Campaigners are demanding a shake-up of car parking regulations and pushing for a new 'legal requirement' to give drivers more leeway when parking their vehicles.
They're rallying behind a fresh Parliament petition that's calling for a change in the law to prompt motorists to pay their parking fees before getting hit with hefty fines. Motorists who forget to cough up a few quid for a parking spot could find themselves facing steep penalty charge notices ranging from £80 to £130.
Campaigner JohnBosco Onyeme argues that the current system fails to accommodate honest motorists who simply "forgot" to buy a ticket. He suggests that car park operators could prove they're "not there to penalise" by offering forgetful drivers a chance to rectify their mistake.
Mr Onyeme said: "We believe that there should be a legal requirement for car park owners to issue a reminder notice to users who forgot to pay the parking charge before they are issued a penalty notice. We believe users of car parks would not ordinarily not want to pay for parking their cars. It might be that they forgot."
"Transport for London sends reminder notices to people who hold accounts with them reminding them that they have congestion charges to pay. That way, the car park companies could demonstrate that they are not there to penalise users especially when the majority of appeals are denied.
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"We believe that if they are truly providing a public service, they shouldn't be penalising users without giving them the opportunity to pay up." The campaign for change requires more than 10,000 signatures before the Government will even take notice. To get the issue debated in Parliament, more than 100,000 online signatures are needed, reports the Express.
This follows measures by specialists at the International Parking Community (IPC) and British Parking Association (BPA), who advocated for higher standards. A new code of practice due to come in this October will give road users a 10-minute grace period after their ticket expires before charges kick in.
They also called for improvements in signage to ensure all fees details are presented clearly. The new guidelines aim to protect drivers from underhanded tactics by private parking firms. However, it's been noted that there are no provisions regarding reminder letters being issued to drivers in the new code.
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