‘Rules
are rules’- should be the same for everybody ...... 0r .... ‘rules after all
are man-made; and can be tweaked according to circumstances’- which do you feel
is correct ! – it is not that rules are strictly implemented on the meek, but
bent for those powerful – be it politicians, rich and famous ! In case of road
accidents and other emergencies – victims require immediate attention .... not
many come forward to help them – more so, if the victim has bleeding
injuries. People have lot of
apprehensions, especially towards the
probable Police and legal enquiries that could land them in !
Here is an
interesting report of UK that appeared in MailOnline - A Good Samaritan
student who pulled his car over to help a pensioner he thought was dying in the
street has spoken of his outrage after being slapped with a £70 parking ticket
fine.
Drew Hollinshead,
21, who is studying marketing and advertising at Bournemouth University,
criticised the attendant who he said placed the ticket on his windscreen as he
tended to an elderly woman a few yards away. Mr Hollinshead, of Winton, Dorset,
was driving along Wimborne Road in Bournemouth when he saw the pensioner lying
on the pavement in nearby Wycliffe Road.
He pulled over in the only space he could see - reserved for disabled
people - and ran to help her. To his relief he found she was not badly hurt and
helped her back to her feet.
When he got back to
his car he found a Bournemouth Council parking warden was issuing a ticket for
stopping in a disabled parking bay without a permit. So angered was he by the fine that he ripped
the ticket up and threw it in the bin, before later going back to retrieve it.
'It's £70 if paid within 28 days or £35 if paid in 14 days, but it's not the
cost that matters, it's the principle of it,' said Mr Hollinshead.
His ire is
understandable as he tried doing something good but ended up getting something
bad – the parking in disabled bay was perhaps the nearest and immediate place
that he could do in that emergency ! -
further it is stated that there was
space for about four cars and it was completely empty, so it wasn't like
somebody was waiting to use it and the man
was blocking the space.'
It was good
response on his part – to have stopped and rushing for help within 30 – 45
seconds on seeing somebody falling. The
man adds that most likely, the Parking assistant could also have been witness
to all that was happening. But when asked he was replied that - "It gives me no great satisfaction to
give you this ticket".
A Bournemouth
Council spokesman said: 'We cannot comment on individual cases.'But Margaret
Leslie, operations manager for parking services, said: 'Any motorist receiving
a fine can appeal against a ticket through the contact details given on their
Penalty Charge Notice.
After Mr
Hollinshead wrote about the incident on his Twitter account it led to a stream
of messages on social media, with one resident, calling themselves
'Understated', saying 'You can tell who is deliberately disregarding the rules,
and someone who had no choice. 'Seeing
as the warden was near enough to see what happened, it should have been a no
brainer. He could see the boy was not parking there for his own selfish reasons
or laziness.' Another resident, 'ShuttleX' wrote: 'I'm sorry you got a ticket
Drew (make sure you appeal against it) but well done for helping the lady who
fell over. 'This doesn't surprise me actually. Parking Services are well known
for slapping out tickets in circumstances where common sense should prevail.'
Have
you ever faced a similar situation ?
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
16th Apr 2015.
