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Tired motorist stung with parking fine for taking a nap
Monday, 24 October 2011
A tired motorist who parked up in a service station in the early hours of the morning to take a nap has been stung with a £50 parking fine.
Motoring and safety organisations as well as a previous transport minister have condemned the decision to impose a fine on James Orr at Moto’s service area in Exeter, who stopped in Devon to break up his journey from London to Cornwall shortly before 2am.
The service station currently imposes a two-hour free parking limit and the penalty, which has since been quashed, reveals Mr Orr had spent three hours and three minutes parked at the station.
Although the two-hour parking limit is not an issue during the day, motoring organisations and road safety experts believe the enforcement should be scrapped at night.
Mr Orr said: “I was exhausted and I didn’t want to risk falling asleep at the wheel, it wouldn’t have been safe for me to continue.”
An AA spokesman condemned the initial fine. “This is barking. A tired driver is a hazard and if they have the sense they should not be penalised for doing so.
“This clearly racks of raising money rather than being about road safety.
“A sleepy driver is not going to wander around looking at detailed signing. Service area parking areas should see reason when it comes to automatic enforcement like this.”
However, a spokesman for Moto defended the company’s approach to its free parking limits. “Moto do not provide free parking for more than two hours in common with all UK motorway service areas and have not provided free parking for the past forty years.
“It is not the purpose of motorway services to provide long term free parking for the general public, we are there to provide short breaks and availability of spaces is fundamental to that purpose.
“Now that the circumstances surrounding Mr Orr’s penalty have been brought to our attention it will be rescinded under our policy of not charging drivers who have taken a nap for reasons of safety.”
Driving tired is a contributing factor to many serious road accidents in the UK that not only cause injury to road users but cause damage to expensive vehicles. At ASM Auto Recycling our scrap car transporters can effectively transfer salvage vehicles from the roadside to our depots for vehicle dismantling and recycling.
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