New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council

[Planner1]

23 minutes ago, pfifes said:

They would make a fortune going to any busy, suburban shopping streets anywhere in Sheffield!  Or around schools during the school run times.  
It would actually make a real difference to people and encourage more ‘active travel’ that the council are always banging on about.  I’d much prefer that than fining for marginal mistakes at box junctions.

Do you actually think the council don’t enforce those locations already? ( within the powers available to them)

[Irene Swaine]

1 minute ago, Planner1 said:

So, according to you there aren’t any exceedences of legal limits for nitrogen dioxide and the government weren’t instructed by the courts to fix them in the shortest possible time?

The government have been known to falsify statistics. In any case, why are they going for vehicles that alleviate emissions by taking many vehicles out of use? For every bus with its engine running, that's atleast 30 cars with the engines switched off...if I believed in all of that climate change business, I'd be issuing air zone charges for private cars, as they are the biggest cause of emissions when you consider emissions per passenger. There was a time when the government used to say public transport was "environmentally friendlier" than private cars. 🤷

[peak4]

4 minutes ago, Planner1 said:

So, according to you there aren’t any exceedences of legal limits for nitrogen dioxide and the government weren’t instructed by the courts to fix them in the shortest possible time?

I did provide a few pertinent links in This Post, including one to Client Earth, but I'm guessing Irene hasn't read it. 😉

[Irene Swaine]

2 minutes ago, Planner1 said:

Do you actually think the council don’t enforce those locations already? ( within the powers available to them)

Definitely not. Take a walk on Abbeydale Road and you will see there eis no enforcement going on. Hence the atrocious parking.

[Irene Swaine]

5 minutes ago, peak4 said:

I did provide a few pertinent links in This Post, including one to Client Earth, but I'm guessing Irene hasn't read it. 😉

They'll probably use it for those electric car charging points that are going to be cluttering up our pavements that Deejayone posted about.

[HeHasRisen]

Irene wants African children sent down the coal mines.

 

"Get them digging" she bellowed.

[pfifes]

9 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Do you actually think the council don’t enforce those locations already? ( within the powers available to them)

I think the key phrase here is ‘within the powers available to them’. I certainly do see the council regularly patrolling areas with formal parking restrictions in place i.e. the ones where you have to get a parking ticket from a machine. Or when bus lanes are in operation.  But just outside those areas (and around schools during school runs) there is often absolutely dreadful parking on a regular basis.

So what I ‘actually think’ as you put it, is that the council probably do indeed do what they can but I, and many others it seems, would prefer them to focus on getting new enforcement powers to deal with pavement parking and fine the lazy, entitled slobs that dump their cars on pavements with zero consideration for pedestrians.  I think this will have a much more positive impact than fining drivers for marginal mistakes at box junctions.

I previously gave an example of a driver who mounted the pavement outside Abbeydale Rd post office, then parked up fully on the pavement and I had to jump out of the way for this person!  There is  pretty much permanently a row of cars fully on pavement on one side of Barkers Road at Nether Edge, around the same area I saw I driver half mount the kerb and drive several metres on the pavement before parking up most on the pavement.  Glen Road at Nether Edge is always difficult to walk on due to pavement parking. Cars regularly park on the junctions, pavement and yellow lines around the bottom of Hunter House/Junction/Pinner Roads at Hunters Bar (just outside the Sharrow Vale parking restriction area). It’s often very dangerous for pedestrians (and to some extent other motorists).  These all are examples I saw in one day!!!  If parking wardens patrolled these areas (and other similar areas across Sheffield) they would bring in lots of fine revenue AND make a real difference to people’s lives and improve active travel.  I suppose it’s cheaper to stick a camera over a box junction though.  I think the answer to that might be to find pavement parking more heavily. That is the only thing that will stop pavement parking.

[Planner1]

1 hour ago, pfifes said:

I think the key phrase here is ‘within the powers available to them’. I certainly do see the council regularly patrolling areas with formal parking restrictions in place i.e. the ones where you have to get a parking ticket from a machine. Or when bus lanes are in operation.  But just outside those areas (and around schools during school runs) there is often absolutely dreadful parking on a regular basis.

So what I ‘actually think’ as you put it, is that the council probably do indeed do what they can but I, and many others it seems, would prefer them to focus on getting new enforcement powers to deal with pavement parking and fine the lazy, entitled slobs that dump their cars on pavements with zero consideration for pedestrians.  I think this will have a much more positive impact than fining drivers for marginal mistakes at box junctions.

I previously gave an example of a driver who mounted the pavement outside Abbeydale Rd post office, then parked up fully on the pavement and I had to jump out of the way for this person!  There is  pretty much permanently a row of cars fully on pavement on one side of Barkers Road at Nether Edge, around the same area I saw I driver half mount the kerb and drive several metres on the pavement before parking up most on the pavement.  Glen Road at Nether Edge is always difficult to walk on due to pavement parking. Cars regularly park on the junctions, pavement and yellow lines around the bottom of Hunter House/Junction/Pinner Roads at Hunters Bar (just outside the Sharrow Vale parking restriction area). It’s often very dangerous for pedestrians (and to some extent other motorists).  These all are examples I saw in one day!!!  If parking wardens patrolled these areas (and other similar areas across Sheffield) they would bring in lots of fine revenue AND make a real difference to people’s lives and improve active travel.  I suppose it’s cheaper to stick a camera over a box junction though.  I think the answer to that might be to find pavement parking more heavily. That is the only thing that will stop pavement parking.

