Have You Parked Badly In Medway?

19 October 2010, 00:00 | Updated: 19 October 2010, 06:21

Medway Council's released a series of hard-hitting pictures of dangerously and inconsiderately, illegally parked cars to warn others of the dangers

The images, taken on Medway’s streets, highlight how the thoughtless actions of a small minority of people can cause road hold-ups for many, and even put other drivers and pedestrians at risk.

The Council say the pictures show why the council – like all other local authorities in the country - needs to target drivers that break parking laws, as well as the reason why so many residents ask for this to be done in Medway.
 
In one image, a large transit van is parked precariously, and at a dangerous angle, in front of school gates.

In another, a car has stopped on zig-zag lines next to a zebra crossing. And in a third, three vehicles are backed onto a pavement blocking it for everyone else, including parents with buggies, children and wheelchair users.

 
In total, six images snapped by Medway Council’s CCTV cars in just three days have been released. They are just a selection of numerous others.

And they show the kind of parking the CCTV cars’ staff and other enforcement officers encounter and have to take action against on a regular basis.

They do this solely to stop people parking illegally and do not have any targets that they have to meet at all.

Medway Council has removed all vehicle registration numbers from these pictures and is not revealing the exact location or time of each offence as it does not want to publish anything that may identify the drivers.

 
Cllr Phil Filmer, the Portfolio Holder for Frontline Services, says:

“These pictures show how a few thoughtless people can make it dangerous and difficult for others.

“You can see from these images that we do need to target drivers that park illegally in Medway and that is why we do this.

“In fact, hundreds of people a year ask us to put yellow lines in their streets to stop inconsiderate and illegal parking and we get dozens of calls a month from residents asking us to send the CCTV car to their street because of problems.

“About one fifth of the drivers who receive a fine after being caught by our CCTV cars have illegally parked outside a school, which is a dangerous hazard for children and their parents crossing the road.

“We only target illegally parked cars and the bottom line is that if you don’t park illegally, you won’t get a fine. If you do, then you run the risk of getting caught.”

Medway Council recently carried out a survey on parking enforcement and around eight out of ten people say they are in favour of parking enforcement, including the use of the council’s CCTV cars, to reduce road congestion, make roads safer, and to ensure parking spaces are available for residents and shoppers.

And the council receives hundreds of applications from members of the public asking for yellow lines where they live as they are fed up with people parking illegally – particularly if they have parked dangerously