‘I saw a traffic warden having a field day’
Friday 22nd January 2010, 2:29PM GMT.
Laura Fallaize, left, and Louisa Richards at North Beach where motorist have been caught out by the new small car-parking scheme brought in on Monday. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0905407)
Several returned to their cars to find they had been issued with parking tickets for leaving them in an area reserved for small vehicles. The scheme was introduced on Monday and although signs have been put on pylons, the Environment Department said it would add wording on the road and update its website later.
Parking controllers were only warning people on Monday but about 50 drivers were given £30 fixed penalty notices in the following two days.
Finance workers, Laura Fallaize and Louisa Richards, both 26, phoned a friend to tell her she had a ticket on her car.
‘I saw a traffic warden having a field day here the other day,’ said Ms Richards.
Ms Fallaize said she could not see what the problem was when a vehicle fitted within the white lines.
Police force planning officer Sergeant Martin Harris said warning notices had been put on vehicles that were only just over length but people with blatantly oversized vehicles had been given tickets.
- Read the full story in the Guernsey Press. See below for subscription details.
Island Life
All about Guernsey
Ambassador of the Year 2011
History & Heritage
Visitor Information
Guernsey's government
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
If in doubt the drivers should of used another space. Or were they just being lazy? Good for the traffic warden giving tickets, all the revenue goes to offset the black hole!
Report abuse
Ridiculous… the rules should be simple: if it fits within the white lines and you can squeeze it in, it should be accepted. If “blatantly oversized vehicles” can fit in these small car parking spaces, maybe it’s not the cars that are too big, but the spaces!
Report abuse
Yeh, the Black hole created by People with private parking spaces under there offices ! Ironic isnt it !!!
Report abuse
They’d fill the black hole easier by firing the traffic wardens ;)
Report abuse
The rise of indirect taxation coincides with a political decline. How long before the refuse collectors will be fining us like they do in the UK.
Report abuse
I agree with Fat Jonny, and feel these spaces exclude many (what I would consider) small car owners. Surly the people to be penalised (if that is the intention) should be drivers of estates, 4x4s etc.
Report abuse
Dean, why should the driver of an estate be “penalised”? What are they doing wrong? If the argument is to do with pollution, how come an owner of a Toyota Prius is excluded from these spaces? And if the argument is to do with cars being too big on our roads, how come we allow our bus company to operate with vehicles blatantly too big?
The whole “small car spaces” is just typical ill-thought out nonsense from the morons who run this island.
Report abuse
greg, I am simply pointing out that if there are to be ‘small car’ spaces then why exclude most small cars. I am not making an argument against your large, polluting and inappropriate car, don’t worry!
Report abuse
I find it easier to park in The Carlton Plaza car park and catch the bus into Town ,the spaces are bigger and easier when you have a pimped and blacked out Limo ,friends Suitcase Joe and Weekend Ted do the same, after a busy day offshore’ing we stop for a pleasant cocktail with happy Geraud in Latino’s
Report abuse
Haha, fair enough Dean.
And I drive a small saloon. I can’t see the point in large cars in Guernsey; the roads are too small as are most of the parking spaces.
It would be nice if one of the morons who come up with these daft ideas would explain their reasoning behind them though.
Report abuse
@Fat Jonny
“Ridiculous… the rules should be simple: if it fits within the white lines and you can squeeze it in, it should be accepted.”
And if everybody does that because it is “their right” how do you propose to get in or out of the cars? Through the boot?
I would love to see a line of oversized cars parked with their drivers stuck inside and their wing mirrors hanging off because they were squeezed in between the white lines…
Report abuse
First of all, what the headline actually says is ” I saw a traffic warden doing the job they are paid to do, enforcing the law ” …. surely the opposite would be worthy of comment, not this ..
As for small cars … A small car with one driver creates more pollution and takes up more space per person than a large car with four or five people in it.
