UK app pays people for reporting illegally parked cars

midian182

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Staff member

Being a traffic enforcement official can’t be the easiest of professions. But in the UK, one parking firm wants people to do the job themselves, and is even offering cash rewards to those who report illegally parked cars.

UK Car Park Management (CPM) will hand over £10 (around $12.50) to anyone who downloads its I-Ticket app and takes a photo of the offending vehicle and its number plate. Once the driver is tracked down, they will receive a ticket demanding they pay £60 ($74), which rises to £100 ($125) if not paid within two weeks. The person who took the photo gets their money once the ticket is settled.

The app is designed for companies who cannot afford to hire guards to monitor their private property. Users who create an account receive free DIY signs to mark areas where parking is prohibited, giving offending drivers little excuse.

CPM says the system offers complete confidentiality. “All correspondence are designed to make the motorist believe they have been caught by a CPM Patrol Warden,” reads the company’s website. But there are obvious concerns, such as the ease with which firms can issue large fines for what can be minor offenses. The potential for violence between drivers and members of the public who are financially rewarded for photographing illegally parked vehicles is also a worry.

"The sharp practices of parking companies are already regularly called into question with paid officials dishing out fines, but with members of the public being financially encouraged to shop motorists who overstay, it’s a recipe for disaster," Simon Williams, from the UK’s Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC), told the Mirror.

CPM’s boss, James Randall, disagrees. He says the problem is not with the app but with drivers that do not respect people’s land.        

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So let's say that someone takes a picture of a car while it's positioning and it's found "wrongly parked", how is that going to work? It's one thing that police do it versus a random stranger doing it.
 
So let's say that someone takes a picture of a car while it's positioning and it's found "wrongly parked", how is that going to work? It's one thing that police do it versus a random stranger doing it.
Once a citizen has snapped a shot of the offending vehicle and submitted it to the authorities, they'll send out the appropriate authority to slap a ticket on it's windscreen... I'd assume. Britain works like many other countries around the world. They have the regular police force to handle and investigate your usual day to day crimes and they have the traffic control police that deals with traffic crimes. I think it was them who actually pioneered the practice because all their ex colonies who, were once under their regime employs the same system today, mine included. There is no such thing as 'state police' who only work within their jurisdiction. Any and all of the cops and traffic cops can pursue, investigate, arrest etc in any county across the country.
 
I like this and wouldn't mind seeing something like it implemented here, The cops wouldn't like it though, it'll cut off one of their many streams of revenue in collecting bribes.
 
The ultimate tool for legitimizing your being a self righteous c**t? Or a contribution toward the effort of a kind and courteous society?

And double parking Or any other *****ic parking that annoys everyone else is not being a self righteous **** ?!?!

This is amazing, I'd love to have something like that everywhere
 
The c**ts double park because they know that nobody is going to punish them for doing it. It becomes a whole other story when every member of the general public is empowered to punish them. I personally wish I could key every car that double parks but alas we don't live in a perfect world.
Unfortunately that's not what this app is for. It's for people or a company who own private spaces and want to anonymously punish drivers who abuse those spaces. Having read both the article and the company's website, there is no indication that you are allowed to snap cars in car spaces not owned by you.
 
I personally wish I could key every car that double parks but alas we don't live in a perfect world.]
Don't let me stop you. I figure any part of the car sticking out of it's parking space is fully fair game to scratch, dent, and mutilate.
Anyway... I'm torn on this.
On the one hand, people that take two spaces, or whatever, really deserve what they get.
On the other hand, I have two problems with this. Well, 3... 1) "DIY sign"? What proof do they have that someone doesn't do it "Dukes of Hazzard" style... pop the sign up AFTER people have parked then photograph it? I'm not joking, even one or two towns in the US have been caught with portable "No Parking" signs. Or, as has been brought up, photo someone while they are in middle of parking and claim they are double-parked... 2) Overzealous enforcement. Chicago has had well-known problems of tow companies going around towing cars before parking meter ran out, cars for being parked over a line when they weren't, towing cars in areas with a time restriction (like "No parking 2AM-10AM") but they show up to tow at like 1:15AM... and so on. I could see this being a problem with parking erforcement. 3) Legality.. in the US at least, the app is fine, but the tickets? Cities and counties here can write tickets and have them actually be enforced (you probably can't renew your driver's license with outstanding fines). But on private property.. your car can be towed, but if they put a "ticket" on your car, that's just an unsolicited bill from a private company and you can kindly tell them to piss off. Actually, some cities (like Cedar Rapids, IA, who continue to run speed cameras AFTER being told by the state they are in illegal locations...) have GATSO issue speed camera bills (instead of the city issuing tickets) so you can get speed camera "tickets" and never have to pay either.
 
