It's the tone as much as anything, I think, that gets my goat.
"The warrant authorises a certificated bailiff to seize and sell goods belonging to you to the value of the outstanding amount plus the cost of executing the warrant."
What is the heinous crime that prompts a letter including such threats? Not spotting a road sign on a dark, wet winter's night. It hasn't been a good driving month for various members of my family, with three penalty charge notices arriving in short order.
One found they had inadvertently strayed into an Oxford bus lane after working late in the city. There are no buses in view on the attached evidential photographs, no traffic was held up and no benefit was sought or gained; it was just a plain old error of a few seconds, affecting nobody, positively or negatively, on the planet.
But hard luck: that'll be £70 (or £35 if they can afford it before next payday). Another strayed into Dundee city centre because they were delivering a piano to a venue so couldn't park farther away.
This particular low-emissions zone fine doubles with each transgression and, unlike in London, there's no lower-cost pass for non-compliant vehicles, just the fine: £60 (or £30 if they can afford it now). The final one missed Oxford's new congestion charge: £70, or £35 if they have it now, rising to £105 if they don't and the bailiffs thereafter.
Is it a fair cop, guv? Each of these schemes has been introduced seemingly with good intention: to ease the passage of mass transit, improve air quality and/or reduce congestion. And doesn't there need to be some disincentive so that people comply?
Perhaps, but it's worth noting that mostly people do abide by bylaws and customs even when there's no penalty if they don't. We stand on the right on London's escalators; we filter off aeroplanes row by row; we don't push in front of people in shops.
Is there another area of daily life that rivals motoring, where the punishment is so disproportionate to the offence, where a few innocently mistaken seconds can cost you so much? It's hard to shake the feeling that drivers are targeted because it's easy.
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Motorists are too often treated like muggers with crack habits for the slightest of indiscretions. Much of it created by ridiculous, money making traffic schemes designed to fill council coffers, all wrapped in the 'safety' or emissions banner.
It's time the authorities backed off a bit. Enough is enough.
Roads conceived by city councils the way they are to generate revenue through fines, not for safety: that's exactly what happens here in Italy. Unfortunately shared pain is *not* half the pain.
Oh for heavens sake! , there there for a reason ,not just to make money,if it's such a bad Traffic area, how could you make it better?, I'm sure the council would love to hear your genius solution,if all drivers obeyed the road rules there'd be no need for cash generating cameras, if your u lucky to stray into a forbidden lane for a few seconds it's a machine not a human that photographed your reg,it can recognise it's unintentional so it just dies what it's programmed to do take what it assumes as an offence just like all the other cameras do,and before you ask, no I don't live in the city,but I do the best I can.
Many of these schemes are overwhelming if you're new to an area and trying to find your way. Concentrating on the traffic, the sat nav and which way to go is bad enough without having to read a blizzard of signs and absorb what they mean at the same time.
There's always a fine waiting for you if you slip up though.
Maybe it's Redcar manufacturers fault then?, why not build into the apps and Satnavs a way of taking control of of the vehicle so you can't go over a speed limit or enter a no go,effectively the vehicle drives itself thus taking the responsibility and stress of driving in Cities up and down this country.