Feeling frustrated and need to vent. I’ve received multiple parking fines that feel excessive, and honestly, I’m barely holding it together.
First, the Dartford Crossing, which is £1 each way. I drove over the bridge for a holiday trip with my children, and made a mental note to pay later. I hadn’t given it thought prior to the trip, as I didn’t realise it was chargeable over and above road tax. By the time we got to the camping site, I totally forgot about the road fine. There was no payment barrier as there is for the Birmingham bypass.
Another is from picking up a friend from the train station. She had used public transport and had luggage which she couldn’t bring all the way to the car park, even with my help (heavy and she hurt her leg on the journey). I left her at the station and drove to the taxi rank to be able to put her luggage in my car. Then got a parking fine of £170.
Two other ones from broken payment machines, both of which I called the phone number on the machine and left a message. I missed the 14 day response deadline for both, because I’m super busy working full time while being here for my children. I really honestly don’t have time to prepare a defence, on top of everything else. So both attracted a £80 fine each.
I accept that I didn’t follow the rules and that the fines are legitimate. However, it’s just exhausting to try to get about life, and the fines themselves are very high.
Am I being unreasonable that parking fines are not proportionate? If so, can someone in government please take note, as I’m sure that there are many more people dealing with this. My salary isn’t high enough to support this, so I now tell friends to get a taxi; I don’t go out as much, etc.