The point is, that the council can only enforce where there is an actual parking restriction in place and even then, there are limits to the way in which they must enforce in order for the fine to be legitimate ( for example they have to give a 10 minute “grace” period for overstays on pay and display bays or, they have to wait a similar amount of time to check whether drivers who park on double or single yellow lines are loading/unloading where that is allowed.)

 

Enforcement isn’t straightforward, there are many nuances that the average person probably doesn't know / understand. The CEO’s can’t just rock up and start handing out tickets.

 

I mentioned “within the powers available to them” because many people seem to lack understanding on what the council’s civil enforcement officers (CEO’s) can do.

 

At schools, they can and do enforce the actual school entrance markings ( they have a camera enforcement vehicle they use for this). Other than that, unless a driver is contravening an existing restriction like a double / single yellow line, there’s nothing they can do. They go out every day enforcing at schools but there are a large number of them, so they can only cover a few each day.

 

Similarly, every day they have teams out patrolling the main transport routes in the city, but they can’t be everywhere. Drivers know this and push their luck.

 

Obstructing pavements by parking fully or partly on them can only be enforced by the police. The council has no powers to enforce this, unless there is a restriction in place that covers the pavement ( double and single yellow lines apply to the whole of the highway including footway and verge). 
 

So what you and many others feel is inconsiderate parking cannot be enforced by the council unless the government rolls out the powers to do so outside London ( where parking on footways can be enforced by councils).

 

The government are not keen to be seen as promoting “the war on motorists” as they clearly see it as a vote loser. Hence it has taken many years of lobbying by councils to get the powers to enforce box junctions and banned turns that London councils have had for many years. Similarly the government have talked about rolling out wider powers to enforce pavement parking for many years but have done nothing to action it.

 

The council used to be able to enforce no waiting no loading restrictions with the camera vehicles. Many penalties used to be issued in places like Burngreave Rd and I used to get complaints that there was too much enforcement. The government stopped this and made councils enforce with CEO’s on foot, which is far less efficient.

 

Local councils also have a political decision to make regarding to what extent they enforce. While I was at Sheffield we asked for more enforcement staff resource and were refused as councillors thought enforcement levels were about right and being seen as “draconian” was a potential vote loser. Efforts to introduce new permit parking zones have not been approved by councillors due to public opposition. Other councils in nearby towns give motorists greater leeway. One where I worked gave motorists double the legal amount of “grace” period. Another would not allow enforcement in the town centre on Sundays. 

 

Parking Services have limited resources, CEO’s work shifts and there aren’t that many of them on duty at any one time. The priorities for enforcement are agreed with councillors. These have generally included primary transport routes, city centre, permit zones, school entrances etc as you would expect. It’s a big city and they can’t be everywhere. Drivers know this and naturally push their luck.

 

”Marginal mistakes” as you put it at box junctions can have a significant impact on traffic flows and can have big impacts on buses. They are enforced by automatic cameras, so aren’t a drain on enforcement staff resources, therefore they have no impact on enforcement efforts elsewhere.

 

If you want pavement parking enforcement, you need to tell your MP and the government.

 

If you want more enforcement at local level, you need to tell your local councillors. But, be aware that there are equally vociferous people who don’t want more enforcement.

 

 

[Planner1]

12 hours ago, Irene Swaine said:

Definitely not. Take a walk on Abbeydale Road and you will see there eis no enforcement going on. Hence the atrocious parking.

If you took the trouble to ask parking services, they could tell you exactly how many tickets are issued on Abbeydale Rd. It’s a primary transport route and they were certainly enforced on a daily basis, particularly at peak times when I was there.

 

Send them an FOI request if you are really interested.

[Planner1]

12 hours ago, Irene Swaine said:

The government have been known to falsify statistics. In any case, why are they going for vehicles that alleviate emissions by taking many vehicles out of use? For every bus with its engine running, that's atleast 30 cars with the engines switched off...if I believed in all of that climate change business, I'd be issuing air zone charges for private cars, as they are the biggest cause of emissions when you consider emissions per passenger. There was a time when the government used to say public transport was "environmentally friendlier" than private cars. 🤷

In this case, the monitoring of air quality is actually done by the council for the government.

 

Buses are running around all day every day, as are trucks, taxis and vans. Their mileage is generally a lot higher than the average car.

 

The CAZ is about nitrogen dioxide levels. It isn’t a greenhouse gas, so it’s not about climate change. It’s a dangerous pollutant that impacts on people’s health. There are legal limits for it and the government has been required by the courts to ensure compliance.

 

Modern vehicles don’t emit much nitrogen dioxide compared to older ones.