Clamped on NUIG campus.

MadYaker

I thought I was invincible, I thought it would never happen to me, but this morning I got clamped. I'm parked in an area on the NUIG campus that isn't strictly speaking a parking space but its out of the way and I've been parking there every day for the last 4 weeks with no issues. The company is APCOA who have some sort of contract with the university. Anyone know a way out of this without paying??? You need a parking permit to park on NUIG campus and I have one. Its a cool 60 quid to get it off and I'm a bit skint at the moment.

ciano1

MadYaker wrote: »

I thought I was invincible, I thought it would never happen to me, but this morning I got clamped. I'm parked in an area on the NUIG campus that isn't strictly speaking a parking space but its out of the way and I've been parking there every day for the last 4 weeks with no issues. The company is APCOA who have some sort of contract with the university. Anyone know a way out of this without paying??? You need a parking permit to park on NUIG campus and I have one. Its a cool 60 quid to get it off and I'm a bit skint at the moment.

Ask for a lend of an angle grinder....

snubbleste

Just leave you car there.

Nailz

Parking laws in Ireland.

See the ‘Vehicle clamping’ section;

Vehicle clamping is in place in the cities of Dublin, Cork and Galway. Services are operated in these cities by private companies on behalf of the local authority. Employees of the vehicle clamping company are entitled to clamp (and de-clamp vehicles) and issue clamping notices for vehicles that are in violation of the parking regulations. Clamping services are also common in car parks of hotels, hospitals, universities and shopping centres to discourage long-term parking at the expense of staff, customers or clients. Clamping on private property is not covered by legislation and the legality of clamping on private property is unclear.

Going by that, it's safe to assume that NUIG are recognised as the local authority and the guys in the white vans and hi-vis jackets are allowed to do whatever they tell them to. It's unclear if you could pull the whole "private clamping" thing on them, but I reckon it may be worth a shot, particularly considering you have a permit anyway. Is there anything to show that that area in which you are parked isn't a parking space, does it mention anywhere than you definitely can't park there? Throw any technicality you can think of at them.

yer man!

If it's not a student space and you are a student, they can clamp your car on NUIG grounds. It's €3000 fine if you do damage to the clamp in anyway. They already have pictures taken of your car and all the details so they would catch you if you decided to go down that route. Now if you gave back the clamp without it being damaged, they can't do anything.

bpb101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQaFSklu0A

Moral of the story - NEVER EVER... leave home without a portable angle grinder


Joking aside - what can they do if you cut it off ?

joeKel73

MadYaker wrote: »

I've been parking there every day for the last 4 weeks with no issues

Tell them that sure and see how you get on... :rolleyes:

yer man!

bpb101 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQaFSklu0A

Moral of the story - NEVER EVER... leave home without a portable angle grinder


Joking aside - what can they do if you cut it off ?

€3000 fine apparently and if damaged you would be committing an offence. I think by applying and paying for a parking permit you enter into an agreement with the university that you will only park on campus spaces according to the parking regulations set down by the university which would state that student park in shared or student parking only and staff in staff or shared parking only, failure to abide by the parking regulations would result in clamp and/or removal of the car.

vektarman

This might sound obvious but make sure the clamp lock is actually locked, I know a guy who's a traffic warden and he says that sometimes because of the amount of usage of locks and keys the locks end up with the wrong keys and the clampers simply 'place' the lock at the clamp to give the impression it's locked, might be worth checking...

Just Like Heaven

Is your car the red one outside the kayak shed? :P Was leaving college this morning and even I felt upset at the sight of it.

tipptopper

ciano1 wrote: »

Ask for a lend of an angle grinder....

:D

httpete

yer man! wrote: »

If it's not a student space and you are a student, they can clamp your car on NUIG grounds. It's €3000 fine if you do damage to the clamp in anyway. They already have pictures taken of your car and all the details so they would catch you if you decided to go down that route. Now if you gave back the clamp without it being damaged, they can't do anything.

Please show evidence of this law whereby it states there is a statutory €3000 fine for damaging a clamp that probably only costs around €50 to buy new, and would cost probably €10 to fix any 'damage'..ie weld some metal together.

httpete

Nailz wrote: »

Parking laws in Ireland.

