The FOI response has arrived in a timely fashion. It appears they have ceased outsourcing their FOIs to Bexley and Barnet.
My request was as follows;“At the east end of Medway Street at it's junction with Globe Lane, there is a pedestrianised area to the east of that junction, whose border is marked by a 'no motor vehicles' sign, colloquially known as the flying motor bike sign. There is often a CCTV enforcement vehicle parked in this area whose driver would have to contravene the restriction to park there. Could you please advise me what exemptions apply to the operators of these vehicles and the extent of parking and moving traffic contraventions, which do not apply to them. Could you also please indicate the skill level of the drivers, for example do they need to have passed an advanced driving test or need any other driver safety training that the average motorist would not normally have had.”
The council's response was;I can confirm that the exemptions that apply to the area you have stated is an O permit bay covered in the TRO under exemptions.
The CCTV enforcement vehicles are able to stop to enforce in the O permit bay as the vehicles have been issued with an O permit. The information that supports this can be found in the TRO under the exemption for permit holders:
"Nothing in this order shall apply to any vehicle being used for a purpose authorised and described on a permit issued by Medway Council, provided such permit is displayed in the vehicle in the relevant position.
I can advise that the drivers of the CCTV vehicles would only need to have a full valid UK Driving Licence and no additional training would be required.
I am not happy but I can see some twisted reasoning behind a $camera car being exempt from a yellow line contravention for
x amount of minutes for example. It is decriminalised after all, and vehicle owners are the scum of the earth and deserved to be punished as much as possible.
That's as close to being devil's advocate as I am comfortable with but I was just wondering if it was legal for a driver to be exempt from a criminal contravention which the 'no motor vehicles' sign clearly is. I doubt emergency service drivers can even contravene this sign except, perhaps, traffic officers and area cars engaged in pursuit. Discuss.
