Caughtya™
A "Hall of Shame" to expose cars parked illegally
in disability or mobility parking spaces.
A "Hall of Shame" to expose cars parked illegally
in disability or mobility parking spaces.
Several people asked us to provide a notice they could use to let drivers parked illegally in disability parking spaces know they were caught in the act. We developed a small notice that you may print, carry with you, and distribute appropriately.
The text of the notice says:
Caughtya!
Vehicle license plate:________________
This vehicle was parked in a disability parking space without properly displaying a mobility parking permit.
You have been caught on camera. Check:
http://caughtya.org
to see your car on the internet.If you find this paper on the ground, it was discarded by the same inconsiderate driver that parked illegally in a disability parking space!
Download the notice in PDF format [~67Kb].
To save the file to your desktop, on most computer, right click and select "Save As", or equivalent command.
The notices are printed four to a page. The page format is "A4", but will scale down to "Letter" without problem.
If you are going to use this notice, please make sure you write in the license plate number of the car for greater impact. This will also point the finger at the vehicle owner if they just throw the notice on the ground without seeking a garbage can.
As always, be safe. If taking photos of their car irritates some people, seeing you putting a notice just may send them over the edge. If you think there's a risk, don't do it!
[tags]Disability, Parking, Disability+Parking, Illegal, Abuse, Violation, Notice, Caughtya, Blog[/tags]
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006 and is filed under Drive-by.
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Tags:
Abuse, Blog, Caughtya, Disability, Disability Parking, Illegal, Notice, Parking, Violation
Comment by: Webmaster
The taxi company was contacted and their general manager is going to look into it. He said:
"If you have any additional information on the date and time of this incident I would welcome the receipt of that so we can identify the driver concerned at the time and address the matter with them directly.
Comment by: Webmaster
I may not buy more in one go, but I guarantee you I spend as much, if not more, than the average punter does in a week.
Comment by: Dirk
By that i mean they have few issues pushing around large food carts.
@kendybay is such a genius. She figured out who @ScarlettProbz is!!! #caughtya #easyaspie
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nice idea - certainly a lot of 'inconsiderates' out there, but are say, supermarket carparks/parkinglots(where I shall assume a great number of the available 'disability parking bays'are located)actually a public highway or private property?
As private property all writing on the road is decoration only and means nothing - not even the one way arrows.
unless signs are adequately displayed at the entrance too (mostly they are not) any enforcement actions (including, possibly your own) would be illegal and would not stand up in court.
But nice try - why only north of england?
ignoramuses everywhere you know!
Hello Ian,
Since our "enforcement" doesn't carry any legal weight, and since it isn't illegal to take photos on (most) private property, it isn't a (legal) problem for people to take photos and submite them to us.
Why only North of England? Because that's where people have been sending us photos from. Send us photos from the South of England, and they'll get posted!
Caughtya.org is community driven. Without the input of the community, it'll go nowhere.
As Ian Clegg's comment (above) indicates the concept of "Caughtya" is much of a 'tooth-less tiger'. This in my view and experience is a great disappointment.
What move would be required, to, not only instigate but ACTION the appropriate changes to give this concept some enforcable weight?
C Hawkins said: "What move would be required, to, not only instigate but ACTION the appropriate changes to give this concept some enforceable weight?"
Contact your local paper
Contact your local council
Contact your local traffic control
I don't know what the UK law is in regard to supermarket parking, but in NZ (I believe) the law states that if the public have access to an area, then all the traffic laws apply, and traffic enforcement officers can enter such places and ticket people for offenses.
This came about because there was a spate of offending where, when the person noticed s/he was being followed (or signaled to pull over) by a traffic cop, the person would simply pull into a private driveway (not even their own in some cases) and the traffic cop could not legally follow to issue a ticket! So the law was changed.
In New Zealand: "In traffic law, "road" means, in addition to formed public roads, "a beach, and a place to which the public has access, whether as of right or not." Therefore, the Act applies to a wide range of locations, and this may include supermarket carparks or other customer carparks."
