Man is fined £ 65 ($84) because the shadow of his parked car was cast into a reserved spot
Matthew Cole, a gardener, had left his car perfectly parked in a normal parking spot, but when he returned to pick it up he found a nasty surprise: a dreaded parking fine under the car's windshield wiper was there to remind him that he had just gotten into trouble. But why? His Ford was inside the parking lot lines, so there shouldn't have been a problem. Instead ... the shadow of his car was cast into a parking lot reserved for the handicapped. Is this a good reason to fine someone? No, it isn't, but it happened to Matthew, who had parked outside a London post office.
via Mirror
Local gardener Matthew Cole never expected to end up with a £ 65 pound ($84 dollars) fine to pay, after having parked his car in a valid parking space. Still, the slip of paper hanging from his car was clearly a fine for "unauthorized parking in a disabled parking space". Looking closer at the photo of this alleged misdemeanor, Cole realized that the fine had been issued because his Ford's shadow had crossed into the parking space reserved for disabled people. Clearly, such bizarre news didn't take long to make the rounds on the web once Cole himself reported the unusual incident to the local media.
Cole claimed to have parked in the same space on many other occasions, and had never being fined before. What was the problem this time?
"I contested the fine," Cole explained, "but the authorities just seemed to ignore me and said the fine was issued correctly. It is so difficult to win an appeal. I think it was a ploy to force me to pay. I parked in the same spot at least four times for between five to eight hours straight each time and I've never had any problems before. I don't see why this time there was suddenly a problem. "
Flickr /Alex Proimos / Not the actual photo
The man obviously didn't take it at all well and stressed how absurd it is to get a fine for an alleged infraction like this: "All this is all so absurd - they are trying to enforce a law that doesn't exist. I can afford to pay the £ 65, of course, but it’s the principle of the thing".
Probably, Cole will be forced to pay that fine, but at this moment we are still confident that his challenge will be upheld for a second review. Life is hard enough, but paying for infractions that you have never been committed seems particularly absurd!
