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'Accident rate prior to Parking Rules change of 31st March '08'.
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Mr Neil Hood
Email: [FOI #7890 email]
Mr Jeaur Rahman
Traffic Regulation & Parking
Department for Transport
Zone 2/06
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
LONDON SW1P 4DR
[email address]
Web Site: www.dft.gov.uk
Our Ref: F0004978/01
9 March 2009
Dear Mr Hood,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
Further to my letter to you dated 19 February 2009 regarding internal review of your Freedom of Information (FOI) request F0004978 please see below the reply.
In your FOI request F0004978 (received by us on 10 February 2009) you requested “statistics on the number of accidents caused by drivers quickly driving away from Parking Attendants.” I wrote to you on 16 February 2009 to say “….following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information is not held by the Department in the form requested. The Department's traffic accident statistics record all causes of accidents - a breakdown by a particular cause of accident is not available.”
In your email dated 17 February 2009 you requested an internal review of the Department for Transport's handling of your FOI request. In your email you state “…therefore, if you do not have the information I have requested in the form I have requested…, in what form do you hold this information? And would you please supply that instead?”
The form of statistics we hold on road casualties is in the `Road Casualties Great Britain, 2007' report, which is available on our website:
You will note from the above web page that if you have further queries concerning road casualties you could write to [email address].
Perhaps I should explain the rationale for the Government putting legislative measures in place to address drive-away.
Local authorities in London have had the power to serve Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) by post since July 2000. Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act (TMA) 2004 which came into force on 31 March 2008 gave local authorities outside London the power to send PCNs by post when a vehicle is captured on camera, or when a person tries to avoid a PCN by driving away, before the Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) can put the ticket on the windscreen or give it to the driver. Without this change there would have been an inconsistency in the treatment of parking contraventions detected by cameras and those recorded by a civil enforcement officer. A contravention captured on camera could be enforced, whereas in an identical situation if recorded by a CEO the driver could drive away without a penalty. This would be unfair. The Government was also seriously concerned about the potential danger if a driver has an incentive to leave the place (where he or she is parked) hastily, because a CEO is standing beside the vehicle writing a ticket.
I hope this information is helpful. If you are not happy with the way the Department has handled your request or with the decisions made in relation to your request, you may complain by writing to me at my address above. Please see attached details of the Department for Transport's (DfT's) complaints procedure and your right to complain also to the Information Commissioner.
Yours sincerely
Mr Jeaur Rahman
Your right to complain to DfT and the Information Commissioner
You have the right to complain about the way in which your request for information was handled and/or about the decision not to disclose all or part of the information requested. In addition a complaint can be made that DfT has not complied with its FOI publication scheme.
Your complaint will be acknowledged and you will be advised of a target date by which to expect a response. Initially your complaint will be re-considered by the official who dealt with your request for information. If, after careful consideration, that official decides that his/her decision was correct, your complaint will automatically be referred to a senior independent official who will conduct a further review. You will be advised of the outcome of your complaint and if a decision is taken to disclose information originally withheld this will be done as soon as possible.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF