Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

So I went out to get in my car this afternoon, only to be unable to find it. After phoning the police and then Trace, I discovered that Haringey have removed my car.

I haven't seen pictures yet, but apparently they claim I was on a yellow line. As I'd parked in a bay, I can only imagine that my rear tyre must have been touching the line.

It's going to cost £265 to get the car back, after which we can appeal. My question is: why did they remove the car? It wasn't blocking anything, and I have a permit to park in the bay that I was almost entirely parked in? Why didn't they simply ticket the car?

The obvious answer is that towing brings in more money, but it seems a wholly inappropriate response, given that the car wasn't causing a problem, even if we assume it was on the yellow line.

We'll definitely appeal, but I don't know if arguing that the council's response was inappropriate is sufficient grounds.

Any thoughts?

Tags for Forum Posts: Parking, council, tickets

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Yes. My thoughts are that this is a further example of utterly unfair overreaction by another rapacious local authority.

Unfair because other vehicles are often parked illegally without being ticketed - like a large minibus which often sits on the yellow line in St Ann's Road during the hours of operation. And rapacious because £265 is taking the proverbial whichever way you look at it.

If the car was not dangerously parked or causing an obstruction I would certainly appeal and take it as far as you can. The council may not want to pay for a tribunal appearance (if you can take it that far).

Yes, quite. Despite having the greatest amount of sympathy with you, I'm all for the random, reckless, idiotic ticketing of motor vehicles in London. Something has to be done to make car ownership in the capital cost more than in the home counties.

I don't really know what you mean, John. I'm happy to be fined for parking badly, but towing seems disproportionate in this case.

The nature of my work means that I have to drive. I take public transport when I can, but cycling is out of the question as I need to take a load of stuff with me. I simply need the car.

Oh I know. I have to use the car sometimes too. You have my sympathy. Tell me how else, other than this random ticketing/towing, we can discourage people in London from owning cars though? Did you click on my link? That guy never gets tickets...

I suppose I'd prefer a targeted approach that meant that cars parked illegally would get an appropriate punishment. I did click on your link. He should be towed, and I should (perhaps) have been ticketed. But if a car owner hasn't actually done anything wrong, neither thing should happen.

A ticket would have been sufficient for me to ensure my back wheel never touches the yellow line again, but neither towing nor a ticket can stop me owning a car because I need to own a car in order to work.

Carol* Very important points here:

The part of the wheel that makes contact with the road (obviously, the bottom of the tyre) has to be FULLY and COMPLETELY over the line for it to be an offence. Exactly the same as a football being 'over the line' for it to be a goal. Your wheel 'touching the yellow' line is not an offence.

Secondly, The officer must photograph the reason for the offence. here is the link to view photo/video evidence   https://live.esd.ce.civicahosting.co.uk/haringey/Notices/ViewPcnEvi...   If you need help with this, private message me and i'll walk you through the procedure and advise - James

Thanks for this. I think the evidence isn't available yet, but I will have a look for sure. I may well be in the wrong on the issue of how the car was parked, but I can't help feeling the response has been disproportionate and also extortionate (not to mention distressing, when I assumed my car had been stolen).

I don't know if it's possible to appeal against your car having been towed, especially if I was in fact parked illegally, but I'm going to give it a damn good go.

I've just had a look at the ticket and it says 'Parking in a restricted street during prescribed hours.' Does this mean they're saying I wasn't displaying my parking permit, which is stuck to the window? It doesn't say anything about the yellow lines (the chap I spoke to at the pound told me it had to do with parking on a yellow line). 

The pictures aren't available to view yet, so I've now got absolutely no idea why they towed my car.

Do you see that eventually people would get into a pattern of behaviour that meant that revenue from tickets went down? I'm playing devil's advocate here so please keep that in mind when I say that the mindless, random and idiotic ticketing of vehicles is the best way to raise the bar for motor vehicle ownership in London. Look at it this way, you've been done, you're unlikely to be done again given how mindless, random and idiotic it is.

It's not random, It's systematic

It does cost more to drive in London John, moving to Harringay from Bromley doubled my insurance premium and I had to buy a parking permit.

Does TFL not ticket vehicles by CCTV on Green Lanes? I thought this was their policy for the major routes in London?

Green Lanes.... is not a Red Route... why is a matter for the GLSG.

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