you should not park here (1 Viewer)

bernardfeay

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We always park wild. We do have the slight worry sometimes that people might try to move us on and that brings up my suggestion.

If somebody did knock on the door and say we were were not allowed to park I would have to come up with a plausible explanation why it was impractical to do so.

As it turns out I had a very genuine reason very recently. I don't know why, but I had a very sore knee, sitting in traffic shoving the clutch in and out made it worse and worse. I had my surgical knee brace with me and was very pleased to get off the road.

Of course nobody challenged me, but I felt really comfortable with my excuse that "I have been sat in traffic, shoving my clutch in and out for hours, and I just have to rest."

I always have a few more beers in my belly than the law prefers so having a valid reason not to move on helps me relax.

Have any of you got equally good reasons for staying put and not risking driving with beer in the blood stream?
 

chatter

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and if the police did knock on when you were parked where perhaps you shouldnt and they smelt alcohol i dont think they would accept your excuse and they would probably try and do you for being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence as well and they could insist that someone moves the vehicle from where it was parked
 

Jim

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Being over the limit in a public place does run the risk of being drunk in charge which carries exactly the same fines and ban as drunk driving. So I reckon your only excuse if asked to move on would be that you don't have your keys. (AFAIK You must have these to be in charge) You lost them, managed to get in, and are waiting for replacements to be delivered. As long as the keys are not found. this might raise the chances of you getting away with it from no chance to slim ::bigsmile:

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slobadoberbob

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Not having the keys is not a defence

Plenty of cases have proceed without the keys...I even had to defend one in a pub car park... Eastbourne Mags court... He was still found guilty... He had no keys on him and he was in the passenger seat when plod turned up.

Never say never

Best not to drink while in control of a motor vehicle in a public place.
Bob
 

GJH

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Surely the solution is simple isn't it? Make sure, before stopping, that the activity proposed (whether simple parking for a short while or habitation) is allowed, rather than try to come up with some excuse if challenged.

One of the main factors which inflames public opinion against motorhomes and mitigates against local authorities making facilities available is that some people camp just wherever and whenever they like without thought for anyone else or bothering about breaking the law.

And before anyone tries to come up with the "we've paid our road tax and we're only parking" line, we all know that there is a difference between parking and habitation so that doesn't wash.

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JJ

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Can one of you legal chappies please tell me how you can be "done" for being drunk in charge of a vehicle if you have no keys and you are sitting in the passenger seat...

JJ :Cool:
 

haganap

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Can I ask something then?

How do the Gypsies get away with it?

Is it an offence to not move your vechile? Much would all depend on where you are parked surely?

If you were pulled up in a Tesco car park, were asked to move, refused, what could be done?
At worse your trespassing which I understand is a civil matter unless your entering the building or causing criminal damage. Therefore, to be moved on or expected to be moved on would in fact take a visit to the magistrates. Which of course would not bother you as you would be moving on anyway in the morning.

You can be as pixxed as you like driving around your own garden so if your in a private place your safe,
It must be proved that you intended to drive your vehicle on a public road whilst under the influence of Alcohol. Any good solicitor would be able to prove there was no intent in driving if you were laying in bed in a vehicle designed for sleeping in. Any police officer would know he was on deadly ground even contemplating an arrest for such an offence.

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GJH

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You partly answered your own question regarding Gypsies, Paul. It can take a LA so long to get an eviction order that they are ready to move on anyway. Gypsies & Irish Travellers also get away with it because of their racial group status (a bit complicated to go into here but Google brings up plenty of info).
 

darklord

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If you OWN the vehicle, if you are the registered keeper, if you are the ONLY or MAIN name on the insurance policy for that car,.....then I think you would be hard pressed to avoid being seen as "in charge", the law may be an ass, but it aint a ferkin idiot, ALL b***sh*t excuses for rendering yourself unfit through drink or drugs have been heard, and thankfully dissmissed. Nice retribution though for retards who think its OK to D&D, having a £30.000 motorhome sitting on their drive that they are unlikely to be able to drive again.
 

