Ezzard goes after clampers
(CNS): Questioning the legality of the employment of parking management firms by landlords and developers to restrict the parking time of visitors to their premises, Ezzard Miller has filed a motion in the Legislative Assembly. Asking government to investigate and clarify the situation, the independent MLA for North Side suggested that some of the parking regulations being imposed could be illegal. Miller said he was concerned that the companies were charging substantial amounts to drivers who were clamped at premises they were visiting legitimately because of time restrictions which are not necessarily lawful and causing serious hardship and frustration.
In his motion, which was place before the parliament on Monday 1 March, the independent representative pointed out that having sufficient parking spaces is often mandated as part of a businesses planning permission. Consequently, they might not have the legal right to impose fines or clamp drivers who are parking in the slots in order to visit the premises for legitimate reasons. Miller said that, if anything, the clampers were breaking the Traffic Law, which states that anyone who interferes with a vehicle or any of its controls and equipment without the owner’s permission, which the clamping certainly wasn’t, was guilty of an offence.
Miller told the House he was issuing the advice to victims of clampers parked in premises they were visiting legitimately to call the police and ask them to enforce the Traffic Law 2003 and fine the clamper $1000 or sent them to jail for six months.
He said the high fines being imposed were causing hardship and resentment in the community and he was concerned that if the issue was not addressed someone was going to get hurt through tempers fraying and frustrations running high. The veteran politician said he believed that the parking companies were taking more and more liberties with people on this subject because they were getting away with it and no one was challenging their rights to do this on the public.
Asking government to investigate the situation, Miller added that there was a need to clarify the legal position of clients and visitors to commercial establishments and the right to park as required by the Planning Law.
Responding to his motion, the premier said government was willing to consider the motion since the planning laws were currently under review at present as government examined the wider issue of a national development plan. He said that he would ask and the committee to add this question as the entire question of parking restrictions, in George Town in particular, needed to be addressed. McKeeva Bush said he agreed that there needed to be clarity regarding the law and what exactly the landlords could and could not do when it came to people parking on the premises under the planning law.
Last year, David Guilfoyle took an unorthodox approach to paying a clamping fine when he gave the parking company 7500 pennies and brought the question of parking fines into the fore. He also noted that the clamping fine was greater than the fine he would have had to pay for parking illegally on the street and, moreover, the police would not clamp his car.
See News 27 video of penny fine payment
Category: Headline News
I note that despite an early salvo justifying the legality of his business, Mr. Larner has made no attempt to respond to the legal points made on CNS that indicate that clamping may be a tort or even a crime in the Cayman Islands.
In a country with so many lawyers, don’t put borderline legal propositions in public and expect no-one to call you out!
Why dont the government consider setting up parking meters in Town and out of Town if necessary.
I believe it would enhance the government pocket book and at the same time give someone a job.
I believe we can think of other ways of making money except rasing turtle meat cutting civil servants salaries.
Open a Legal lottery, The people want it, So, the illegal is still hot. and the meters are running.
Private Parking space @ Genesis Bldg.
I was wheel clamped last year the weekend of the Easter holidays, I was a customer of one of the Tenants in the Genesis Building when I completed my business i promptly left and to my surprised when i returned to my vehicle it was clamped, i returned upstairs to the office which i had just completed my business with and informed the Supervisor on duty what had transpired she in turn called the Parking Mgmt office to confirm that i was in the Genesis Bldg and that i should not have been clamped, she was informed that someone called them to complain that i had parked in their "private parking space", yet no marking whatsoever other than the business name was on this parking stop, i tried to reason with Prking Mgnt Co. to no avail, and since they would not budge nether did i, i left my car there for the entire 5 days of the Easter weekend and 2 additional days. so to the XXX who called them about your "private parking space" 7 days of circuling the parking lots looking for someone’s parking space must have made you feel like XXX. Hope i really XXXXX you off….XXXXX, and as for Prking Mgnt Co. XXXXXXX.
LOL in the end you still paid the fee right?
So let’s see you lost use of your car for a week (and had to pay the payment still) — check!
You paid the fee — check!
Sounds like the score is still Parking Company 2, You 0
LOL
I support Mr. Miller because the problem is not as simplistic as some of these commentators on here would have us believe. Not everyone is lazy or looking to park illegally on purpose. The problem is twofold, one is that there are many areas where it is not clear whether parking is prohibited with threat of clamping, and then second how the parking staff deal with the people that are clamped. The day I was clamped some time ago, I genuinely wanted to pay the fee and get on with my day even though the no parking sign which he showed me at my request was at least a block up the road from where I had parked alongside a fence in an open area not blocking anyone or the driveway (and I was parked there 10 minutes tops) (so I would not have passed the sign by the point where I parked, it was a good ways ahead of me). The problem was I was 9 months pregnant, I had just dashed out to do something quickly so had no purse, no phone, no cash and it was summer and very very hot out and I was in flip flops andat least a 20-30 minute pregnant woman’s walk from home. I told him politely that I disagreed that I should have been clamped but would take it up with the building owner afterwards and I explained I lived a 5 minute drive from the parking lot, would give him my details so he could come to the house to collect the money if I didn’t come back in 10 or 15 minutes with the fee. The parking attendant that dealt with me was horribly rude to me and insenstive and refused my offer to go get the money, refused to even let me use his phone to have a family member who was available on a work day to bring me money. I went back into the business and made the call. It was almost an hour and a half later total before I got the vehicle unclamped and you can’t imagine how stressful the whole thing was being so pregnant. You also can imagine my patience ran out quick after trying to be so nice and reasonable I got fed up believe me!! Parking Management Services and other clampers: get your staff some training on how to deal with people, they act like they are on a power trip and just make a tense situation so much worse – most are rude unreasonable and generally difficult to deal with. If I hadn’t had my baby a week after this incident and gotten caught up with life I would have sued you guys for sure even if it was just to recover the $75 and make a point about it. I did complain to the business and sure enough about4 more signs went up not too long afterwards but my request for reimbursement for my clamping fee was refused. Clampers: If a business hires you for parking services and you can see darn well that the signage is inadequate then do something about it or for sure you will find yourself in court one day soon!!
