Disabled parking fine row

Mar 30 2012 by Gavin McInally, Paisley Daily Express

A DISABLED driver has hit out at a bungling traffic warden who gave him a ticket for leaving his car parked in the WRONG DIRECTION.

Danny McLaughlin had left his tiny Smart car in Gauze Street, Paisley, with its bonnet facing towards the kerb because the disabled bay was partially blocked by a van.

However, when he returned from a trip to the dentist, he got a painful surprise as a “jobsworth” warden had slapped a £30 ticket on his windscreen for failing to “park properly between the lines.”

Fuming Danny – who often has to park his two-seater car nose-first in order to squeeze into tiny spaces – wrote a letter of complaint and stressed he would not be paying the fine as his vehicle is the same length as the width of most vans.

Now council chiefs have performed a U-turn and ripped up his ticket.

Danny, 43, told the Paisley Daily Express: “I’m annoyed that this happened in the first place. I shouldn’t have had to write to them to make sure I didn’t have to pay a fine.

“I couldn’t believe it when I got the parking ticket. It was complete nonsense.

“I park like that regularly in towns and cities across Scotland. That’s the whole point of having a small Smart car in the first place.

“Also, there aren’t visible lines at that part of Gauze Street and, even if there were lines there, my car would still fit inside them as it is no longer than the width of the van which was parked in front of me, blocking half of the disabled bay.”

Danny, who suffered a serious foot injury 26 years ago which has never properly healed, said he was relieved when Renfrewshire Council agreed to scrap the parking ticket.

“They must have realised that they were wrong,” said Danny, who lives in the Hunterhill area of Paisley. “I’m sure there will be other drivers in my position who end up paying their fine quickly because they’re worried about it being doubled to £60 if they leave it.

“I find that really unfair.”

A council spokesman confirmed that Danny’s parking fine has been cancelled.

He added: “Marked parking bays parallel to the kerb are 2.4 metres wide. A Smart car is generally longer than this at 2.5 metres or more. This means that, if parked nose-to-the-kerb, it can still stick out into the road.

“For this reason, we would advise drivers of Smart cars only to park nose-to-the-pavement if the road is wide enough for this not to get in the way of traffic or if the car is wholly contained in a marked bay.

“Parking attendants in this situation have to use their discretion and, on this occasion, we thought it was fair to cancel the ticket.”