THE LARGEST annual increase in complaints yet received from motorists about car clampers in Dublin is being blamed on the recession by the appeals watchdog.
The number of stage 1 appeals to the city’s independent parking appeals officer William Keilthy jumped 19 per cent last year and the number of stage 2 appeals was up 17 per cent.
Nearly 70,000 cars were clamped, relocated or towed away last year out of 18 million car parking “events” in 33,000 on-street spaces in the city last year. In his annual report Mr Kielthy said the reasons for the “marked increase” in appeals and whether it signalled a new trend were unclear. “One can speculate that it reflects the downturn in the national economic situation which became evident during 2009.”
In total 73 per cent of appeals that cars had been wrongly or unfairly clamped were unsuccessful and the other 27 per cent received full refunds.
Some 54 per cent of appeals involved parking tickets not being properly displayed. The second most common offence appealed was parking in a clearway.
Mr Keilthy suggested the city council should consider some sort of dashboard holder in an effort to cut down on the largest single block of appeals, over 30 per cent, involving people whose parking permit was not visible.
He said this was mainly due to the permit being upside down or falling to the floor on a windy day or when a car door was shut.
Mr Keilthy said the adhesive label solution was not reliable so the council should consider a different solution like a window or dashboard-mounted parking permit holder. “A simple inexpensive branded device could be distributed to all motorists as part of a general mailing of renewal notices,” he said. As it would probably cut over 20 per cent of appeals it would be self-financing.
Mr Keilthy also found poor signage and road markings are “definitely confusing” motorists.
“Is there a case for marking clearways with different coloured lines in the way that Italian cities have blue lines and white lines to differentiate residential parking from public parking?” he asked.
The report deplores two cases of parking enforcement staff being hospitalised as a result of assaults by disgruntled motorists. “It is easy to forget that this difficult job yields considerable benefits to the city in terms of improved traffic movement and ease of access for car-borne shoppers, visitors, services and business people to their desired destinations. It is only when we think back to the 1990s . . . and compare it to the vastly improved situation today that the benefits become obvious.”