And double parking Or any other *****ic parking that annoys everyone else is not being a self righteous **** ?!?!

This is amazing, I'd love to have something like that everywhere

I completely agree... some people just take it too far. And the ones who do it themselves but then call out others for doing the same thing. These are the people who think that their sh*t doesn't stink. You know the ones I'm talking about.
 
Here's a problem nobody has mentioned yet. How do they know the person who is double parked is the original assailant? Suppose someone is looking for a parking spot and the only available spot is next to someone who is double parked? This forces the other person to double park. Assailant then leaves and now someone with this app comes along and says, "ooh, they're double parked" and now the innocent party gets charged. That's exactly what is happening in this picture. The car on the left had to park like that because of the butthead in the middle. If he leaves, then the car on the left looks like the butthead and gets ticketed.

Yes, this could be combated in court. The innocent party would have to request video evidence from the security cameras in the parking lot, and hope that there are cameras there. Now they're having to take time out of their day / from work to prove themselves innocent.
 
So let's say that someone takes a picture of a car while it's positioning and it's found "wrongly parked", how is that going to work? It's one thing that police do it versus a random stranger doing it.
Once a citizen has snapped a shot of the offending vehicle and submitted it to the authorities, they'll send out the appropriate authority to slap a ticket on it's windscreen... I'd assume. Britain works like many other countries around the world. They have the regular police force to handle and investigate your usual day to day crimes and they have the traffic control police that deals with traffic crimes. I think it was them who actually pioneered the practice because all their ex colonies who, were once under their regime employs the same system today, mine included. There is no such thing as 'state police' who only work within their jurisdiction. Any and all of the cops and traffic cops can pursue, investigate, arrest etc in any county across the country.
I doubt if UK 'Traffic cops' ever deal with UK parking offences (other than those that count as traffic offences ie parking on pedestrian crossings, obstructing fire engines, parking on motorways etc) and even then this story will unlikely refer to those regular on-street parking offences. 'UK Car Park Management (CPM)' appears to be an independant company dealing with privately owned car parks and will unlikely get involved with council (ie 'state') owned off-street parking (on-street parking would most likely be council operated). The private companies, that run off-street private parking, have historically been given a bad reputation by several under-handed clamping techniques and given that I am not sure how well this will be received in the UK.
 
This is a good idea which is simply way too Orwellian for its own good, let alone be to people's benefit as a group.

I'm surprised the way some people park, hasn't been commandeered into another excuse / justification for self driving cars.

After all, A.I.'s theoretically wouldn't have big egos or bad manners. Nobody would likely be mumbling to themselves, "man, that A.I. is an a**hole, look at the way it parked"!

With those things said, Great Britain, in combination with "content providers", has turned into one of the most oppressive crap holes on the planet. (More accurately among those nations attempting to present themselves as, "democracies").

Now, you can't even make a mix tape to play in the car, (it's illegal), and your neighbor is being co-opted to rat you out for parking poorly.. :D Hail Big Brother! :eek: :mad:
 
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I doubt if UK 'Traffic cops' ever deal with UK parking offences (other than those that count as traffic offences ie parking on pedestrian crossings, obstructing fire engines, parking on motorways etc) and even then this story will unlikely refer to those regular on-street parking offences. 'UK Car Park Management (CPM)' appears to be an independant company dealing with privately owned car parks and will unlikely get involved with council (ie 'state') owned off-street parking (on-street parking would most likely be council operated). The private companies, that run off-street private parking, have historically been given a bad reputation by several under-handed clamping techniques and given that I am not sure how well this will be received in the UK.
I very much believe that. Things have certainly changed since I lived there when wheel clamping was their favourite hobby and pastime but everything was council run and owned back then, no private contractors, and bribes didn't always work.
 
"UK Car Park Management (CPM) will hand over £10 (around $12.50) to anyone who downloads its I-Ticket app and takes a photo of the offending vehicle and its number plate."
Anyone that owns a car park or manages one.
So let's say that someone takes a picture of a car while it's positioning and it's found "wrongly parked", how is that going to work? It's one thing that police do it versus a random stranger doing it.
Surely the picture would be reviewed to see whether the vehicle in question was parked legally or not.
 
Can we get one for Australia too?

Too many baka here think they're above the law and can just park how ever they want.
 
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