The recently announced ban on clamping and towing on private land sparked a heated debate. We’ve read your comments and thought it best to let you cast your votes. The clamping ban – good or bad?
A ban on the clamping and towing of cars on private land sounds like a great idea, especially since the industry is totally unregulated and generates thousands of complaints every year.
Which? Legal Service has dealt with many cases where consumers have been wronged – including two separate incidents where members were marched to a conveniently close cashpoint after stopping to answer a phone call in a lay-by. They were clamped with their engines still running.
Concerns about a ban on clamping
I posted about the government’s clamping ban when it was announced. Rather than regulating the practice, the government decided to ban the practice on private land out right. But comments on the piece have centred on concerns that it’ll create a free-for-all for rogue parkers parking on private property.
Graham Forecast thinks that the ban will give a “green light to motorists parking – deliberately – on private property.” And Brian Rogers suggests that instead of an outright ban, there should be “strict licensing and regulation of clampers”.
Following the announcement, the government advised using barriers and tickets instead of clamping, but some of you think this isn’t practical in all circumstances. For example, Judith Bailey said that if tickets were issued there’d be “no way of enforcing payment, except through the courts, and that would be a ridiculous waste of court time.”
So we thought we’d put this to a vote and accurately gauge your opinion on the clamping ban.
Read the original article and all comments on the clamping debate here.
What should have been done about clamping and towing?
I'm glad it's going to be banned outright (58%, 160 Votes)
It should have been properly regulated instead (42%, 115 Votes)
Nothing needed to be done (1%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 277
