Damaged car by clamping

dr.fuzzenstein

ebbsy wrote: »

Get a solicitor. Shake the tree and see what apples fall out of it.

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Aren't you lucky there wasn't a kid under your wheel !. It's your responsibility to check your car before you drive off. You van blame the dark,The rain,The car being PHD,You can blame old nick himself ....but it's your responsibility/fault.
And yes I always check....always.

Clippity-clop :rolleyes:
You do a complete walkaround of your car every single time you set off? Walk around it in the morning, with a torch, kicking the tires, inspecting the wheelwells for hidden children?



And when you drive to the shop to buy a newspaper and a pint of milk, same thing again when you set off again 5 minutes later?
Yeah, no.
In the case of the OP, a clamp and a notice is an unfortunate and quite unbelievable thing to miss, but I just love this forum and all the "That would never happen to me, because I'm perfcet!" jockeys.
All the people who would never miss anything, have a 6th, 7th and 8th sense for everything around them including several parallel universes and the near future. Never a single mistake in 20 years of driving yerroner!

To the OP, yes it sucks, it's a PITA, but I think you're stuck with the bill. Unless you want to call Saul.

Macy0161

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

In the case of the OP, a clamp and a notice is an unfortunate and quite unbelievable thing to miss, but I just love this forum and all the "That would never happen to me, because I'm perfcet!" jockeys.

I don't get that general vibe, more that if you miss a clamp and a notice, it's your own responsibility. Like seriously, no wing mirrors must have been checked before pulling off to not notice the side window notice - mirror-signal-manoeuvre is pretty basic driving skills (albeit soon forgotten by many/ most)!

Odyssey 2005

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Clippity-clop :rolleyes:
You do a complete walkaround of your car every single time you set off? Walk around it in the morning, with a torch, kicking the tires, inspecting the wheelwells for hidden children?



And when you drive to the shop to buy a newspaper and a pint of milk, same thing again when you set off again 5 minutes later?
Yeah, no.
In the case of the OP, a clamp and a notice is an unfortunate and quite unbelievable thing to miss, but I just love this forum and all the "That would never happen to me, because I'm perfcet!" jockeys.
All the people who would never miss anything, have a 6th, 7th and 8th sense for everything around them including several parallel universes and the near future. Never a single mistake in 20 years of driving yerroner!

To the OP, yes it sucks, it's a PITA, but I think you're stuck with the bill. Unless you want to call Saul.

Clipping clip me bollix.
Yes I do
I though I I said that in my post. Did you miss that bit ?
His mistake,his problem,and he got off lightly.

Dakota Dan

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Clipping clip me bollix.
Yes I do
I though I I said that in my post. Did you miss that bit ?
His mistake,his problem,and he got off lightly.

Sounds like OCD

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/obssessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm

Odyssey 2005

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Sounds like OCD

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/obssessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm

Not really,just years of driving coaches and HGV's. Only takes a few seconds,but can save years of hardship and regret. Simple as that.

Odyssey 2005

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Aren't you lucky there wasn't a kid under your wheel !. It's your responsibility to check your car before you drive off. You van blame the dark,The rain,The car being PHD,You can blame old nick himself ....but it's your responsibility/fault.
And yes I always check....always.

Or even worse, what if there was a whole Group of children who escaped from the local creche. What if they were all hiding under the car. The OP could have had a massacre on their hands.

The OP is driving a car, not an airplane. Do you really check under your high horse everytime you take it out for a ride?

Everything the OP has described sounds like the clamper is at fault. Yes the OP should have paid for parking, but he didn’t, and a fine would be fair enough, but not damage to his car

I would definitely get professional advice first

Macy0161

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes the OP should have paid for parking, but he didn’t, and a fine would be fair enough, but not damage to his car

The clampers didn't damage the car - driving off with the clamp still attached damaged the car!

Macy0161

Macy0161 wrote: »

The clampers didn't damage the car - driving off with the clamp still attached damaged the car!

The clampers did not provide a clear warning

Whenever I see a clamped car the warning is always on the drivers window, so this must be their training/standard operating procedure (which also follows common sense) which they did not follow in this instance

dr.fuzzenstein

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Clipping clip me bollix.
Yes I do
I though I I said that in my post. Did you miss that bit ?
His mistake,his problem,and he got off lightly.

