London motorists get an ‘order of the boot’ and pay dearly for it

Press, 1 February 1986, Page 19

London motorists get an ‘order of the boot’ and pay dearly for it

New Zealand motorists can breath again; it would appear they are not likely to suffer froin the “Denver Boot” like their British counterparts. Its use here has been suggested as an option by the Justice Department But Superintendent Phil Wright, the Ministry of Transport head of enforcement development, and the Opposition spokesman on transport, Mr Winston Peters, are not among the clamp’s followers. Mr Wright does not think they would do anything for road safety. “A priority for hazardous or obstructive cars is to move them, not clamp them down and keep them in the way,” he says. While Mr Peters adds: “Parking violations in New Zealand , are not such a great problem that these Draconian measures are warranted.” ROBIN CHARTERIS reports from London on their effect on British motorists.

If it were to be the “order of the boot” for New Zealand motorists, they would have to start pulling their socks up. Wheel clamps, otherwise known as "boots” in London, send errant drivers here into fits of uncontrollable anger verging on apoplexy — and they have cost them millions of dollars in fines and lost time, too, over the last three years. Just negotiating the traffic in search of a parking space in London’s West End can be trouble enough. . Parking on a yellow, line or overstaying your meter; limit to find your front right wheel “booted” with an immovable giant clamp, is almost the last straw.

The extra wisp of pain that finally breaks the back is the fee to have your vehicle released — a whopping $94.50 made up of a clamp charge and a parking fine. From the end of February the fine will rise another $5. Besides all that aggravation, the overparker may have to wait several >hours before the clamp is removed and the car can be driven, away.

Wheel clamps have been in use in central London, where traffic authorities estimate there are some 350,000 illegal parking acts each day, for almost three years.

They have played a large part in freeing up traffic flow and allowing motorists at least the possibility of manoeuvring through crowded streets and sometimes even finding a meter. Introduced for a two-year trial in 1983, the wheel clamps — and motorists’ fear of them — speeded up traffic flow by between eight and 14 per cent in the first six months of use, according to the Government’s transport and road research laboratory. Traffic speeds in the zones in which clamps were used were higher than those outside, despite an increase in the number of vehicles.

Reduction in journey times associated with reduced parking on the streets has given a theoretical saving in motoring costs of about $48.6 million a year, the laboratory reports. Some 22,000 vehicles were clamped in the first six months, then 90,000 in the first year, mainly for parking on yellow lines, in special residents’ bays, or overstaying at meters in a 12 square mile experimental area of the West End.

Motorists paid out $7 million in fines and penalties in the first 12 months of their use, and more than double that in the second year. '

Before clamping was introduced, parking on yellow lines was widespread, nearly 22,000 vehicles being illegally parked at midday every day. The introduction of squads of “hooters” — Metropolitan Police teams patrolling the central area in bright yellow vans who, on spotting parking infringements, leap out, write a ticket, and proceed to immobilise the vehicle — caused the illegal parking numbers to plummet

Drivers would find a notice on their windscreen telling them to go to the appropriate car pound, pay the clamp fee and the fixed penalty, then return to their car and await the arrival of the police squad to undo the clamp. The average waiting time for unclamping has been 85 minutes, but waits of up to four and five hours at peak periods are not unknown. That penalty is often more fearsome in a busy city than the monetary costs involved.

Clamping is not used for dangerously or obstructively parked vehicles. Then the police squads tow or carry the vehicles away. Vehicles impounded in this manner cost their owners a minimum of $230 to obtain, plus transport costs to the police pound. Later this year, the police will

involve private operators in “booting,” a move which has already met with howls of dismay by motorists. They fear that private enterprise may be even more tyrannical.. The private operators will have radio links with police and traffic wardens and will cover a much wider area. of the city, f They will also release 50 police for street duty. Wheel clamps are being con-

sidered for all cities and towns throughout Britain with parking meters, and could be in nationwide use later this year.

Initially, an American-made clamp, known as the “Denver Boot” was used, out the clamps are now made in Britain at the rate of more than 500 a week.

It is said to be 1 impossible to release them from a vehicle without the proper key, although 22-year-old Lindon Lewis, of

Wandsworth, found a way shortly after their inception. He jacked up his car and removed the whole front wheel. He put the wheel in the back and drove away with the spare in its place. Then he used the bright-yellow "boot,” still attached to the wheel, as a lamp standard in his council flat. Police have redesigned the clamps so that front wheels can

no longer be removed. One of the best results of the clamps, though, has been their deterent effect. The highly-vis-ible example of a clamped car brings grins of derision to the faces of passers-by, while the sight of a “boot” squad entering a street immediately ensures panic will follow. With private enterprise on the scene this year in London, more than 100,000 cars are expected to

be clamped and perhaps as many as 200,000 towed away. So far, only one car has proved immune to the “boot.” The authorities will not say what make of car it is t- but if you consider the way in which a certain Continental car lowers ; itself by settling on its suspension over ; a :period of time when . halted,' ; you may come up with the; answer.’’-’ Footnote: The; answer — a ■■ Citroen?,' - - ■