IT seems that there is a God after all… and he occasionally smiles on the beleaguered motorist.
Last week after two decades, the governments of England and Wales finally caught up with their Scottish counterparts in banning the use of wheel clamps on private land.
So the Muppets that run our country took 20 years to see sense; nothing new there then? Yeah I know, certain areas need to be protected from illegal parking, for example emergency exits, spaces reserved for doctors on call or disabled spaces.
But random patches of neglected land in and around industrial estates and the backs of shops and derelict buildings have become the prowling grounds for rogue clamping firms to intimidate and rob innocent motorists.
In reality, the use of wheel clamping in these areas is just an opportunity to exploit a barely legal stealth revenue stream.
Innocent motorists guilty of nothing more than parking their vehicle on what is often little more than disused land, are targeted by bullies who skulk in parked cars nearby waiting for their hapless victims and in many cases they will watch while someone parks their car; waiting for them to leave the vehicle before applying the clamp.
Why not just warn the motorist that they are not allowed to park there, or put a sign up for god’s sake?
Or better still, why don’t they save the money they spend on clamps and the cowboys who wield them and make a one-off investment in a suitable barrier to keep cars off the land.
Of course, the goody two shoes brigade will take the view that if you don’t park there you won’t get clamped, but sometimes needs must and I would like to ask the dull grey folk that live down Righteous Avenue how they would feel if they had a disabled relative or it was their wife and small children stranded after dark facing the lengthy walk to a pay station and the same back to their vehicle… and that’s all in the interests of crooks preying on vulnerable people for cash.
As well as the inconvenience and possible danger of a motorist being stranded with an unusable car, there is also the possibility that even after the usual threats they will not be able to afford to pay the exorbitant release fee.
Of course this won’t bother the clampers because they probably moonlight as bailiffs and will simply swap their overalls for a cheap polyester suit, pop round to the house of the offender and take their furniture if they can’t pay up.
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