parking meters, hand held computers

[mistral47]

Hi All,
new to this so please bear with me -
does anyone know of the legal requirements for the calibration and testing of both parking meters and the handl held computers that council parking attendants use?

[nero12]

Originally Posted by mistral47

Hi All,
new to this so please bear with me -
does anyone know of the legal requirements for the calibration and testing of both parking meters and the handl held computers that council parking attendants use?

can I refer you to this

road traffic regulation act 1984 section 46(3),4)


(3) Where provision is made for the use of parking meters it shall be the duty of the local authority to take such steps as appear to them to be appropriate for the periodical inspection of the meters and for dealing with any found to be out of order; for securing the testing of the meters, both before they are brought into force and afterwards; and for recording the date on which, and the person by whom, a meter has been tested.

(4) Where provision is made for the use of apparatus other than parking meters, subsection (3) above shall apply to such apparatus as it applies to a parking meter.

they all have to be properly maintained and calibrated.

do you have reason to believe that some malfunction has occured

[mistral47]

Thanks Nero,
not specifically, but my argument is that as this is potentially going to magitsrates court the council have a duty to prove the accuracy of the equipment they use. If they are unable to provide records of testing and calibration then do they have the legal right to issue an excess charge notice. Any instrument they use should be accurate, undamaged and be provable as being in good working order otherwise there is no reasonable evidence of 'guilt' - or words to that effect. I'm sure you follow my drift. If you would like more detail I'm happy to come back with it.
- mistral47

[nero12]

Originally Posted by mistral47

Thanks Nero,
not specifically, but my argument is that as this is potentially going to magitsrates court the council have a duty to prove the accuracy of the equipment they use. If they are unable to provide records of testing and calibration then do they have the legal right to issue an excess charge notice. Any instrument they use should be accurate, undamaged and be provable as being in good working order otherwise there is no reasonable evidence of 'guilt' - or words to that effect. I'm sure you follow my drift. If you would like more detail I'm happy to come back with it.
- mistral47

If you have reason to believe that an instrument is inacurate or damaged in some way then you can ask for calibration, maintanance and service records of such an instrument under the freedom of information act.