Fed Up, He Joined the IRA

Jesse Walker | March 31, 2008

The Daily Mail selects the 10 most unreasonable parking tickets of all time. A sample:

Lorry driver Michael Collins was on his way to collect a skip in London's Belsize Park when the road beneath him collapsed. A burst water main had created a deep hole where the front wheels of his 17-tonne lorry were now stuck.

While he was waiting for roadside assistance, a parking attendant appeared. To the astonishment of nearby residents - and despite Mr Collins' protests, she stood on tiptoe and plastered a parking ticket on his windscreen - while helpfully telling him: "You can appeal".

Comments

|3.31.08 @ 1:58PM|#

She was just doing her job.

TallDave|3.31.08 @ 2:00PM|#

she stood on tiptoe and plastered a parking ticket on his windscreen - while helpfully telling him: "You can appeal".

She was probably in a bad mood due to an untreated toothache.

|3.31.08 @ 2:03PM|#

Depending on his proclivities, he will now either fly to the Moon or lead an Irish revolt.

Episiarch|3.31.08 @ 2:05PM|#

And I thought NYC was bad. The British take "heartless bureaucratic functionary" to the greatest heights.

|3.31.08 @ 2:10PM|#

Parking Enforcement was the only thing the DC government did well when I lived there, but they were like the Special Forces of parking enforcement.

It was like a Jet Li movie.

Separated by a common language|3.31.08 @ 2:12PM|#

What the heck is a 'skip' in this context?

miche|3.31.08 @ 2:13PM|#

We can't have people thinking toward a just decision now, can we? Automatons are necessary to do government work no matter the country.

|3.31.08 @ 2:15PM|#

Apparently, in Britain a "skip" is a dumpster.

|3.31.08 @ 2:16PM|#

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_%28container%29

Episiarch|3.31.08 @ 2:19PM|#

but they were like the Special Forces of parking enforcement

Please elaborate. I am having trouble picturing this.

|3.31.08 @ 2:20PM|#

It was a mercy killing, m'Lud.

|3.31.08 @ 2:21PM|#

So is she taking her job too seriously or not seriously enough?

Jozef|3.31.08 @ 2:24PM|#

"heartless bureaucratic functionary"

Is that the politically correct euphemism for "petty little fascist"?

|3.31.08 @ 2:35PM|#

I'm sure she just had a quota to fill, and couldn't be bothered by taking reality into account.

|3.31.08 @ 2:35PM|#

I believe that the more accurate description is brainless bureaucratic functionary.

Seriously, if any of my employees displayed this kind of poor judgment, I would fire them without any further cause.

T|3.31.08 @ 2:35PM|#

Parking Enforcement was the only thing the DC government did well when I lived there

Lemme guess: late 80s under Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry. Back then, Parking Enforcement was a machine for extracting revenue from all the poor saps from the 'burbs. Only part of the city government that worked.

Nephilium|3.31.08 @ 2:42PM|#

Am I the only one who is thinking of the scene in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels?

"I bloody hate traffic wardens!"

Nephilium

|3.31.08 @ 2:45PM|#

T,

Actually, early 90s under Barry and Sharon Pratt Kelley.

Kelley was enough to make you yearn for the crackhead.

kinnath|3.31.08 @ 2:47PM|#

Think that being badly injured is an excuse to park illegally? Think again. When Nadhim Zahawi of South London was thrown from his scooter and left lying in the road with a broken leg, a heartless warden from Lambeth Council slapped a £100 ticket on his bike.

Smooth

Dave W.|3.31.08 @ 2:48PM|#

Maybe the parking attendant believed that the hole was there before the lorry driver drove into it and that he deserved a ticket for driving into an open hole. Maybe she could even back up that claim.

Not sure we are getting both sides of the story here.

Fluffy|3.31.08 @ 2:49PM|#

Was he actually able to appeal the ticket, or was he unable to do so due to being in prison for smashing her face in?

|3.31.08 @ 3:05PM|#

Not sure we are getting both sides of the story here.

Not sure if you're serious, but wouldn't that be a "moving violation" anyway?

Dave W.|3.31.08 @ 3:23PM|#

Not sure if you're serious, but wouldn't that be a "moving violation" anyway?

If the driver fed a line of horse pucky to te parking attendant, then that is a parking problem. For all we know here, she saw him drive in the hole while she was reporting the hole to the waterworks. Then she hears this cock and bull story, and goes "whatevs" and gets up on her tiptoes and gives the ticket. Maybe she was just irritated that people kept turning her jurisdictional zone into a house of lies.

|3.31.08 @ 3:49PM|#

Illegally parked vehicles must be ticketed without mercy because they create a road hazard to other vehicles. Maybe even worse than a gaping hole in the road.

|3.31.08 @ 3:54PM|#

For all we know here, she saw him drive in the hole while she was reporting the hole to the waterworks.

Even if he did drive into the hole, how is that a parking violation. Do you issue parking tickets every time there's an accident and you've got a couple of cars on fire in the road?

|3.31.08 @ 4:04PM|#

Clearly, Dave W. is rather humorously playing Devil's Advocate. He seems to be suggesting a scenario in which the lorry driver drove his vehicle into the hole intentionally (!?). Or at least recklessly, which would at least be plausible.

Union Hack|3.31.08 @ 4:40PM|#

The driver was probably a Union guy just trying to avoid working, so he drove into the hole intentionaly. The meter maid saw this and was so upset by his not wanting to work that she dealt out instant justice...

NoStar|3.31.08 @ 4:55PM|#

To quote a troll (several, in fact) "The Law is the law!"

|3.31.08 @ 9:08PM|#

Word joe!

|3.31.08 @ 11:29PM|#

Thanks, reason, for sentencing me to having "Sunday Bloody Sunday" stuck in my head all day.

j|4.1.08 @ 1:53AM|#

A workmate of mine went into the office on a Sunday morning to send a fax and pack up his stuff for travel. He parked in a handicap space. No other cars were in the lot and other handicap spaces were still available. As you guessed he got whopping $250 fine (or up to 3 months in jail) for this.

I don't think its possible to organize a revolt about this type of fine, but it would spectacular if a large number of people affected by fines like this opted to take the jail time.

Liam Hodder|4.1.08 @ 3:04AM|#

It's an allegory.
The hole is British Imperialism.
The truck is Ireland.
The Traffic Warden represents the Black and Tans.
Michael Collins is Himself, God rest his soul.