- Melbourne CBD parking sensors spark fine confusion
- By Peter Mickelburough
- 13/09/2015 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: Kelly ( 2 articles in 2015 )
Glenn Batson will contest his parking fine
MELBOURNE City Council is embroiled in a controversy over the timing of fines issued to motorists who park in sensor bays.
The anomaly involves thousands of city parking bays with in-ground sensors.
It came to light when Glenn Batson contacted the Herald Sun after he received an infringement notice that put the time of his alleged offence at 11.36am — four minutes before the 11.40am expiry time printed on the display ticket.
He said he planned to fight the fine in court after the council refused to revoke it.
Consumer Action spokesman Jonathan Brown said with parking it “should be clear what you’re paying for and what the terms of the arrangement are”.
“Council car parking isn’t a consumer transaction, but if councils want to maintain their reputation they should treat it like one,” he said.
Melbourne City Council parking times printed on tickets are not synchronised with the times recorded by sensors that are used to determine when an offence occurred.
But the council says the infringements are valid because the road rules require a vehicle to leave a parking area by the maximum time on a parking sign, regardless of the time printed on a ticket.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle refused to be drawn on whether issuing parking tickets that do not display the correct time undermines the confidence motorists have in the infringement system.
The council did not explain why it issues tickets that are not in synch with the times recorded by sensors.
And it could not say how many fines it issues where offence times are earlier than the time on parking tickets or how many complaints it had received in relation to such infringements.
Barrister and traffic law expert Michael Kuzilny said the situation was deplorable.
“There is too much secrecy with these new in-ground sensors … and certainly the council needs to simplify things,” he said. “It’s all new technology which still has to be tested by the courts.”
Council spokeswoman Irene Vlahos said parkers had a five-minute grace period beyond the offence time, to allow for time to unload a vehicle and buy a ticket.
Ms Vlahos said Mr Batson had overstayed his one hour park by almost an hour by the time his infringement was issued.
The fine was issued at 12.21pm, with a recorded offence time of 11.36am.
The anomaly involves thousands of city parking bays with in-ground sensors.
It came to light when Glenn Batson contacted the Herald Sun after he received an infringement notice that put the time of his alleged offence at 11.36am — four minutes before the 11.40am expiry time printed on the display ticket.
He said he planned to fight the fine in court after the council refused to revoke it.
Consumer Action spokesman Jonathan Brown said with parking it “should be clear what you’re paying for and what the terms of the arrangement are”.
“Council car parking isn’t a consumer transaction, but if councils want to maintain their reputation they should treat it like one,” he said.
Melbourne City Council parking times printed on tickets are not synchronised with the times recorded by sensors that are used to determine when an offence occurred.
But the council says the infringements are valid because the road rules require a vehicle to leave a parking area by the maximum time on a parking sign, regardless of the time printed on a ticket.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle refused to be drawn on whether issuing parking tickets that do not display the correct time undermines the confidence motorists have in the infringement system.
The council did not explain why it issues tickets that are not in synch with the times recorded by sensors.
And it could not say how many fines it issues where offence times are earlier than the time on parking tickets or how many complaints it had received in relation to such infringements.
Barrister and traffic law expert Michael Kuzilny said the situation was deplorable.
“There is too much secrecy with these new in-ground sensors … and certainly the council needs to simplify things,” he said. “It’s all new technology which still has to be tested by the courts.”
Council spokeswoman Irene Vlahos said parkers had a five-minute grace period beyond the offence time, to allow for time to unload a vehicle and buy a ticket.
Ms Vlahos said Mr Batson had overstayed his one hour park by almost an hour by the time his infringement was issued.
The fine was issued at 12.21pm, with a recorded offence time of 11.36am.
Source: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/melbourne-cbd-parking-sensors-spark-fine-confusion/story-fni0fee2-1227525571330?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=HaraldSun&utm_medi
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