A new parking code of practice in England and Wales is being drawn up by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that will see private parking fines capped at £50.
The new changes will mean that debt collection fees for late tickets will be banned, terms and conditions for parking must be displayed more clearly, drivers will need a 10 minute grace period for a late fine as well as a five minute grace period if they change their mind about parking.
MP Neil O’Brien MP said on the plans, “Private firms issue roughly 22,000 parking tickets every day, often adopting a system of misleading and confusing signage, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.
“The new code of practice will set out a clear vision with the interests of safe motorists at its heart, while cracking down on the worst offenders who put other people in danger and hinder our emergency services from carrying out their duties.”
The plans come after a private consultation on private parking charges in 2020.
On the plans, the president of The AA Edmund King said: “They will give better protection to drivers. For too long, those caught by private parking firms simply pay the charge to get rid of it. Thankfully these days are numbered.
“Drivers should feel confident that having a single code of practice and a new appeals charter will give them confidence to appeal and be properly heard.
“We are so pleased that honest mistakes, like mistyping the car registration into the machine, will now be automatically cancelled.”
In other driving news, The Highway Code has been updated following a public consultation on how to improve road safety for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.
After receiving 20,000 responses, eight new changes came into force on the 29th of January including an updated hierarchy of road users that puts those who are most at risk on the roads at the top.
Cyclists have also been given new rules to follow and more freedom with their lane usage and positioning.
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