It’s not the size of the vehicle that matters, it’s how you use it …
Report abuse
Greg & Dean
Between you, you have hit the nail on the head with this subject. Far too many holes in this ill thought out plan.
What a ridiculous state of affairs where most small cars cannot actually fit in the small car spaces.
I looked at a Mini, too big!!
Does anyone remember the actual rationale behind this??
Report abuse
@Student Jim: “And if everybody does that because it is “their right” how do you propose to get in or out of the cars? Through the boot?”
Through the doors. If you drive in and can’t get out then I guess you have to park elsewhere….
It seems the issue is with length not width:
“Police force planning officer Sergeant Martin Harris said warning notices had been put on vehicles that were only just over length but people with blatantly oversized vehicles had been given tickets.”
Which is funny because my wife has always reassured me that it was the other way around.
Report abuse
@The Man
A small car is not a small car when it isn’t small! Just calling it a mini doesn’t mean it is small – it is now just a Brand. Yes it is smaller than many cars but it is still bigger (for example) than my old Mk3 fiesta.
Cars are getting bigger year on year but sadly our roads are getting smaller in response (as we add more footpaths etc). At some point people have to take responsibility and not point the finger at the manufacturers.
@Fat Jonny
I’ve not seen the signs yet (I park elsewhere) but the previous discussions called for a maximum length and width to these spaces. It might be in this case that the cars were not too wide but only too long.
My point stands that if you can only just get a car between the lines (widthways) that a situation can occur where you block off another car’s door because you are too close.
Of course people are too polite to do such a thing even if it is the last space in the carpark ;)
Report abuse
I am a law abiding citizen who always supports the police in their actions but this is just ridiculous.!!!!!
If the car fits in the parking space surely it must be legally parked. If not make the spaces even smaller.
the police should be spending their time dealing with real traffic offences such as people speeding or driving at night with faulty lights not persecuting innocent people for having a car which in their mind is too big despite the fact it fits into a space.
I have NEVER heard anything so ridiculous in my life. Guernsey must be a laughing stock.
Do the police want us all to go out and by Smart cars?
Report abuse
I support the small spaces idea but I think the department have got their dimensions wrong, we don’t have short roads in the island we have narrow ones, the ‘small car’ designation should apply to narrow cars not short ones.
GREAT IDEA – WRONG DIMENSION
Report abuse
Gee thanks StudentJim
Does that mean coke really doesnt have cocaine in it?? Please sir educate me more??
A mini is still a small car because as you rightly point out, cars are getting bigger year on year and probably ratio wise, the new mini is very similar to the old mini in that respect.
But a mini is still 55mm too big for a states small car space, which are based on length, tell me Jim you state the roads are getting narrower, so why base this in car length??
Also I’m not pointing fingers at manufacturers, I’m pointing the fingers at the states, because their initiative makes no sense.
Report abuse
Why dont they issue parking tickets to small cars who arent parked in one of their own spaces but in spaces for larger cars…fairs fair also is parking a smart car in sideways so the front sticks out into the road legal?
Report abuse
@The Man
A mini is not a small car no matter what silly example you give. But as you brought it up, Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass, but in 1903 it was removed. Coke once had coke in it just as the mini once was a small car ;)
It is smaller than some but it is not itself small. Anyone who believes the name means it is (such as the person who complained to the press when the first small car spaces were put on the crown pier) has been brainwashed by advertising.
A smart car is a small car
An old mini is a small car
A Fiat 500 is a small car (the old one is really small, the new one not so much)
etc
The new mini is not only longer than the small car spaces but it is wider most small cars which on our small roads means more people speeding along pavements.
@Jon Jon
That would only work if the number of small car spaces is carefully controlled. Remember that this is still an experiment and I haven’t the figures to tell if there are less small car spaces than small cars trying to use them or the other way round.