His mistake, not arguing that.
But still don't by it. :pac:

dr.fuzzenstein

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Sounds like OCD

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/obssessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd.htm

Oh God, I'm a doubter and a sinner! :eek:

antodeco

The replies in this are mental!

I see it as 2 things:

OP, take it as bad luck that you missed it. It's crappy that the clamper didn't have it on drivers side, but it's just one of those things. I've smaahed cups in my dishwasher because I wasn't expecting them to be stuck in the drawer as I take them out. It's crappy bit can't do anything about it.

Secondly, people saying you check every inch of your car before moving off is codswallop. You don't. You will notice what is on your side of the car. Park in a city centre, driver side on the kerb. There's no way you will walk out into traffic and have a look at all your wheels to make sure it's ok. I suppose you check indicators aswell, incase they aren't working? Next time I get in my car, I'm going to check the boot aswell incase someone put a dead body or drugs in it when I wasn't looking.

Hilly Bill

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Clippity-clop :rolleyes:
You do a complete walkaround of your car every single time you set off? Walk around it in the morning, with a torch, kicking the tires, inspecting the wheelwells for hidden children?



And when you drive to the shop to buy a newspaper and a pint of milk, same thing again when you set off again 5 minutes later?
Yeah, no.
In the case of the OP, a clamp and a notice is an unfortunate and quite unbelievable thing to miss, but I just love this forum and all the "That would never happen to me, because I'm perfcet!" jockeys.
All the people who would never miss anything, have a 6th, 7th and 8th sense for everything around them including several parallel universes and the near future. Never a single mistake in 20 years of driving yerroner!

To the OP, yes it sucks, it's a PITA, but I think you're stuck with the bill. Unless you want to call Saul.

It's nothing to do with being perfect it's to do with having at bit of common sense. If you parked somewhere and didn't pay the fee if required then it's a good idea to check for a clamp when you return to your car..

Hilly Bill

Deleted User wrote: »

Or even worse, what if there was a whole Group of children who escaped from the local creche. What if they were all hiding under the car. The OP could have had a massacre on their hands.

The OP is driving a car, not an airplane. Do you really check under your high horse everytime you take it out for a ride?

Everything the OP has described sounds like the clamper is at fault. Yes the OP should have paid for parking, but he didn’t, and a fine would be fair enough, but not damage to his car

I would definitely get professional advice first

The car wasn't damaged by the clamper.

Hilly Bill

Deleted User wrote: »

The clampers did not provide a clear warning

Whenever I see a clamped car the warning is always on the drivers window, so this must be their training/standard operating procedure (which also follows common sense) which they did not follow in this instance

The big yellow thing on the wheel and the notice on the window is enough warning.

Hilly Bill

antodeco wrote: »

The replies in this are mental!

I see it as 2 things:

OP, take it as bad luck that you missed it. It's crappy that the clamper didn't have it on drivers side, but it's just one of those things. I've smaahed cups in my dishwasher because I wasn't expecting them to be stuck in the drawer as I take them out. It's crappy bit can't do anything about it.

Secondly, people saying you check every inch of your car before moving off is codswallop. You don't. You will notice what is on your side of the car. Park in a city centre, driver side on the kerb. There's no way you will walk out into traffic and have a look at all your wheels to make sure it's ok. I suppose you check indicators aswell, incase they aren't working? Next time I get in my car, I'm going to check the boot aswell incase someone put a dead body or drugs in it when I wasn't looking.

I'd make sure I've four wheels still on the car before driving off. All the op had to do was to check is right mirror before driving off. Unless you parked in the middle of the road then you don't need to walk into traffic.

Hilly Bill

Hilly Bill wrote: »

The big yellow thing on the wheel and the notice on the window is enough warning.

the op saw neither as they were put on the passenger side of the car

Meeeee79

Deleted User wrote: »

the op saw neither as they were put on the passenger side of the car

A car has wing mirrors on both sides of the car for good reason, neither of which were checked before pulling off and damaging his own car through his own fault

Meeeee79

Meeeee79 wrote: »

A car has wing mirrors on both sides of the car for good reason, neither of which were checked before pulling off and damaging his own car through his own fault

What if the clamp is on the front passenger wheel?

Meeeee79

Deleted User wrote: »

What if the clamp is on the front passenger wheel?

What about the big sticker plastered all over the passenger window???

Meeeee79

Meeeee79 wrote: »

What about the big sticker plastered all over the passenger window???

so you don’t want to answer my question. You insinuated that the op was at fault because he did not check their mirrors. If the clamp was on the passenger side front wheel you would not see it. Even if it was on the rear wheel you’d have a hard time seeing it.

