was parked when I was reported.

We were in town early and could tell that probably most of the cars we saw had been parked overnight and it's pretty much a certainty that they'll be there tonight and every night. Some of them may have been parking on the pavement for years. I'ts a fair bet too, that none of the 104 owners are likely to be fined, or that some will and some won't while commiting the same offence.

Mike (michelin 79) talked about a culture of doing this in France and I wouldn't argue with him at all.

[suein56]

[quote user="frank"]For the record . . . We went into town again this morning and (sad I know) decided to count the cars we saw parked illegally on the pavement, just for the heck of it. [/quote]

We discovered very early on in our time in France that summer holiday time/ fêtes times mean that extra profit can be made from car drivers.

Usually for us, living in a tourist area, this means the arrival of the summer-time trainée police cadets who are enthusistic in the extreme and whose vigilance as to the slightest infraction has to be seen to be believed.

The rest of the year is completely different except for the odd occasions when someone, somewhere decides that not enough fining/admonishing has been going on and suddenly there are police at nearly every roundabout - and we have many of those - doing contrôles and breath testing all and sundry.

Sue

[Chancer]

The gendermarie always refused to do anything about the cars parked on the pavement saying that there was nothing they could do, no yellow lines etc, then when the road was redone but with no markings they said the same thing about cars parked across my driveway, when I wheelclamped one they were actively encouraging the guy to claim damages against me, when i wheelclamped those actually parking on my driveway and the private car park for guests they were at a bit of a loss, they really wanted to lock me up but couldnt and it really stuck in their throats to have to try and appease me and ask me to release the, in their eyes, victim.

 

Despite me showing them the relevant laws they just said there is the law and the application of the law, if the parking bays are marked and the no parking markings in place then they would act, they are all now in place and of course they still wont!

 

However just the addition of some diagonal crossed lines (zone zébré)  has made a dramatic difference despite it having no legality.

 

In other communes there are signs showing vehicles to park with two wheels on the pavement, some of the pavements are even marked for this effect, when this is done there is no parking on the other side of the road and it is often enforced but in general people seem to think that the pavements were made for them to park on especially on each side of a pedestrian crossing usually by a tabac or boulangerie or school stopping anyone from using it.

 

As a runner the cars parked on the pavement are a real menace, I have a severely limited field of vision and I nearly always "manage" [:-))] to collide with their wing mirrors but sometimes I regret it as some are unyielding, the biggest problem is those that swing their doors open right in front of me, at 13km/h I cannot stop in time so end up bent in half around the window frame, they are never apologetic but aggressive and angry, its my fault, and 99% of the time they always have a cigarette in their mouth.

[idun]

 We have received one parking ticket in France.......... pay up whilst it is cheaper is my advice. We all know when we are doing these things, and if other's don't get caught, then lucky them..........

........... although some should be strung up the way they park, just plain dangerous for everyone else!

[frank]

Sue said . . .

"We discovered very early on in our time in France that summer holiday time/ fêtes times mean that extra profit can be made from car drivers.

Usually for us, living in a tourist area, this means the arrival of the summer-time trainée police cadets who are enthusistic in the extreme and whose vigilance as to the slightest infraction has to be seen to be believed.

The rest of the year is completely different except for the odd occasions when someone, somewhere decides that not enough fining/admonishing has been going on and suddenly there are police at nearly every roundabout - and we have many of those - doing contrôles and breath testing all and sundry."

Thanks Sue for confirming, for me at least, the over-eagerness of some reporting officers who could show a little bit of consideration, take into account the exceptional circumstances people find themselves in at times and hold back on issuing fines for a short while.

As you say, once the festival is over, people go back to breaking the law in the same way and go un-punished and reporting officers seem to disappear with the festival-goers.

[idun]

But that does not make these people 'right' for parking badly at any time of the year.

I remember well living in a french city and having to negociate a pram, it was bloody murder to be honest in some of the smaller streets, le bordel just about covers how badly most were parked! Sometimes I ended up having to walk on the road, where drivers seemed to think we were some sort of cible to aim at.

You seem very bitter about this. Try contesting if you can be bothered and then what if you lose............because I reckon that you would.

[frank]

No, it doesn't make them right, it doesn't make me right, but I think I can be allowed to be frustrated by the inconsistency of it all at the very least (I say frustrated, but you say "bitter", which has slightly different connotations and I think has been used to illicit a response).

