You're bus-ted! Parking warden slaps ticket on a bus in Tenterden

Wealdsman wrote:

A sorry example of how buses are no longer seen as providing an essential service. Not so long ago, they were important enough to be allocated a space in the High Street as large as a Waitrose Store!

08 Nov 2010 4:44 PM

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Simon (another bus driver) wrote:

As a friend and colleague of the driver that was ticketed I fully sympathies with him. Every day we put up with people parking cars on bus stops and then getting abuse for asking them to move. Most of the time we cannot get to the specially provided, raised kerbs at maidstone hospital to drop off disabled, injured and wheelchair bound passengers because inconsiderate car drivers can be bothered to use one of the hundreds of parking spaces or drop of point right outside the front door. We put put up with abuse and threatening behaviour on a daily basis just for trying to do our job. And is anything done about car drivers parking on the bus stops, using bus lanes or travelling up roads specifically designated for bus. NO. Even the AA driving school regularly park on bus stops to talk to their. pupils. So now their even taught that its ok. Can cars park on bus stops. YES. Can buses park on bus stops. only if they want to get a ticket. People say we are a miserable bunch. Is it any wonder.

11 Sep 2010 10:25 PM

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karen wrote:

as an ex 295/297 driver we were expected to pay for parking in the coach park behind the vine in tenterden or park outside the town. where were we supposed to get food drink and use the loo. our employer wouldn't pay for our parking.not everyone can go to the loo on demand or wait sometimes two hours or more.also not all the traffic wardens in tenterden are bad. i know 1 who is very helpful( well done Adam)

11 Sep 2010 10:13 PM

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?????? wrote:

@Steve Hufton,

I totally agree, I was once a Traffic Warden for Greenwich Council and I was instructed by my boss to leave the Mayors car alone no matter where it was parked. We were also targeted to get at least 10 tickets a day and if we regularly got less than say 15 we would have to explain ourselves. I was not really cut out for it and let a lot of people off and only targetted people I felt really deserved it (parking in diabled bays, causing obstructions etc) I didn't last that long and regularly came back with less than 7 tickets! But I felt that I had done a good job and not just given tickets out to cars regardless of the circumstances.

Mayors cars should be treated the same as every one else and Bus Drivers should be given a little lee-way when it comes to convenience breaks, discipline this "jobsworth"!!

10 Sep 2010 7:04 PM

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Roger Davies wrote:

Buses to Tenterden have stopped in the main street since the early 1920's, indeed there used to be a depot and office there. Why this is suddenly a problem is beyond comprehension but if it is, the correct way to deal with it is to speak to the company not pick on drivers who have much to contend with already. Anyway, given the financial crisis we are in, it is unlikely places like Tenterden will have much if any bus service in the future.

10 Sep 2010 10:59 AM

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Steve Hufton wrote:

Quite typical of stupid councils and their employee Parking Wardens. Rarely are tickets issued for real obstructions but minor parking offences. It seems that Mayor vehicles and Council CCTV cars can park anywhere they like.

If only the streets were policed in the same way parking is enforced, there would be no litter, spitting, muggings etc.

This is about money and not keeping traffic flowing, we all know it so why wont the jobsworths admit it, these idoits would not survive in a real job.

09 Sep 2010 10:47 AM

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Long Suffering of Maidstone wrote:

I agree with the Lady about the 295/297 Service. This allows in the timetable at times some 10 minutes to allow the change-over of drivers, destination blinds etc at The Vine, Tenterden. In future do we instruct our drivers to drive straight through Tenterden? It is a derelict town anyway, past it's sell by date!

08 Sep 2010 8:56 PM

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Sam wrote:

More like that of Genghis Khan't!

07 Sep 2010 5:23 PM

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Kevin Fletcher wrote:

Was this the work off Attilla the Hen

06 Sep 2010 12:47 AM

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Catford Cat wrote:

re "HOWEVER I recently saw a hearse, parked outside a church, waiting for a coffin, being towed-away by Shoreditch Council."

- it was part of filming for a comedy, and has circulated the internet as an urban myth ever since. see message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=57507

As for this - there is legally a difference between a 'bus stop' (where buses should only stop for long enough to pick up and set down passengers) and a 'bus stand' (where buses may park for a while - e.g. at a terminus where it's reasonable for a bus driver to have enough time to go to the loo and so on.)

There are bus stops where buses may cause a slight inconvenience if they stop there for a moment or two, but where it's not desirable for them to stop there for any length of time.



If this stop is used as a terminus, it really ought to be a 'bus stand'. if it's not, then the bus company and council have failed to talk to each other...

05 Sep 2010 9:03 PM

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David Johnson wrote:

I hope the Traffic Warden was pleased and is he on a bonus scheme.. I hope he does not have to use the bus.

05 Sep 2010 5:25 PM

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Bus driver girl wrote:

I use the toilet at break times yes. That's because I'm not wandering off for coffee all the time!!! You should try it 'dear'!!!

05 Sep 2010 4:32 PM

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Interested Citizen wrote:

Tenterden. Hardly a seething Metropolis, is it? Nice place, misguided parking attendants. I thought the use of public transport was being encouraged by central government, seems like that message hasn't filtered down to a local level......

05 Sep 2010 3:47 PM

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Robster wrote:

a good stiff Traffic Warden?

04 Sep 2010 7:54 PM

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Louise wrote:

Bus driver girl, do you use the toilet at set times too? Is that also set out in your behavioural instruction manual?
Lighten-up dear, we know what YOU need...............