Jim

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If you OWN the vehicle, if you are the registered keeper, if you are the ONLY or MAIN name on the insurance policy for that car,.....then I think you would be hard pressed to avoid being seen as "in charge", the law may be an ass, but it aint a ferkin idiot, ALL b***sh*t excuses for rendering yourself unfit through drink or drugs have been heard, and thankfully dissmissed. Nice retribution though for retards who think its OK to D&D, having a £30.000 motorhome sitting on their drive that they are unlikely to be able to drive again.

You are right, their is no excuse for putting yourself in that position. If you are on public property with a chance of being moved on it is not sensible to drink.

However the law has been proved to be an idiot on many occasions, most days. :Smile: But, there has to be room for interpretation of our laws which is why most of them are tempered/enhanced with case law. So for "in charge".. Let's say that after a drunken domestic someone decides to sleep it off in the motorhome, and are subsequently awoken by plod should they be charged with anything? I think not.

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Geo

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You are right, their is no excuse for putting yourself in that position. If you are on public property with a chance of being moved on it is not sensible to drink.

However the law has been proved to be an idiot on many occasions, most days. :Smile: But, there has to be room for interpretation of our laws which is why most of them are tempered/enhanced with case law. So for "in charge".. Let's say that after a drunken domestic someone decides to sleep it off in the motorhome, and are subsequently awoken by plod should they be charged with anything? I think not.

Yes
Desertion in the face of the enemy:thumb:
 

slobadoberbob

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he refused to give a specimen of breath

Glad I never hired your services Bob:Eeek: :ROFLMAO:

He refused to give a specimen of breath and the best part of 7 hours he still was not fit to understand the issues so he was in the end done under refusing to provide. So there was no defence.

I had another that was pushing a car through a window.. also no key issue.. it was a case of who was in charge of the vehicle.


There are many reported cases of drivers being charged under drink drive .. it is the issue of who is in charge of the vehicle... not to do with the keys.

I doubt JIM I could pull your rear end from the fire:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:


Bob:winky:
 

slobadoberbob

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same as riding a bike or horse - no keys - simples

Can one of you legal chappies please tell me how you can be "done" for being drunk in charge of a vehicle if you have no keys and you are sitting in the passenger seat...

JJ :Cool:

Do not tell me JJ you have a set of keys for that horse you have or a set for the solex?

there is no requirement of having keys.. it is who is in control of the vehicle that matters and as said you can be charged for being drunk using a bike..

It all comes down to the circumstances and where the vehicle is and the intention. Note INTENTION...

Much more common than you might think... bread and butter for criminal lawyers...


Bob:winky:

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thehutchies

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you can be charged for being drunk using a bike..

That happened to a schoolmate of mine!

We were on our way home from the Friday night school disco, thoroughly hammered, and he went tearing down the hill, lost control and was found in the middle of his neighbour's prize flower bed, fast asleep amid the devastated gladioli.

He got a £20 fine and the nickname 'Petal' for the rest of his schooldays. ::bigsmile:
 

yorkshirepudding

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Gypsies/Travellers get away with it, and many other things too, because the serving of papers and other administration is too great an obstacle for the boys in blue. A police sergeant friend of mine told me that years ago. In order to move the off his patch he and a colleague used to hide in bushes and throw stones at their caravans. They soon moved on.
You didn't hear that from me by the way.:winky:

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JJ

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Do not tell me JJ you have a set of keys for that horse you have or a set for the solex?

there is no requirement of having keys.. it is who is in control of the vehicle that matters and as said you can be charged for being drunk using a bike..

It all comes down to the circumstances and where the vehicle is and the intention. Note INTENTION...

Much more common than you might think... bread and butter for criminal lawyers...


Bob:winky:

I believe you can be charged with being drunk and disorderly sitting in a wheel barrow...

but...

I (probably wrongly) thought we were talking about being drunk in charge of a vehicle with all the trouble that that might lead to with your driving license...

