[unalteu]

Hey guys .

few weeks ago i was on a little cycle when i passed through a small square that i always go on and every other cyclist going on that square does not dismount ( going on google maps using street view can see it was a street there ; and recently made it pedestrian)
my point is everyone is cycling ,and while “the nothing better to do douche” officer was writing the fine there where about 5 cyclists going past us on their bikes which i pointed out, theres only a very small inconspicuous sign with the cycle in a red square thing .

Now the fine came with my last name misspelled CAZARCIUL instead of LAZARCIUC and DOB april instead of september

needeless to say i dont want to pay 75 £ for this nonsense ; as in UC also ..and its utterly ridiculous
what would you guys suggest ? fight it ; ignore it ..or .. its a “fixed penalty” notice
 

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5448316,-0.1038554,127a,35y,32.45h,45t/data=!3m1!1e3

the pedestrian area from macdonalds toward the tavern

Topic

[Captain Badger]

With a wrong name and a wrong

With a wrong name and a wrong DOB it looks like they have randomly dropped a demand through your letter box.

[wycombewheeler]

HoarseMann wrote:

I’d pay it. You’ve opened the letter, so that kind of negates it not being addressed to you (it’s illegal to open mail addressed to someone else!).

well the name on the envelope could have been a typo, but clearly the DOB means they are looking for someone else.

[HoarseMann]

Yep, I think you might get

Yep, I think you might get away with it if it had been a speed camera and arrived out of the blue. But having had a conversation with the enforcement officer, the court would be in no doubt you were expecting something to arrive in the post.

If the council have your details at that address somewhere else, like council tax, or electoral roll, I suspect ignoring it will trigger them to issue it again in the correct name. It’s unlikely to go away.

[hawkinspeter]

HoarseMann wrote:

I’d pay it. You’ve opened the letter, so that kind of negates it not being addressed to you (it’s illegal to open mail addressed to someone else!).

Just ignore them. Throw the letter in the bin, so there’ll be no proof that you opened it (apart from this forum post, maybe delete this too for extra paranoia points). If it’s the incorrect name, then I can’t see how they can penalise you. If they send further letters, send them back unopened with a “not known at this address” written on the outside.

Edit: Just read a couple of similar questions and answers about speeding fines and misspelt names. It seems that courts will more or less ignore minor mistakes in the name as long as it appears to address the correct individual and as you opened the letter, you recognised that it was addressing you.

You could delay them a bit, but it’s probably best to just pay the fine and move on unless you fancy fighting bureaucracy.

[wycombewheeler]

I’d either ignore it, or

I’d either ignore it, or write back to them and say that person does not live at your address.

[HoarseMann]

I’d pay it. You’ve opened the

I’d pay it. You’ve opened the letter, so that kind of negates it not being addressed to you (it’s illegal to open mail addressed to someone else!).

You could have a case to argue poor signage. There is a blue cycle sign to the right which is intended for the cycle lane, but could be mistaken to mean the right side of the paved area.

https://goo.gl/maps/KZJQNQpBNRNuzZn4A

But can you be bothered with the hassle for 75 quid?

I once got a parking fine in a bay that they claimed was for loading, but not marked as such. I complained, but to no avail, so paid it. A year later I got a refund, as someone had contested it in court and won. All previous fines were deemed illegal by the judge and the council had to pay them back!

If it was the police, you might get away with it. I know from a close pass incident, when they didn’t get a response to the NIP, they were going to close the case. The officer I spoke to said it would be an inappropriate use of resources to investigate further. I really had to argue for them to chase it up! I suspect a council enforcement officer would not let it go so easily, as they don’t have much else to do.

[Sriracha]

This might help…
This [i]might[/i] help…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58158820

[Anonymous]

Why would you have to pay a

Why would you have to pay a fine addressed to a completely different person with a different date of birth? No way I’d be paying it.

[AlsoSomniloquism]

Hmmm, the street view you

Hmmm, the street view you linked to seems be way off however I scrolled down on the description and can see the area. Now first of all, I thought the area was quite wide and why not make it a shared path.
Then I realised the road recent;y changed layout and it actually has some really nice separated infra* which is better then the murder strips approaching and leaving  the area. I’m also guessing the ped area is because the stations could mean lots of peds in one gaggle. 

but back to your actual question, should you pay it. Well you need to be ultra sure that you could ignore it under these circumstances as the fines go up the longer you don’t pay. To be ultra sure, you need proper legal advice so would need to pay a solicitor to confirm. Even then, the council could still take you to court over it so more costs if you need to defend it 9don’t defend yourself). There might be an argument over lack of adequate signage, but then they do have them either end and again, you would need to be sure of this with legal help.
You normally always have an option to contend these with the council which means stopping the clock, however they would probably just re-issue the fine under the new name and hope you don’t think the original was worthless. (For example many years ago I parked badly at a station and got ticketed. However there was no ticket on my car and the first I knew about it was when the letter stating the fine was doubled hit the mat. I didn’t realise I could refuse to pay as no initial ticket and only needed to pay with visual evidence that ticket has been issued then so only argued for the reduction as no ticket was on my car. They strangely jumped at the chance. )

So to me your choices are:-

Pay it now at £75 and take it as a learning that you now know ped zones could be enforced st any moment so avoid them if possible.

Don’t pay it now, but be prepared to pay a solicitor for representation or a higher fine in future.

BTW the argument that everyone does it and other seem to get away with it seems like one that could be used with 80% of cars speed, but you are the one that has been stopped by the passing Police. Just luck of the draw so to speak. If there was 10 people ticketing instead of one, they would have been stopped more then likely. TBH the better argument is how did those scooters for the McD’s takeaway people (I assume) get to the positions shown on street view and if driven on the pavement, they should be done.

* at least one way, the other does mean stopping at several lights if priority signalling isn’t give to cyclists and I doubt it would be. So cyclists going from station to McD’s might be more tempted to shortcut. 

 

[Sniffer]

Not sure the Internet will
Not sure the Internet will give you the best advice. However, I doubt Nick Freeman would pay his.

[lonpfrb]

Since the law requires
Since the law requires accuracy, certainly on identity, the notice is invalid.

[Author]

Replies