Drive-thru KFC in Gainsborough fines people driving past

awsum140

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Thinking about it, I got a ticket for a red light violation, camera, in Jersey City some years back. Problem is I easily proved I was about 70 miles away when it "occurred" and hadn't been in Jersey City for, probably, five years before the date of that alleged violation. It was dismissed, but still makes me wonder how many people just pay them since they run red lights anyway.
 

IAmATeaf

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We have problems with car number plate thefts for exactly the reasons you've highlighted @awsum140 but in our case, you are guilty unless you can prove your innocence as the authorities that manage these sorts of things will play dumb. I've known a person who spent months trying to get tickets dropped even though the car in the picture was clearly not the car they owned.
 

J Sigmo

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I loved that episode of "The Big Bang Theory" when Sheldon appeared in court after being caught by a traffic camera, and among his defense arguments was a constitutional one saying that he was unable to confront his accuser in court, to wit: The traffic camera itself.

I still don't understand how a business has the legal authority to assess a fine. Surely, that is not legal anywhere in the US.
 

Mr_D

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I loved that episode of "The Big Bang Theory" when Sheldon appeared in court after being caught by a traffic camera, and among his defense arguments was a constitutional one saying that he was unable to confront his accuser in court, to wit: The traffic camera itself.

I still don't understand how a business has the legal authority to assess a fine. Surely, that is not legal anywhere in the US.
Yeah it would be a civil matter in the US. The property owner would have the right to remove the unauthorized vehicle from the property, but that's it.
 

looney2ns

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Citizens of the UK really need to put some effort into getting their rights back.
Evict the Queen, and save 10 million a year.
 

archedraft

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Don’t forget to add supermarkets to the ever increasing list. My local now has max 2hours and no return within 2hours.
Well that would suck! The amount of times I’m in and out of the hardware store on any given weekend! There is always something you forget to buy! I guess I would have to use the second car...
 

J Sigmo

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Well that would suck! The amount of times I’m in and out of the hardware store on any given weekend! There is always something you forget to buy! I guess I would have to use the second car...
My rule is that any plumbing job requires a minimum of three trips to the hardware store. Any hardware store who had such a policy could never get any of my business, or at most only one third of my business. ;)
 

tangent

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My rule is that any plumbing job requires a minimum of three trips to the hardware store.
Generally you have two choices, make a bunch of trips to get everything you need or buy a bunch of stuff you might need and then return what you didn't use.
The second option is generally faster, but still takes at least 2 trips to the store and you inevitably find things from a project 3 years ago that you meant to return.
 

Mr_D

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With as bad as retail is suffering in the US these days the idea of store doing anything to discourage customers from shopping there is crazy. I guess online shopping isn't as big in the UK.
 

TonyR

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Generally you have two choices, make a bunch of trips to get everything you need or buy a bunch of stuff you might need and then return what you didn't use.
The second option is generally faster, but still takes at least 2 trips to the store and you inevitably find things from a project 3 years ago that you meant to return.
Which is why I have a box full of dusty, 1/2" and 3/4" PVC elbows, 45's, FIP and MIP to solvent weld fittings....I needed 2 but bought 3 'cause I didn't want to stop in the middle of a repair and waste 30-45 minutes by driving 20 miles round-trip for a 69 cent fitting! :highfive:
 

IAmATeaf

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Some background or rationale behind why? The UK is a small place so everything is crammed in close together so the supermarket, hardware store etc. will be close to a major town, this also means that the local station will be close so these time limits is to stop people abusing the car park and parking their cars all day whilst they catch the train to their jobs.

Again it’s all about limited space and parking but it does suck.
 

CCTVCam

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I would think the logical way to deal with this would be to simply shop elsewhere. I wouldn't give my business to any establishment that implemented such an ill-considered system. If they consider their customers to be a nuisance, then they deserve to go out of business.
The reason they have these cameras is some people take advantage and use these type of car parks for all day parking. I'm guessing cameras are cheaper than employing someone to stick a ticket on it.

As for UK folk, shopping elsewhere, not going to happen. The reason we're ripped off so much is because UK shoppers just accept prices no matter what they are. eg A local garden centre was pricing cheap ornaments they bought for £6 at £30, a 500% markup, and that's not unusual. Trouble is, uk shoppers will pay any price unless cheap is handed to them That's why Aldi is doing so well now. However, when stores don't hand discounts out, whereas in the US your consumers wouldn't buy it. In the UK the attitude is if you want it you have to pay for it. So UK shoppers will pay virtually any price for anything other than food (food can be had cheap, simply because you have the Aldi option). Even then many will pay for the name of the supermarket because they believe they're getting better quality even though they're buying the same branded stuff or simply because they want to be able to say they shop at shop X.
 
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th182

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I loved that episode of "The Big Bang Theory" when Sheldon appeared in court after being caught by a traffic camera, and among his defense arguments was a constitutional one saying that he was unable to confront his accuser in court, to wit: The traffic camera itself.

I still don't understand how a business has the legal authority to assess a fine. Surely, that is not legal anywhere in the US.
Minnesota ruled red light cameras as unconstitutional for this very reason!


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CCTVCam

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I still don't understand how a business has the legal authority to assess a fine. Surely, that is not legal anywhere in the US.
Ahh well that's the catch in the UK. It's not a fine, it's a parking charge notice. Read - excess charge under the contract for parking. However, there's a lot of controversy in the UK Courts atm between paid for parking and free parking and what is a disproportionate amount of charge, because under contract the companies cannot make fines, they can only charge a reasonable amount corresponding to their losses for your overstay. At least this is my understanding. Obviously, consult a legal expert to get formal advice.
 

IAmATeaf

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The rules for these charge notices changed last year, previously you could safely ignore/bin them, now you have to respond. A few test cases have been through the courts and the parking charging company won which really opens the floodgates for others. A lot of these companies are plan and simple crooks and prey on the ill informed parker.
 

awsum140

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I have to wonder what the penalty is for the parking charging company when their equipment/methodology fails and they penalize innocent people. Hit them in their pocket book and their attitude may change a little, plus the local government would gain some additional "income" but then I assume they are already"wetting their beak" from the basic penalties.
 

looney2ns

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Here, if such abuse occurs, you call a towing service, have the car towed off the lot. Then the car owner has to go claim it and pay the fee it cost to have it towed. Once or twice in doing that would cut a lot of that out after wasting half a day to retrieve their car.
 
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