Hello Kewlkiwi,
Unfortunately, in New Zealand, police officers (or Council Traffic Wardens) cannot issue parking tickets in supermarket parking lots or other similar lots (such as Warehouse, Briscoes, etc), as these are in fact on private property, even though the public has access to them. The only way Traffic Wardens of Police Officers can ticket (for parking offenses) is if the facility owner invites them and asks them to do so.
I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous website.
Bob, it is interesting that you use the word "ridiculous". I can only assume that you find the site itself preposterous as few would find the content illustrating inconsiderate people preventing disabled people from parking to be laughable.
Thank you for your comment, however, as constructive criticism is always welcome
Bob,are you by any chance a transgressor?Is that why you think it is ridiculous?
I have just been made aware of this site and think it is fantastic, I always try my utmost to embarrass the ethically and morally handicapped that park illegally/inconsideratly in the few mobility parks we have.
I have found that even if you raise the issue with the staff of supermarkets etc, all you get is "its not my job"... the other big problem is that for some ludicrous reason the average NZer think we are only mobily disadvantaged and requiring designated parking from 9am to 5pm and Monday to Friday, and apparently we get public holidays off too!!! I often point out that the mobilty parks are for people with physical disabilities and not mental ones, but suppose its not unusual that they fail get my point...
I am sure if I hear "I'm only going to be a minute" again I am going to use one of my crutches to make human lolipop...!!!
Keep up the good work.
Al
I am sorry. This site may seem ridiculous to those in the UK, NZ and Australia, as your laws don't allow the police to take any action on private property.
I live in the United States, where the police are specifically empowered to enforce three vehicle laws on private property. Driving Under the Influence, Reckless Driving, and Handicap Parking Violations. Here in Arizona, this is covered under Arizona Revised Statutes 28-844. Some cities have their own ordinances, allowing hte officer to cite under either (which decides where the majority of the money from the fine goes.)
Of course, enforcement can be spotty. In Casa Grande, the police are so gung ho, they will cite when there is no violation. In Coolidge, we have been told by a Coolidge officer that they are not allowed to write ANY parking tickets as they do not have the right citation forms. This is nonsense. I used to be a deputy sheriff, and wrote many, many parking citations (mostly HCP) using the same citation forms as for any other traffic offense.
Our local TV news stations recently had a Maricopa County Sheriff's car parked in a HC space. the fine in Maricopa County for a HCP violation is $260 US.
In the US, businesses that have parking lots are required to have handicap spaces for a certain percentage of them, according to the total number of parking spaces, and the enforcement is given by the U.S. Federal government (Department of Justice).
Especially in the case of the UK, you guys have some of the greatest ideas when it comes to police work and traffic laws. Why your policemen are handcuffed when it comes to enforcing such an important law for the people who need it is something I can't figure out. I have never figured out why you drive on the wrong side of the road. (LOL) Get Parliament to empower your police to stop the abuse of handicap parking by those who don't need it. I am going to court to file a Writ of Mandamus on the Coolidge Police Department. This is a legal proceeding where someone accuses the police of not doing their job. Usually, the department is ordered by the court to begin enforcing something they have not done to that point.
Hello Allen, the site doesn't seem ridiculous to folks in the UK and NZ. You can look in the section on this site for New Zealand and you'll see many entries The fact that police officers aren't allowed to monitor parking on private property in fact makes the site even more necessary.
I wish you luck with your Writ of Mandamus :)
Here in NZ although it is the owners responsibility to monitor(or not) the appropriate usage of the ir mobility parks the owners do have the power to authorise the police to come onto their property(carpark) and prosecute the violations, they(the owners) usually cant be bothered as it takes too much of their precious time.
The police are also allowed to follow a suspect(hot pursuit... at any speed) onto private property and question and possibly arrest a driver for all the usualls like DUI, being a speed demon or even running over a nun...
It should not matter if you can be given a ticket or not. The people that take up handicap parking spots that are not handicapped should at the very least be embarrassed for being so uncaring. Are they so calloused they could care less that another human being needs the space because they are physically unable to get around good. If you are so inconsiderate of someone trying to maintain their independence by being able to get around to the best of their ability then you are a cold hearted, self centered individual. The saying what goes around comes around, Beware Karma will come and bite you right on your A$$(the one you parked in the disabled space)