CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelan has taken to social media to voice her disappointment after her car was clamped near a hospital whilst she was undergoing medical tests.
Ms Phelan who recently took time out from her campaign work to spend time with her family, revealed the news via twitter recently.
In a series of posts on the social networking website, Ms Phelan revealed how she was clamped whilst she was at St Vincent’s Hospital for blood tests.
Ms Phelan said that although the issue wasn’t the end of the world in the grand scale of things, revealed to her followers that she that clamped because she was a mere six minutes over the ticket expiry.
The campaigner told her followers that it was her first time ever being clamped and felt she needed to highlight the issue not because of the cost, but because she thought about being someone who was unable to afford the to pay the fee and those who wouldn’t know what to do in such a scenario.
In the series of posts Ms Phelan, said she was unable to park in the hospital car parks as they were full, but instead decided to park in the church car park across the road.
She told her followers that she purchased her ticket at 10:06am and returned to her vehicle at 11:16am and discovered she was clamped at 11:12am.
Although Ms Phelan said the issue wasn’t about money, she did decide to appeal the clamping after she paid the €125 fine and moved her car to a different location.
Ms Phelan said she felt she had the right to appeal as the clamping company Nationwide Controlled Parking Systems (NCPS) didn’t abide by the current clamping legislation which she reviewed whilst waiting for further treatment.
She stated that she should not have been clamped as the legislation clearly stated that vehicle owners are entitled to a 10 minute grace period.
Ms Phelan added that the situation could have been difficult for someone who couldn’t afford to get their car unclamped or someone who didn’t understand the parking rules
What are your thoughts on this? Tell us in the Facebook comments section?
Soooo, I got clamped today. My first time getting clamped. In the grand scheme of things, this is not the end of the world and I am lucky that I could afford to pay to be declamped BUT I have to have a vent about this and get feedback from all my friends here on Twitter…1/6
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) March 27, 2019
The hospital car parks were full so I parked in the church car park across the road from Vincent’s. There were no ‘white’ parking spaces left so I had to Park in a ‘green’ space, reserved for churchgoers. You can ONLY park in these spaces for maximum 1 hour before 1pm… 2/6
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) March 27, 2019
So, I parked at 10.06am (the time is important here), paid my fee and walked to the hospital to have my bloods done. I returned to my car at 11.16 to find my car had been clamped at 11.12. The clamper, or enforcing agent as they are known, was still there, clamping others…3/6
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) March 27, 2019
I pleaded my case but he was having none of it so I had to call the NCPS to pay the 125 quid so that I could have my car declamped while yer man was still in the car park. That done, and with my blood boiling, I moved my car and vowed to appeal while I was having treatment 4/6
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) March 27, 2019
I located the legislation around clamping and discovered that I should have been entitled to a 10 minute grace period and based my appeal on these grounds, hence the times above. I submitted my appeal not because of the money, but on the principle of the matter…5/6
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) March 27, 2019
What if I didn’t have the money to pay on the spot to be declamped? What if I had literacy issues & was unable to understand the complicated parking rules in the car park? What if I was not educated enough to formulate the grounds for an appeal? Rant over! Feedback welcome ☺6/6
— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) March 27, 2019