See the ‘Vehicle clamping’ section;


Going by that, it's safe to assume that NUIG are recognised as the local authority and the guys in the white vans and hi-vis jackets are allowed to do whatever they tell them to. It's unclear if you could pull the whole "private clamping" thing on them, but I reckon it may be worth a shot, particularly considering you have a permit anyway. Is there anything to show that that area in which you are parked isn't a parking space, does it mention anywhere than you definitely can't park there? Throw any technicality you can think of at them.

Local authorities means city and county councils such as - http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/LocalGovernmentAdministration/LocalAuthorities/.

Clamping in universities falls into the grey area.

MadYaker

My car wasn't the red one. A friend explained to me how to get it off without damaging it but you need to be an amateur mechanic to figure it out which I am not and I don't have the necessary tools, its more complicated than just taking off the wheel. I paid the 60 quid to get it off and I submitted an appeal so hopefully ill get my money back.

yer man!

httpete wrote: »

Please show evidence of this law whereby it states there is a statutory €3000 fine for damaging a clamp that probably only costs around €50 to buy new, and would cost probably €10 to fix any 'damage'..ie weld some metal together.

I'm just going by what APCOA say. If you're not parked properly or in accordance with the parking policy then you should be clamped end of. I do not know what the law is with regard to clamping on private property, from what I have seen the only people getting clamped in NUIG are because of either, not parked in a proper space, unpaid permit, parked in wrong car park or car left too long in pay and display.

If you park in the wrong place, or outside of a parking space, you may be clamped. If you don't display your permit, you may also be clamped. Clamp release fee is €60 and €80 after 6pm. from nuigalway.ie

If in doubt, park in Dangan.

If it was me who got clamped it's still make an appeal on the grounds that it was causing no obstruction.

joeKel73

yer man! wrote: »

If in doubt, park in Dangan.

If still in doubt, walk or get the bus.

Squeeonline

The logic goes like this:

If you park in an improper space or without the proper permit you get clamped.

For removal of the clamp you are asked to pay €60 (or whatever it is) for the service of removing it.

Nowhere does it say that the fine is for parking in the wrong place. The "fine" is for the professional service of removing the clamp. If you do not require their service (i.e. you can remove it yourself without damaging it), then great!

A friend of mine was clamped and submitted this letter.

Dear Sir/Madame,

I wish to appeal a fine of €180 which has been issued to me.

On October 14th and December 12th I removed clamps from my car. I received a letter on December 16th requesting a meeting concerning the removal of the clamps. On Thursday January 14th I attended a meeting with Mary O'Riordan, at which I confirmed that I safely removed both clamps from my car, without damage to the clamps.

My grounds for appeal is due to this being the first time I have been notified that the removal of a clamp shall result in a fine.

In October I signed a form to obtain a student parking permit. One of the notes on the form states "If you park anywhere else, you will be clamped". There was no mention of a fine for removing a clamp.

The sign in car park L reads "Clamping in Operation; Release fee €60 before 6PM." As I released my vehicle from the clamp I had no need to avail of the clamp removal service. There was no statement on any visible sign that removal of a clamp would result in a fine.

The "Immobilisation Notice" left on my vehicle did not state that removal of a clamp would result in a fine. It stated that "Arrangements will be made for the removal of the immobilisation device following payment by the owner of the vehicle [...] of the prescribed charge of €60.00 payable to APCOA Parking Ireland [...]." The Notice also stated that "No attempt should be made to drive this vehicle or otherwise to put in motion until the immobilisation device has been removed." I took due note of this and did not move my vehicle until after I had removed the clamp.

The student handbook does not mention parking or clamping offences. The second time I removed the clamp a member of staff requested my student card, which I produced. I was given no instruction to stop what I was doing, and was not informed that removal of a clamp would result in a fine.

As a result, I wish to appeal the fine which has been imposed upon me.

Kind Regards,

Leg-end.

MadYaker

Did he get his money back?

Squeeonline

MadYaker wrote: »

Did he get his money back?

As far as I know, no, but I didn't want to let that get in the way of a good story.

I think it's really **** since he followed the letter of the "law". It really shouldn't be hard for the authorities to write in a clause that the fine for removal of the clamp is also for bad parking.