Can i clamp someone's car?

seamus

trad wrote: »

As far as I can see signs are placed on property deeming it to be private property. Once it sets out its claim that the property is private, ie not a public road (as opposed to a public place) you are now entering as a trespasser and this, in the view of the clamping company brings it into the ealm of civil law which is not legislated for, a bit like the casinos operating in a loophole in the gamiing and lotteries act.

It's not really a loophole. By definition, any place to which the public normally have access is a public place. So even a "private property" sign does not preclude this - many schools and colleges are private property, yet are public places.

In the most common case of this, in private-owned housing developments, these are places to which the public normally has access, unless access is controlled by gates or other means. In order for somewhere to not be a "public place", you would have to be capable of prosecuting any unauthorised vistor with trespass. In a private housing development, you can't really do this because any visitor is authorised to do so unless they've been specifically barred from entering.

It's worth noting that your front garden/front door constitutes a "public" place, because the law provides that someone is permitted to approach your door and knock on it unless you specifically revoke that permission.

Blanchguy

While clamping may be unpopular it has proven very difficult in Ireland to enforce traffic law, 70% of drink drivers get off, 30% of penalty points don't get applied to licences etc. Parking in Dublin was chaotic before pay and display and clamping was introduced. Many people never paid for parking because it was cheaper to pay the occasional ticket, most tickets weren't enforced. If there wasn't paid parking or some similar restrictions in Dublin city there would be no where to park on street after 7am. This would make it very difficult for people to do business. There'd probably also be a move away from public transport to private cars. What ideas do people have to control parking etc? Clamping and vehicle removal does keep Dublin moving. (I'm not a clamper). I'm genuinely interested in what ideas people would have - how do we allocate the limited resource which is on street parking?

Blanchguy

No one has any alternatives? It's fair enough to complain about clamping and towing but what are the options?

TheInquisitor

Well you could clamp his car and not tell him it was you..... And just take the hit of the E45 euro it costs to buy one as money well spent

trad

Have a look at www.parkingireland.ie. This the umbrella group for "reputable" car park managers and clamping companies.

http://www.parkingireland.ie/pay_display_clamping_faqs.pdf

According to them is is legal to clamp cars but they don't cite any statue. They may be working on the premise that it is not illegal. why don't you write to them or email them, you could pose as a property owner who has a car park that you want clamping on in an effort to combat parking offenders

Best of luck

Our man in Havana

Why bother, they are not going to stop doing it. Reputable my arse.

They need to get a kicking in a court of law for them to stop.

Blanchguy

Again I find it difficult to believe that literally thousands of people have been clamped for parking on private land and not paying at pay and display machines, parking in disabled bays etc over the last 10+ years and only one has succeeded in having this overturned in court. If you firmly believe that this is the case, why not buy a cheap car, park it in a car park and take a test case?

Pay and display is a cost effective way for a land owner to charge for parking. A pay and display installation typically costs 10% or so of a barrier installation and only needs to be patrolled occasionally instead of being manned permanently. Would you rather that these car parks were closed? How do you think abuse of disabled bays on private land should be dealt with?

Our man in Havana

I think you have a vested interest in private clamping.

The reasons why there are few cases in the courts are as follows:
1. Ignorance of the law by the motorist. They may not be aware of the actual legal position.
2. They go thru the "Appeals" process of the clamper and fail. They accept this as a lost cause.
3. It costs money to instruct a solicitor/go to court, many feel they have lost enough.
4. Person is not prepared to go public or is intimidated by the clampers.

I would certainly not pay a private clamper and I would cut off any clamp and take my chances in court. I would be 100% confident of winning.