15 Apr 2012
Posted by Miriam O'Neill Three quarters of drivers in Ireland who have had their car clamped within the last year feel the circumstances were unfair, results of a new study carried out by AA Motor Insurance suggest.
The study by AA Motor Insurance which is based on a robust sample size of close to 20,000 drivers suggests that 7% of drivers in Ireland have had their vehicles clamped within the last year. It also highlights the practice as being more prevalent in Dublin, where both public and private clamping is in operation. Of more than 7,000 Dublin based drivers polled, 11% said they had been clamped at least once within the last twelve months. The figure compares to 5% of respondents living in Cork and Waterford, 4% in Galway and 3% in Limerick.
“Nobody likes getting clamped however it’s an effective method in combating illegal parking which is in place to prevent obstructions to other drivers, business and pedestrians.” Says Conor Faughnan, Director of Policy, AA Ireland. “We’re very pleased that the Oireachtas Committee supported AA recommendations on the regulation of private clampers. We have been calling for them since 2007 and while the delay under the previous government was unfortunate we are glad to see that changes are finally being made.”
The AA reports that the most common reoccurring comment among those who felt cheated by clampers was obscured or unclear parking signage. Following this, another common complaint concerned expiry times, with some motorists saying they were clamped just minutes after their disc had run out.
While many felt arguing was pointless, pleading ignorance was cited as the most common excuse used to try and get out of a fine. The second most common approach respondents admitted to trying was yelling at the phone operator, followed by turning on the water works and fabricating a bleeding heart excuse.
The AA Motor Insurance Poll also reveals that 9% of women who tried to negotiate their way out a fine chanced their arm with a few crocodile tears while 5% admitted to a little cheeky flirtation.
End
Notes to the editor;
Fig. 1 Whether or not respondent’s vehicles have been clamped within the last year
| OVERALL (19,751 resps) | DUBLIN (7,016 resps.) | CORK (2231 resps) | LIMERICK (673 resps) | GALWAY (919 resps) | WATERFORD (449 resps) | |
| No, I have not had my car clamped within the last year | 93.1% | 89.2% | 95.1% | 96.7% | 96.3% | 95.3% |
| Once | 6.0% | 9.3% | 4.6% | 3.3% | 3.2% | 4.2% |
| Twice | 0.6% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Three times | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Four times | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Five or more times | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Fig. 2 Based on the last time they were clamped whether or not respondents deemed the circumstances to have been fair.
| All (1369 resps.) | |
| Completely fair | 7.2% |
| Reasonably fair | 12.3% |
| Neutral | 5.3% |
| Somewhat unfair | 26.8% |
| Very unfair | 48.4% |
Fig. 1A Excuses motorists admit to having used to try and get out of clamping fine (Based on 1,339 responses)
| Cried | 3.5% |
| Fabricated a “bleeding heart” excuse | 3.2% |
| Pleaded bankruptcy | 1.9% |
| Tried to flirt your way out of it | 1.9% |
| Launched a tirade of abuse at the phone operator | 6.6% |
| Pleaded ignorance | 10.4% |
| Stated you were in dire need of the toilet and didn’t have time to pay the meter! | 0.9% |
| Lied and said the meter was out of order | 1.7% |
| Other | 8.1% |
| None of the above | 71.6% |
B. Excuses FEMALE motorists admit to having used to try and get out of clamping fine (Based on 451 Responses)
| Cried | 9.1% |
| Fabricated a “bleeding heart” excuse | 4.0% |
| Pleaded bankruptcy | 2.9% |
| Tried to flirt your way out of it | 4.7% |
| Launched a tirade of abuse at the phone operator | 7.8% |
| Pleaded ignorance | 10.2% |
| Stated you were in dire need of the toilet and didn’t have time to pay the meter! | 0.7% |
| Lied and said the meter was out of order | 1.6% |
| Other | 6.7% |
| None of the above | 68.1% |
C. Excuses MALE motorists admit to having used to try and get out of clamping fine (Based on Responses)
| Cried | 0.7% |
| Fabricated a “bleeding heart” excuse | 2.8% |
| Pleaded bankruptcy | 1.5% |
| Tried to flirt your way out of it | 0.5% |
| Launched a tirade of abuse at the phone operator | 6.2% |
| Pleaded ignorance | 10.7% |
| Stated you were in dire need of the toilet and didn’t have time to pay the meter! | 0.9% |
| Lied and said the meter was out of order | 1.7% |
| Other | 9.0% |
| None of the above | 73.2% |