04 Sep 2010 5:08 PM

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Bus driver girl wrote:

I think it was quite right! I've seen enough bus drivers take the mick and go for coffees, food etc 'because they can'! It's a bus stop to set down and pick up passengers. Not a stop for them to go for breaks and walks. They are given their tea breaks and lunches like everybody else so why can't they behave like everybody else!? If they are still sat in the bus waiting for other passengers and to depart at their alloted time then fair play but other than that......!! I abide by the rules, so why not the rest of you?!!!

04 Sep 2010 4:10 PM

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Tom wrote:

I am not surprised by this I drive an Hearse and a traffic warden in Ashford asked me "can you park round the corner and carry the box round there" I said no the deceased weighs 18 stone "he replied "well there are two of you".

04 Sep 2010 1:44 PM

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againstlazynonworkers wrote:

a effing joke this. this is the problem with some of THIS COUNTRIES people in power. braindead some of them. the person (the traffic warden) who dpne this should be sacked! if your reading this ''the thick as eff traffic warden'' your a proper mug....

04 Sep 2010 11:07 AM

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Martin wrote:

Common sense goes out the window when you have performance targets that are detrimental to the job, the tick in the box overrides decency and common sense.

04 Sep 2010 10:28 AM

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Mark wrote:

@James Trent: You are being very pretentious and naïve when you say "YOU voted for them". Some didn't. I suppose you didn't. It's someone else's fault. Remind me: what exactly did the "others" do better? Doesn't this kind of thing happen in towns with Labour Councils?
You'll never be content.

04 Sep 2010 10:04 AM

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Stuart wrote:

Ashford Borough Council know when not to comment for" Legal Reasons", (very sharp of them)but can't train their traffic wardens in common sense. The buck stops with the motorist.
HOWEVER I recently saw a hearse, parked outside a church, waiting for a coffin, being towed-away by Shoreditch Council.
Do traffic wardens have to have A-levels? If so what grade? 'E' perhaps?

04 Sep 2010 8:16 AM

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James Trent wrote:

There is a common theme with these bullying, overbearing councils. Extracting money from anyone for anything and transferring it to the already bloated public sector. An "end to the war on the motorist" said David Cameron. I am seeing the exact opposite as councils drunk on power become ever more mendacious. Still, it's what you voted for isn't it? You know what they're like and still you vote for more of the same. Don't be surprised when they revert to form.

03 Sep 2010 9:43 PM

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bob wrote:

im a bus driver and do i need new glasses because im sure i can see BUS STOP printed in a yellow box does this not mean that a bus has the right to be there and yes im a bus driver

03 Sep 2010 9:41 PM

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Bob wrote:

Ashford Borough Council at it's finest. They do not have a grain of common sense, they just want to make as much revenue as possible.

I hope the driver will contest this under the human rights act, he has been ticketed for taking a safety break.

03 Sep 2010 9:10 PM

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joe wrote:

Parking is easy. All you have to do is by a dust cart ot taxi and you can park on white lines in middle of road, hold up traffic for as long as you like. Block peoples drives just park where you like. I once had atraffic warden tell me to move, and then he promptly let his mate reverse in to the vacated space.

03 Sep 2010 7:07 PM

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Robster wrote:

Most people in Tenterden know the Traffic Warden. His cap is too big on his head so he tucks his ears inside it. What an a hole!
They all love him there though, but, apparently not the Bus drivers any more.

03 Sep 2010 5:57 PM

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suffering driver wrote:

I love it! Some bus drivers think the rules of the road don't apply to them. They do.

03 Sep 2010 4:39 PM

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Bus driver wrote:

I to am a bus driver and had many traffic wardens tell me to move when parked at a bus stop.

I have had a traffic warden on a sunday tell me to move my bus out the car park as he was starting to write me a ticket.. I only parked there as i only had 5mins to dash to the toilet.. tenderton traffic wardens are the worse in kent

03 Sep 2010 3:46 PM

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Dennis Alexander wrote:

Really hope that this driver's employer supports him in this arrogant 'Jobsworth' display.
Warden obviously needs 'coaching' in basic common sense and 'fare' play.
I would like to issue the warden a ticket of my own - a single to Thurso.

03 Sep 2010 3:10 PM

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Take Back the Country! wrote:

The traffic warden is clearly a mental incompetent and should be sacked immediately along with the 'council source'. Blair and Brown really went to far with extending state authority.

03 Sep 2010 2:59 PM

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Sue Ferguson wrote:

So all the buses and coaches that are stationary at that particular bus stop for longer than is necessary to set down or pick up passengers, say a minute, are all illegally parked. What about the buses that are timetabled to wait at that stop for a period of time, for example the 295 arrives at 14.05 and is not timetabled to depart until 14.08. Is this illegal? And what is supposed to happen when the bus arrives at the bus stop early? Is it supposed to leave the bus stop early rather than wait for its due departure time?

03 Sep 2010 2:57 PM

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R DiMascio wrote:

I feel so sorry for this bus driver, these despots should think twice before jeopardising someones livelyhood , how would they like it if somebody did it to them.

03 Sep 2010 2:15 PM

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Becky Long wrote:

As a London bus driver I get out of the cab to grab a drink or use the facilities on a regular basis, Buses are not like ordinary vehicles you cant just put them in the multi story! Bus stops are the only place a driver can safely put there vehicle to gain much needed refreshment. This is another example of lunacy and over zealous traffic wardens.

03 Sep 2010 1:38 PM

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