Airport Fined Drivers £100 for 18-Second Stops, Then Refunded
A driver who stopped for 18 seconds in a red zone at Leeds Bradford airport to deal with a wasp was sent a £100 parking charge notice. The wasp was buzzing in front of his face, making safe driving impossible.
The notice went to his wife, the registered keeper, from the operator Vehicle Control Services (VCS). He explained the circumstances, and CCTV footage shows he only stopped for seconds and never left the car, but VCS would not listen. After he contacted the airport, it ordered VCS to refund the charge as "goodwill". The airport said it would have intervened had he contacted it directly. It added that "stopping in this area remains enforceable" and, because of the road's safety-critical nature, it could not consider cancelling future notices for stopping there. VCS did not respond to a request for comment.
A sign to read
A second reader, SM of Pontyclun in Wales, also stopped for 18 seconds in an airport red zone and was billed £100 by VCS, via her husband, the registered keeper. The airport was Bristol, and she had stopped to read the terms on a sign in the no-stopping area. She had prepaid £103.60 for three days in the short-stay car park, but a sign at the entrance said payment was on exit. "Confused, I wanted to make sure I was at the right place," she wrote. There are 24 lines of information in varying font sizes on the sign.
VCS rejected her appeal, arguing that it is "the motorist's responsibility to ensure they are familiar with the terms and conditions displayed on the signage". The Independent Appeals Service also rejected it, concluding that red-route restrictions prohibit stopping under any circumstances. Bristol airport said the customer did not contact it to say she had pre-booked parking, and that the charge was refunded by the enforcement company after review.
Why keepers need not pay
Neither driver had to pay, because of a loophole. Airports are statutory land governed by bylaws, and are not subject to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which governs private parking enforcement in England and Wales. That act lets operators pursue the registered keeper. On statutory land there is no keeper liability, so if the keeper declines to say who was driving, the operator is powerless. The notices sent to both couples merely invited them to pay or name the driver.
Drivers penalised for reasonable stops on land that does fall under the act may get a future way out. The government has announced a crackdown on private parking charges, and when the new official code of practice takes effect, charges will be cancelled on appeal for things such as stopping briefly because of a medical emergency. No date has been given.
Source: The Guardian