My initial understanding (no doubt wrong too) of your post was that your client was found to be drunk in charge of a vehicle when he had no keys to that vehicle and he was sitting in the passenger seat...

I now realise that was not the case...

JJ :Cool:

If my lawyer couldn't question the phrase "being in charge of a vehicle" when that vehicle was a car in a car park and I did not have any keys to the same vehicle I would think he was a very poor lawyer...

The fact that I might have a Solex or a horse (or a wheel barrow) would have absolutely nothing to do with this case under discussion and if brought up in a court would be shot down rapidly with a shout of "irrelevant My Lord"

 

slobadoberbob

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sorry JJ mistook the Hymer for a cart horse

I believe you can be charged with being drunk and disorderly sitting in a wheel barrow...

but...

I (probably wrongly) thought we were talking about being drunk in charge of a vehicle with all the trouble that that might lead to with your driving license...

My initial understanding (no doubt wrong too) of your post was that your client was found to be drunk in charge of a vehicle when he had no keys to that vehicle and he was sitting in the passenger seat...

I now realise that was not the case...

JJ :Cool:


If my lawyer couldn't question the phrase "being in charge of a vehicle" when that vehicle was a car in a car park and I did not have any keys to the same vehicle I would think he was a very poor lawyer...

The fact that I might have a Solex or a horse (or a wheel barrow) would have absolutely nothing to do with this case under discussion and if brought up in a court would be shot down rapidly with a shout of "irrelevant My Lord"


Sorry JJ mistook the Hymer for an old cart horse:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:.. a public car park is all that is needed. Now what is a public car park? while Tesco's car park is private, if traffic is granted a licence (law talk) to go across that, then police could say it was not on private land as such. That is why often pub car parks have been the target of police in the past. It all depends on the circumstances.

I defended a driver who pushed a car on to a garage forecourt arm through window (no insurance issue)... the argument was .. private or public right of way (via licence). Police still prosecuted, but the bench did not like the argument used and the case was dismissed.

So do not presume a car park like Tesco is safe to have a drink in... it is not. you do not have to have the keys.. it is 'being in charge' what is being in charge? that is the question my son.. as I-ROBOT said..... every case is different. But as a rule of thumb not good to drink and try and sleep it off.

Before we get the old chestnut of being on a camp site.. that is stretching the issue to the original post.

Sorry JJ to call you beloved Hymer a cart horse.. but I needed an example.. used the Solex.. but you let me down on a come back:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: but you know what I mean.. vehicle does not have to have keys.. is a horse a vehicle? again another question for another day.

Bob:winky:
 

Chris

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In a past life I used to keep a boat at a marina on the River Medway.

One night late a plod came up to the boat to ask if I could take him down river because some boys had been spotted in a small dinghy and he needed to check they were safe. I said that I would do but I was very drunk and he wandered off to speak to someone else.

Thinking about it I guess he could have prosecuted for that?

He might have had he realised I was more stoned than drunk::bigsmile:

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slobadoberbob

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True treacle

In a past life I used to keep a boat at a marina on the River Medway.

One night late a plod came up to the boat to ask if I could take him down river because some boys had been spotted in a small dinghy and he needed to check they were safe. I said that I would do but I was very drunk and he wandered off to speak to someone else.

Thinking about it I guess he could have prosecuted for that?

He might have had he realised I was more stoned than drunk::bigsmile:

true treacle.. very true.. as you know pilots have been charged for being 'in charge' of an aircraft.. same for ships (read boats)... it all depends on the circumstances.

Were you Rochester or down at Wateringbury?... I had one there for a while then had it down in Brighton Marina... use to love boats, but Sue hated them.. so had to give up.. hence we went more to the motor home direction.


Bob:Cool:
 

Chris

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Were you Rochester or down at Wateringbury?... I had one there for a while then had it down in Brighton Marina... use to love boats, but Sue hated them.. so had to give up.. hence we went more to the motor home direction.


Bob:Cool:

We were in Rochester Bob. I lived near there for about 5 years.
 

