Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Am I bu/goody two shoes to think...

67 replies

formerbabe · 10/01/2014 09:23

It is not that difficult to not get parking tickets?

My dh calls me a goody two shoes for this but I am baffled by people who complain constantly that they get parking tickets/fines. I have a friend who seems to get one every week, she complains that they are all unfair! Now of course sometimes they are given out incorrectly but not often enough to justify the number she gets.

I haven't got a parking ticket for 6 years now (no, I don't want a medal!). I just read the signs and follow them. Last time I got one was because I over stayed on a meter, so fair dos, my fault.

Aibu to think they are easily avoidable?

OP posts:

Juno77 · 10/01/2014 09:28

Not if you work in town and have to drive, no.

What a stupid, self righteous OP.

jacks365 · 10/01/2014 09:30

I've not had a parking ticket since I was 19ish which is a long long time over 20 years. Maybe it depends where you live, its easy here to find somewhere legal to park.

Original poster

formerbabe · 10/01/2014 09:30

Bit Ott Juno!

OP posts:

Original poster

formerbabe · 10/01/2014 09:30

Fwiw, I live in London and drive/park everyday.

OP posts:

MadeOfStarDust · 10/01/2014 09:31

We have never had one.... to some friends they are just a fact of life, they want to park where THEY want to park and stuff the consequences.... 80% of the time they get away with it, so it is worth it to them...

Seeline · 10/01/2014 09:31

I think YANBU - I have never had a parking ticket. I park in car parks or at meters, check signs for parking restrictions, and follow the rules. If I can't find anywhere you drive around until you can. I live in London and have been driving for nearly 30 years.

Hoppinggreen · 10/01/2014 09:32

I agree, so are speeding fines!
I appreciate that people make mistakes but at the end of the day you can't be fined if you stick to the rules.
I'm no goody 2 shoes by the way, I have had 2 parking tickets over the last 10 years but I paid them cheerfully each time. I broke the rules so I have to pay the fine, I didn't like it but that's life.
I do speed a bit on motorways too but if I get a fine for that then it's my own fault and I should just pay up.
If you know the rules and choose to break them or are careless then you have to pay the price.
And there Endeth today's lesson!!

DipDabDabDip · 10/01/2014 09:34

I've been driving for 8 years and never had a ticket, but everywhere I seem to go has clear parking and I've never had to park with an on street meter which I think is where a lot of people have trouble.

icingmyback · 10/01/2014 09:34

agree with you op. YANBU.
i have never had a parking ticket because i don't park illegally. i must be a goody two shoes too!

AnythingNotEverything · 10/01/2014 09:36

YANBU.

gordyslovesheep · 10/01/2014 09:37

YANBU OP and I drive a lot for work - in towns and cities - but have never had a parking ticket in my life - it's not hard you just read the signs, pay he money and check the time. Oh and don't park illegally !

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2014 09:40

YANBU same as gordy said. Stop being lazy and park according to the rules.

Original poster

formerbabe · 10/01/2014 09:41

I also hear a lot of people whinge that parking tickets are just there to raise revenue for local authority's....fine by me. I'd rather they get money that way instead of raising council tax...You can avoid parking fines but you can't avoid a rise in council tax.

OP posts:

MelanieCheeks · 10/01/2014 09:41

It's a bit unreasonable to adopt a blanket approach, I think. Sometimes it is a genuine mistake.

Eg my husband parking with a blue badge got clamped because the signs were confusing.

I once pulled into the empty space that a car had just vacated, only to find on my return that both me and the car behind had been fined as we were over the white lines. There was snow on the ground and I hadn't seen the lines.

Now, we both paid up, accepted that we had been in the wrong, even though we had valid stories to explain our actions. Neither of us was chancing our arm.

wannabedomesticgoddess · 10/01/2014 09:43

I have had one parking ticket in 7 years because I was held up in college and the time I had paid for ran out.

Aside from that, I follow the rules, make sure I can park where I am parking and pay any fee I need to. Even 30p in our local car park when I am just running into the shop for 5 minutes. I can't afford to pay a fine though, so maybe that's where my motivation comes from.

YANBU.

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2014 09:44

YY I do admit there are genuine errors. And things like the poor poster yesterday sho parked at Homebase and got a fine for staying too long, while spending £££s in there. That's bonkers.

DontmindifIdo · 10/01/2014 09:46

I think I win, I've been driving for 17 years (oh god, that sounds old!) and I've never had a ticket for parking or speeding. I put this down to a) not thinking I have a right to park where I want for free b) not being able to afford fines so making an effort to avoid them, and c) not being able to afford a powerful car, mine cries if I drive too fast...

Other people do have a more relaxed attitude to parking, speed, I can see on the whole it makes their lives easier, the risk is they might get a ticket.

Facebaffle · 10/01/2014 09:47

There was something on the news this morning about parking fines. People were complaining that they got fined if they went over the parking time by 5 minutes. They didnt think it was fair

If you pay for an alloted time then surely you know when you have to return by? They deserved to get a fine.

MurderOfGoths · 10/01/2014 09:48

YANBU

Sparklingbrook · 10/01/2014 09:48

I tend to stick to car parks where you pay as you leave for the time spent there. Pay and Display-not so keen on the deadline.

Ruebarb · 10/01/2014 09:52

I have driven for 36 years and never had a speeding fine or parking ticket - of course they can be avoided!

Elsiequadrille · 10/01/2014 09:55

Yanbu. I've never had one either.

Hoppinggreen · 10/01/2014 09:57

I remember as a child a very wealthy friend of my dads came to visit from London. He took us to MacDonalds in his Rolls Royce and parked outside on the double yellow lines. A traffic warden came over and asked him to move or he would get a £25 fine. My dad's friend replied that that was fine and he though that was quite reasonable for parking as he paid a lot more in London!!!!!

soontobeslendergirl · 10/01/2014 09:58

I've had one aand I've been driving for 27 years. That one was my fault, I just forgot to put a ticket on my car in the car park, excuse was that I was dealing with 2 toddlers, I got out the car, got them all organised and then just walked off, I realised when I was in the town, ran back to the car but I was too late :(

Parking restrictions are usually there for a reason, being in a proper space and accidentally overstaying or forgetting to get a ticket is one thing, parking anywhere willy nilly gets my goat - it makes the roads more conjested etc. If there isn't a space near where you need to be, then park further away and walk.

kungfupannda · 10/01/2014 09:59

They can't always be avoided. The wardens in Brixton, where I used to work, were a nightmare. My boss got a ticket because a leaf fell on her windscreen and partially covered her business permit - still visible but apparently "technically" not on display. Overturned on appeal.

I got one on the same street while walking from my car to the parking meter to get a ticket. Although I did have a lot of fun with the letter of complaint - suggesting various ways I could have got my money into the machine without leaving my car. Overturned on appeal.

I also got 4 on my own street when my permit holder unpeeled itself in hot weather. The permit landed face up on the seat but I was given a ticket fore every day I hadn't used my car. Overturned on appeal.

I, and several other people, got tickets outside a sports club we were all members of, because a ticket warden read the wrong side of the controlled zone sign. Overturned on appeal.

All a massive pain in the backside, and none of them remotely warranted.

The only legitimate ticket I've ever had was when the max stay changed in a parking bay I used regularly, and I went substantially over the time limit. Annoying, but fair enough.

Flip

1 2 3