By: David Matthews
Appeal to reason
Public opinion of the overzealous parking enforcement officers in the UK is so low, they actually have to carry DNA kits so that they can identify angry motorists who spit on them.
However, it’s not just the public that is upset now. Earlier this year it was revealed that officers in London have been ticketing government-owned vehicles, essentially requiring the city to pay a fine to itself.
What’s even crazier is the local government’s response: They decided to fight the tickets by taking themselves to court.
When the London borough of Islington ticketed its own vehicle in 2007, it then followed 14 separate steps to appeal its own fine.
After that, Islington began formal proceedings to recover the costs of taking itself to court . . . from itself. The bewildered judge refused, stating: “The legal status of the two parties in this appeal amounted to one and the same.”
Islington is just one of six London boroughs guilty of such actions. Each case is believed to have cost thousands of tax dollars and countless man-hours to pursue.
“You couldn’t make this up,” said Barrie Segal, founder of a parking-ticket appeals website and the man who brought these cases to light.
“If they ever make another sequel to the film ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ I would suggest that the producers look no further than the Islington Parking Department for the starring roles.”
The smell of improvement
Not everything to do with parking stinks in England.
In an attempt to improve the “customer experience” at their parking garages, a British company is pumping pleasant aromas into their otherwise stinky stairwells.
The UK’s largest private-parking garage operator, NCP, is experimenting with a new technology that can replace the familiar stairwell stench of urine with fresh scents like roses, cut grass or freshly baked bread. In fact, NCP is allowing customers to vote online for the fragrance they’d prefer in their local lots.
The idea is being tested in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff and could spread if successful.
However, not everyone thinks the idea smells like a winner. “Stairwells particularly smell because people use them as toilets,” Hugh Bladon of the Association of British Drivers pointed out. “Sorting that out would be the best way to solve the problem.”
Anything you can do, I can do
A new Allstate Insurance report found that teen girls are tired of feeling inferior to boys when it comes to bad driving. Based on a survey of teen drivers, the study found that 48% of girls admitted they are likely to drive more than 10 mph over the speed limit, as opposed to 36% of boys, and 16% of girls described themselves as aggressive drivers, compared with 13% of boys.
Teen girls also said they are more likely to drive distracted. In fact, 51% said they are likely to talk on a cell phone or text while driving (versus 38% of boys) and 84% said they are likely to change their music while driving (versus 69% of boys).
So if Allstate’s own study shows that teen boys take fewer risks behind the wheel than teen girls, does that mean Allstate will stop charging young male drivers higher insurance rates than their female counterparts? Of course not. “Experience still shows female drivers are safer than boys at this age,” said an Allstate spokesman.
This apparent contradiction quickly became the top Trending Topic on Twitter among teen girls driving to the mall.
About The Author: Matthews has been chronicling the unexpectedly humorous side of transportation news since 2000. The stories are all true.