JJ

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Jeeeeez...

Lawyer speak is more wriggly, slippery and cunning than a jar full of jellied eels writhing around in warm butter with a bit of banana skin thrown in and standing on a shelf in the room of the head tutor of Cunning at Brasenose College, Oxford...

JJ :Cool:

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scousebird

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We always park wild. We do have the slight worry sometimes that people might try to move us on and that brings up my suggestion.

If somebody did knock on the door and say we were were not allowed to park I would have to come up with a plausible explanation why it was impractical to do so.

As it turns out I had a very genuine reason very recently. I don't know why, but I had a very sore knee, sitting in traffic shoving the clutch in and out made it worse and worse. I had my surgical knee brace with me and was very pleased to get off the road.

Of course nobody challenged me, but I felt really comfortable with my excuse that "I have been sat in traffic, shoving my clutch in and out for hours, and I just have to rest."

I always have a few more beers in my belly than the law prefers so having a valid reason not to move on helps me relax.

Have any of you got equally good reasons for staying put and not risking driving with beer in the blood stream?

Back to the original post, surely if the land owner/police ask you to move on they want you to do just that and you shouldn't be there. Would you see it the same way if someone turned up and just parked on your front garden?
 

GJH

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Back to the original post, surely if the land owner/police ask you to move on they want you to do just that and you shouldn't be there. Would you see it the same way if someone turned up and just parked on your front garden?

That is the reasonable approach to this question. Unfortunately a number of motorhome owners are of the opinion that they should be able to park where they like no matter what upset it causes to anyone else and without regard to the problems it causes for the rest of us.
 
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My name is on my motorhome log book.
Mine and my partners name is on the insurance.
The keys are in the motorhome , parked up, we are in the back :thumb:
I`ve had some beer, partner has not---
who gets done?

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slobadoberbob

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Simple my son - you

My name is on my motorhome log book.
Mine and my partners name is on the insurance.
The keys are in the motorhome , parked up, we are in the back :thumb:
I`ve had some beer, partner has not---
who gets done?


you....... trying to make it a hard job for the boys in blue:winky:... go for the easy target.... given when most that are over the limit give all the lip, they could talk themselves in to an arrest easy.. so if I was old bill I would go for the one that I had the most chance of doing.

Now for the defence it is easy let you go blame the other... two lawyers and two lots of fees... let the magistrate decide. (that is subject to one both of you blowing positive) .. if only one that fails then it will be for that person to show reasonable doubt. That will be £119.00 plus vat please.

Bob:Blush:
 

darklord

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D&D is not only possibly the most publicised crime in history, it is socially unnacceptable, and even urban myth reinforces the risk's involved where drink and vehicles are concerned.
Keving Bridges, a scottish comedian says that people who get done for attempted murder, should get a longer sentance because they are inept as well as dangerous, if the only place you can see to "hide" during a domestic, and while possibly under the influence, is a vehicle....then i suggets you are ill equipped to be arguing with anyone.

Those who try to find loopholes, or defend any form of being drunk in charge, or DD, should have their licenses revoked..........because they obviously are a risk!
 

slobadoberbob

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hang on

D&D is not only possibly the most publicised crime in history, it is socially unnacceptable, and even urban myth reinforces the risk's involved where drink and vehicles are concerned.
Keving Bridges, a scottish comedian says that people who get done for attempted murder, should get a longer sentance because they are inept as well as dangerous, if the only place you can see to "hide" during a domestic, and while possibly under the influence, is a vehicle....then i suggets you are ill equipped to be arguing with anyone.

Those who try to find loopholes, or defend any form of being drunk in charge, or DD, should have their licenses revoked..........because they obviously are a risk!

hang on... some of us had to make a living and that included putting forward the best defence .. normally only mitigation in DD cases in respect of fine or disqualification periods to be imposed.

I agree we should have a zero tolerance on DD .. and the persons that think they can just park up anywhere are very silly people. While they are under the weather others have to deal with the issues they often cause.

Bob:Blush:

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