Chancer's situation is an absolute nightmare. I don't think I could have lasted as long as he has without moving away from it all. He's probably bitter, frustrated, angry, seathing, incensed . . . pick your word. He's allowed to be any one of them and they all fit the bill. Why do you seem to question the fact that I should be bitter, or any other word I've mentioned, as if I shouldn't be? I'm not the first person to moan about something on the forum am I? I'm sure you've moaned at times yourself. I wouldn't get on your back about it and accuse you of being "bitter" had you described your experience in the French city you mention. But I bet you were as "angry" about it as I was when I made my post.

I've paid the fine, paid it three days ago. But it's not going to stop the rest of the world parking on pavements and potentially causing mayhem and disruption which seems to worry so many people.

The way, I suppose, to stop people breaking the law is to not give in by paying up when the law's enforced inconsistently, but to contest it. But, as you say, that would have gotten me nowhere and I'm no hero anyway. So, the problems remain, people will continue to get bitter/frustrated/angry but no-one will make a fuss.

No-one commenting on this post would have made a fuss. All of them would have paid the fine had they been in my situation, even though they might have thought that it wasn't quite fair to make them pay when others get away with breaking the same law on a different day. Yes, that's life . . . don't need any lectures on the way the world works thank you.

I think I'll start a thread on "What drives me crackers in France" and see how many replies it gets. And, before anyone accuses me of being a moaning Brit, I love it here and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

[mint]

Frank, I do wish you would write about what drives you crackers in France!

Then we could all pile in and enliven the Forum?

You start off and I promise to follow close on your heels.

[NickP]

[quote user="frank"]    the problems remain, people will continue to get bitter/frustrated/angry but no-one will make a fuss.

No-one commenting on this post would have made a fuss. All of them would have paid the fine had they been in my situation, even though they might have thought that it wasn't quite fair to make them pay when others get away with breaking the same law on a different day. [/quote]

Well your certainly making a fuss.  I can't speak for others, but when I got fined for parking  two wheels on the pavement, I paid up because I realised that although it seemed a good idea to me to park in that manner, it was against the regulations. I was angry, but with myself for being stupid.

                 As for seeing others do things and get away with it, I would love to do lots of things but don't want to risk the penalty for getting caught. Still if you feel lucky go and park there every day, that might make you feel better, but doesn't make it right. By the way you do come across as bitter and doesn't matter how much you go on about it, if you do the crime be prepared to do the time. [:)]

[frank]

Well, I could find things to gripe about but I wouldn't dare be the first to start the thread as I've already been labelled as a bitter person so I'd be feeding that image for those already convinced they know me so well despite knowing nothing about me at all.

I'd be keen if you started the thread though, or anyone else. Maybe one day I'll pop my head above the parapet and risk getting it blown off again and I'll join in the conversation.

[NickP]

Opinions about you are due to what you wrote, did you really think or imagine that people wouldn't react to your posting? If you really thought you would only get sympathy, you must live in a different world to me and it would seem others.[:)]

[idun]

I never labelled you a bitter person, I said that you seemed 'bitter' about this...... and you knew that you were not parked where you should be...... so were a chancer...... and lost..........

Thing is that we make choices. The pharmacist in my old village never ever paid for parking when there was 'just' a machine. She would get fined about once a year, and that was cheaper than paying every time.  She didn't complain about it, it was 'just so'.

When I got a parking ticket I was blazing, absolutely furious, had a right rant, there was only me and the cat in the house, and he royally ignored me.... was it worth contesting it or whinging in the presence of friends or family, nope, because it was my fault.

Incidentally the french do 'rale', so you too can complain........ to the Mairie in question.

Go on start a thread....... why not, you can just light the blue touch paper and stand back you know![Www]

[Mrs Trellis]

Gosh! Reading the comments on your post, I felt they were rather unsympathetic though probably factually correct.

Perhaps you could speak to the Maire about the situation generally and the problems caused by the festival as well as your personal situation? There must be other people similarly inconvenienced, perhaps with limited mobility.

Our village has an annual 3 evening event that means some streets are blocked off, but they do organise a navette from the supermarket carpark. Another has a very popular flower/plant event and does similar.

A few years ago we had notification of a fine for parking on the pavement - from somewhere we'd never heard of 400 miles away. It didn't mention the colour of the car, but said it was a Renault. So I wrote pointing out our car is a Citroen. Maybe someone cloned our number, or the reporting officer made a mistake in writing the reg. number. They wrote saying they were not pursuing it. Not sure that would work in your case but you could write saying you didn't park on that street!