Report abuse
Jim
If you look at the how much bigger the new Mini is compared to the old one and then compare how much your average car has lenghtened over the same period I’ll think you’ll find the ratios are about the same.
Also you should have looked at my “silly” example a little more closely because I used it for a reason.
If you use a brand name that is directly identifiable to the product i.e “MINI”, you have to make a small car, i.e BMW wouldn’t have been able to brand their X6 as a MINI.
Thats advertising 101.
And even though its bigger than it once was, it is still considered a small car, if you don’t believe me, check glass or parkers.
Yet coke is also a brand name, but so few people make the association between coke and cocaine so Coke can get away with still calling it Coke, even though its essentially a different product.
The Mini issue aside, you still havent said why you beleive the states based the car size on length, you did however advocate a very good point as to why it should be based on width.
Report abuse
The Man – your comments about relative size are irrelevant. The new rules (and Student Jim’s comments) are talking about absolute size.
Stick to the issue at hand, old chap.
Report abuse
TL
My comments are relavent to the comments that were raised in respone to my initial post.
Report abuse
I was under the impression that they were restricting both car length and car width with these spaces but that so far only overlong cars have been booked.
The comment about how cars in general are getting bigger year on year is irrelevant unless the roads and carparks are also growing at the same rate but they are not so looking at relative sizing is silly.
I bring up the mini example because people are still convinced that it is a small car because of the name. If BMW decided to bring out a slightly smaller X6 then under your example they could decide to brand it as a mini but it still wouldn’t be a small car (They might well do so at some point because the brand is strong ;)
We seem to agree that car width is more of an issue over here but we didn’t get to decide on how this law was written.
Report abuse
Has anyone else noticed…
Isn’t it funny how civil servants at Frossard House have parking provided for them. Ergo, they will not get tickets whilst at work as our taxes have provided them with a nice park so they can concentrate on ruining the islands finances. Meanwhile we get stung £30 a go for being diligent at work yet parking slightly overtime. The irony is also having to go to Frossard House to pay them !!!
The longer i live on this island the more likely i think it is i’ll go for a states job. Great salary with bonuses and annual rises irregardless of 0% inflation, favours for mates and to cap it all off free parking, all paid for by the average hard working joe on the street !!!
Report abuse
‘The whole “small car spaces” is just typical ill-thought out nonsense from the morons who run this island.’
Greg, I could not agree more.
What on earth is the point of ‘small car’ parking spaces anyway?? What’s wrong with leaving spaces big enough for all cars, so that any car can park in any space? It’s not like the smaller cars can’t park in the bigger spaces, so I don’t see why there should be spaces especially for them. Or is it because people who own bigger cars hate it when they see a small car take up a whole parking space?!
Although I do agree that there are some vehicles on Guernsey roads that are unnecessarily big, making spaces smaller is not going to mean that people suddenly run out and buy a smaller car just to fit in them. If this is meant to be some sort of ‘less pollution’ venture, I highly doubt it’s going to work
Report abuse
its the environment that wanted these small car parking spaces anyway. they want to make you all buy small cars. I’m sick of the buck being put on the traffic wardens when all they were doing was their job by policing the area. Total lack of communication from all departments. In November everyone was told about the car park changing but it didnt get done until last week. Then no-one said it wasnt finished yet… it should have been completed in one weekend and then communication passed along to how they wanted it policed. The environment are inept. I can give you a list of things they have been asked to do but havent done, including some areas you can park all day as the signs are wrong!!
Report abuse
Damo – Good point about Frossard house, misguided though as the Traffic Services Department is at Bulwer avenue. Have a look in tommorow’s paper, Civil Service Jobs normally go in on a saturday. Although you might be disappointed if you got appointed to a civil service job, as there are no bonuses the last time I checked.
If Frossard house didnt have parking, there would be a lot more competition for the limited town spaces, so I wouldnt bleat too much about that one either. We should just be glad we dont have to pay to park on states owned property like the rest of the world.
Report abuse