2014 Ford Focus photographed by Watton Towing when in for front & rear parking sensors.
The rear
parking sensors are activated when reverse gear is engaged. The front
sensors are controlled by a CanBus interface which automatically activates
them at speeds below 6mph.
All sensors are fitted in factory
designated locations with 2 matt black sensors fitted in the front
grille for a factory fit finish.
In winter sometimes fallen leaves can obscure yellow lines, resulting in drivers receiving parking fines for stopping on roads where they thought that it was ok to park.
If leaves are obscuring lines on an un-spwept roads it is worth being aware that this is grounds for appealing a parking ticket, but only if certain conditions are met.
This is because it is the responsibility of local councils to keep roads
clean with parking restrictions clearly visible. If the lines were covered by leaves and there was
no relevant signage close to your vehicle then you have a good chance of
having the ticket overturned.
In order to appeal you need to do the following upon finding the parking fine.
look for signs that state the restrictions.
(If there’s one right next to your car then your appeal is likely to
fail).
Measure its
distance from your car to the nearest signage. (One pace = around a metre)
Take a
picture of your car in relation to the sign
Take a photograph of the road showing that the lines are obscured by leaves or flooding.
Most phones will embed Exif data on the image, this information can be used to prove the location and time that the
photo was taken. This could be vital in any appeal.
The Source of this information is aph.com, there are also many other helpful tips for winter in their article
A study done by the RAC has suggested that English councils generated £819m
from parking fees and fines in 2016-17, an increase of 10% on the
previous year.
This figure represents income from parking charges and penalty notices with running costs deducted.
The Local Government Association said parking charge surpluses were spent on "essential transport projects".
Income
collected by the 353 English local authorities was up 6% and costs rose
2% compared with 2015-16, when the surplus was £744m.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said the rise in profits reflects the "record number of cars and volume of traffic".
Martin
Tett, the Local Government Association's transport spokesman, said
parking charges keep the roads clear, help pedestrians, motorists and
cyclists safe and enable people to park near their homes.
They also go towards tackling the UK's £12bn roads repair backlog, he added.
An annual report from the Asphalt Industry Alliance this year found that almost a fifth of roads in England and Wales were in "poor" condition.
Top 10 councils in England with the largest parking operations surplus:
Since the paper tax disc was abolished the number of unlicensed vehicles on the road has tripled.
The
data, published every two years, shows that the government potentially
lost out on £107m from 755,000 unlicensed vehicles last year.
The RAC said the decision to get rid of the paper tax disc three years
ago has proved "costly" when it should have saved the Treasury £10m a
year.
"It appears that having a visual reminder was an effective
way to prompt drivers into renewing their car tax - arguably more
drivers are now prepared to try their luck and see if they can get away
with not paying any vehicle tax at all, or are simply forgetting to tax
their vehicle when they are due to."
When the abolition of the paper tax disc was announced by
then-Chancellor, George Osborne, the Treasury said it showed government
was moving "into the modern age".
The
RAC said a third of untaxed vehicles had changed hands since September
2016, indicating that many drivers were not aware that tax does not
carry over when ownership changes.
The seller receives a refund of any full months of remaining tax while the new owner must tax the vehicle immediately.