The op said it was dark and raining. Said the warning was half off on the passenger side window, so NOT plastered all over the window

heroics

I think the thread title should be changed to something like "damaged car by driving while clamped".

The clampers in this case did not damage the car. The OP did that when they drove off. While I agree the sticker should have been on drivers side The stickers are still pretty obvious even on the passenger side if you tried to use the passenger wing mirror.

irelandrover

Deleted User wrote: »

so you don’t want to answer my question. You insinuated that the op was at fault because he did not check their mirrors. If the clamp was on the passenger side front wheel you would not see it. Even if it was on the rear wheel you’d have a hard time seeing it.

The op said it was dark and raining. Said the warning was half off on the passenger side window, so NOT plastered all over the window

When you check the mirror you will see the big sticker on the window you look through.

Meeeee79

Deleted User wrote: »

so you don’t want to answer my question. You insinuated that the op was at fault because he did not check their mirrors. If the clamp was on the passenger side front wheel you would not see it. Even if it was on the rear wheel you’d have a hard time seeing it.

The op said it was dark and raining. Said the warning was half off on the passenger side window, so NOT plastered all over the window

You seem very invested in this.

In my opinion if the driver was aware of his surroundings as any driver should be before pulling off especially in the dark and the rain, then he should have seen the sticker on the window. It is irrelevant to me whether it was all over the window or half hanging off. A responsible cautious driver should have seen it.

I will say that sure there have been times when we have all jumped in the car and pulled off without checking our surroundings but the fact that the OP is trying to blame the clampers for his negligence is not correct and this is what he/she asked for opinions on.

plodder

deathtocaptcha wrote: »

You can disagree all you want but you have no legal grounds for complaint: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/13/enacted/en/print#sec13

Technically the clampers could clamp the rear passenger side wheel and fix a notice to the rear windscreen and they'd still be within the law, although it would be bad form.

Not a lawyer, but I'm not sure you are right about that:

The law you cited says:

13. (1) When fixing a clamp to a vehicle in a clamping place, the clamping operator or person fixing the clamp to the vehicle shall also affix to the vehicle a notice (“clamping notice”) which shall—
...
(c) give a warning that an attempt should not be made to drive the vehicle or otherwise put it in motion until the clamp is removed,

They are required to "give a warning". Clearly, putting a notice on the driver's window is a warning because it will be seen. But, putting it on the passenger side is arguably not a warning because it might not be seen.

Hilly Bill

Deleted User wrote: »

the op saw neither as they were put on the passenger side of the car

Then the op shouldn't be on the road unless they are going to pay attention.

Meeeee79

Meeeee79 wrote: »

You seem very invested in this.

In my opinion if the driver was aware of his surroundings as any driver should be before pulling off especially in the dark and the rain, then he should have seen the sticker on the window. It is irrelevant to me whether it was all over the window or half hanging off. A responsible cautious driver should have seen it.

I will say that sure there have been times when we have all jumped in the car and pulled off without checking our surroundings but the fact that the OP is trying to blame the clampers for his negligence is not correct and this is what he/she asked for opinions on.

I’m not invested. I empathize with the OP based on the facts which he has presented, that’s all

The clamper putting the clamp and “half broken” warning on the wrong side of the car has greatly led to the op damaging their own car. Some fault does lie with the clamper.

Hilly Bill

Deleted User wrote: »

What if the clamp is on the front passenger wheel?

Then you don't go very far.

Hilly Bill

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Then you don't go very far.

Which is why the clampers usually put the clamp and warning on the drivers side of the car

Hilly Bill

Deleted User wrote: »

so you don’t want to answer my question. You insinuated that the op was at fault because he did not check their mirrors. If the clamp was on the passenger side front wheel you would not see it. Even if it was on the rear wheel you’d have a hard time seeing it.

The op said it was dark and raining. Said the warning was half off on the passenger side window, so NOT plastered all over the window

No insinuation needed. The op was at fault.

Hilly Bill

plodder wrote: »

Not a lawyer, but I'm not sure you are right about that:

The law you cited says:

They are required to "give a warning". Clearly, putting a notice on the driver's window is a warning because it will be seen. But, putting it on the passenger side is arguably not a warning because it might not be seen.

The main bit there is to fix a notice. Does it state that it has to be on the drivers window??