- Melbourne city parking sensors face legal showdown
- By PETER MICKELBUROUGH
- 22/09/2015 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: Admin ( 749 articles in 2015 )
Ross McCawley where he parked in St Andrews Place
THE city’s underground parking sensors face another legal showdown, with a motorist claiming he’s being accused of being in two places at once.
A sensor in a one-hour parking bay in St Andrews Place, East Melbourne, recorded Ross McCawley entering the spot at the same time he was logged passing a CityLink tolling point some five minutes away.
Mr McCawley says he is dumbfounded by the infringement and will fight it in court.
“I have proof that the system is flawed,” he said.
“My ticket (for parking expiration) says the offence time is 4:21pm but my CityLink bill said I went through the toll at 3:21pm — I don’t know how my car can be parked at the same time I was going through the toll gate.”
The tolling point was in Batman Ave outside Rod Laver Arena, 1.5km and at least a five-minute drive from the St Andrews Place park.
Mr McCawley contacted the Herald Sun after it revealed the City of Melbourne is issuing fines where parking offences are alleged to have occurred before the expiry times printed on parking display tickets issued to motorists.
Some 5300 city parking bays now have in-ground sensors that record the time a vehicle enters. The sensors are not linked to the council’s ticketing machines but do alert parking inspectors the second a vehicle overstays the posted period.
Barrister and traffic law expert Michael Kuzilny says the system is “dodgy” with confusion and secrecy surrounding the sensors and the council’s unofficial five-minute “grace period”. Mr Kuzilny said while every driver was expected to know parking regulations, these were “very unfair bookings”.
“Drivers deserve simplified and clarified instructions.
“But Melbourne City Council doesn’t want to reveal too much because they’re relying on their $40-million-a-year take from parking offences, including these ones."
City spokeswoman Irene Vlahos says each sensor has an internal clock that is validated when it connects with a parking officers’ handheld device, which is synchronised to the official Telstra time.
“If the sensor time varies from the handheld device, an infringement will not be issued until the sign-plated time — plus the five-minute grace period — has elapsed in line with the time on the handheld device,” she said. “At the time the infringement was issued, the motorist had overstayed the sign-plated time by nine minutes.”
A sensor in a one-hour parking bay in St Andrews Place, East Melbourne, recorded Ross McCawley entering the spot at the same time he was logged passing a CityLink tolling point some five minutes away.
Mr McCawley says he is dumbfounded by the infringement and will fight it in court.
“I have proof that the system is flawed,” he said.
“My ticket (for parking expiration) says the offence time is 4:21pm but my CityLink bill said I went through the toll at 3:21pm — I don’t know how my car can be parked at the same time I was going through the toll gate.”
The tolling point was in Batman Ave outside Rod Laver Arena, 1.5km and at least a five-minute drive from the St Andrews Place park.
Mr McCawley contacted the Herald Sun after it revealed the City of Melbourne is issuing fines where parking offences are alleged to have occurred before the expiry times printed on parking display tickets issued to motorists.
Some 5300 city parking bays now have in-ground sensors that record the time a vehicle enters. The sensors are not linked to the council’s ticketing machines but do alert parking inspectors the second a vehicle overstays the posted period.
Barrister and traffic law expert Michael Kuzilny says the system is “dodgy” with confusion and secrecy surrounding the sensors and the council’s unofficial five-minute “grace period”. Mr Kuzilny said while every driver was expected to know parking regulations, these were “very unfair bookings”.
“Drivers deserve simplified and clarified instructions.
“But Melbourne City Council doesn’t want to reveal too much because they’re relying on their $40-million-a-year take from parking offences, including these ones."
City spokeswoman Irene Vlahos says each sensor has an internal clock that is validated when it connects with a parking officers’ handheld device, which is synchronised to the official Telstra time.
“If the sensor time varies from the handheld device, an infringement will not be issued until the sign-plated time — plus the five-minute grace period — has elapsed in line with the time on the handheld device,” she said. “At the time the infringement was issued, the motorist had overstayed the sign-plated time by nine minutes.”
Source: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-city-parking-sensors-face-legal-showdown/story-fni0fit3-1227538399205
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