Parking meter catches motorist off-guard

A WINSTON Park resident has raised concerns about the condition of the parking ticket dispensers and the signage informing motorists of the paid parking on Kings Road, Pinetown.

This comes after Nat Tarr was fined for parking his vehicle in one of the parking bays. Tarr, who is not a frequent visitor to the area, said, “It was the first time I visited Kings Road. I was genuinely unaware that the parking bay in which my car was parked required the displaying of a coupon purchased from an automatic dispensing machine. It was only when I revisited the site the next day that I located the dispensing machine. The side of the machine facing the traffic flow appeared to have been used as an advertising board and displayed a notice inviting attention to urgent abortion services.”

Tarr added that the notice and remnants of other notices which had been partially and inexpertly removed would have been a distraction to any driver catching site of the blue box housing the dispenser.

“In the course of my site visit I located two traffic signs. The reason for me not having noticed these signs became abundantly clear to me when I approached them on foot. The messages on the signs were hardly legible from close quarters, and I challenge any motorist driving along Kings Road in a southerly direction to determine the true purpose of the sign.

“During the course of my site inspection I was approached by two traffic officers who asked why I was measuring up and drawing a site plan. I explained what I was doing and invited them to visit the points of concern with me and see for themselves the grounds for my complaint. Having looked at the signs in a different light, neither of them had any argument against my contention that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the driver of a vehicle in motion along Kings Road to interpret the small print on the signs. I suggested to the traffic officers that they might consider returning to their base and making an immediate report about the illegibility of the subject traffic signs and to suggest that penalising motorists in the area should be held in abeyance pending remedial work on the necessary signs.”

Rajen Govender from the eThekwini Municipality’s Transport Department said their unit is currently adjudicating a new contract for the provision of a parking management system for the city. “Maintenance of the existing signage has thus been delayed until the appointment of the new contractor. This unit will, however, in the interim assess the existing signage and will undertake upgrades in cases where severe problems exist,” said Govender.