I would say in the majority of cases people are just too lazy to walk and therefore park illegaly. It irritates the crap out of me at Grand Harbour when people park in front of the pharmacy right next to the "no parking" sign, and the same again in front of the video store. The same can be observed at many other places. People circle, and circle, and circle around in the parking lot until they can find a spot close to the front door because they are too lazy to walk a few extra steps! If they can’t find a spot in the front, the slide into the handicapped spots or park in a manner that is inconveniencing everyone else. Play by the rules and you shouldn’t have a problem. Get used to be walking a bit further from your parking spot to where you need to go. That is just how it is, not just in Cayman but other places too. Bet when you go mall shopping in Miami you don’t always get a place by the front door and you don’t dare to park in the fire lane there…….
It’s only a matter of time until someone gets killed in the Grand Harbour parking lot. Likely outside the pharmacy as they cross the road having had their view obscured by an illegally parked vehicle (possibly even a police car)!
I have seen the comings and goings in the car park behind the public library in town. I would imagine a dozen vehicles a day are clamped in this parking lot on a regular basis. Yes, there are signs there saying that vehicles will be clamped (small signs I might add) but who’s to blame? When the parking lot was renovated it removed scores of parking spaces for George Town workers – it now has plenty of spaces for library staff and MLA’s. I would imagine at any one time there are probably20 empty spaces in this parking lot that only library staff or MLA’s can use – they are never full. Bad planning – or the MLA’s are not turning up for work, one of the two (probably on the radio)……..
On the flip side some drivers do openly flout the parking restrictions on private property. They often take their chance and park their cars in office complexes to run their errands in town and then complain because they have been clamped – what does the worker do in the meantime? He or she has to drive around town trying to find a parking space.
Stop being so lazy people – there are plenty of places to park half a mile outside town – park and WALK.
^ Ah that would be our bus depot that we, the public transport users are still waiting to be returned to us after over half a year of waiting without explanation.
By the time we do get our bus depot back, the buses probably won’t be able to move for all the illegally parked cars there. If they do park there once we have our depot back, clamp ’em!
Easy solution: give us our bus depot back Mac and let all the cars park in the plentiful space where the Tower Building used to be – I would suggest its a lot more useful as a car park than expecting your people to stand there in the rain with no shelter, no seating, no lighting, etc. I am not at all surprised that barely any passengers will go there to catch a bus.
I got clamped in my own parking spot.
We rent space in a building downtown where we have an assigned and marked parking space. While parked in my assigned space my car was clamped which I found amazing at first. I called the company and explained the situation and the location… and the person on the other end said: "before we send someone to remove the clamp… do you have the $75 fee"…
I explained that I was parked in my own spot, that it was clearly marked as such and that I shouldn’t have to pay any fee. About half an hour later the guy shows up and asks me… how do I know that this is your space. I showed him some documents in my car… that matched the name on the parking space… he then said, well how do I know that is you… I showed him my license…
He made a cell phone call to his supervisor and then said that they had agreed to give me a half price discount ‘just this once’… to which I said how can you be clamping and charging me for parking in my own space.
Their argument was essentially that they had no way of knowing it was my space and that I should somehow share the responsibility for their mistake.
They pretty much refused to remove the clamp… so yes, I had to pay $37.50 to get my own car… out of my own parking space.
I will however admit that the guy was friendly during the whole situation.
that’s insane, and you held your composure? wow. crazy crazy stuff.
I’m ready to do some body & fender work after just reading his post. Height of foolishness. "Just this one time"?… I gotta go, my pressure is going up.
I have to admit that I have a great deal of admiration for you Marek, whomever you may be.
Had it been my car the poor attendant would have ended up with the wheel lock wrapped around his head and his supervisor would still be in hiding somewhere.
Jeezus – nice or not – them’s cowboys you were dealing with there – shoulda used your cellphone to call the police right there and then – I bet you would have soon see them unclamp your vehicle for free had you done that.
This just shows you that the clamping businesses are not professional. One would think that if a company has been hired to clamp cars of people who have no authorizationg to be parking in a certain spot, they would have obtained a list of the cars and the respective license number who are ALLOWED to park in these spots.
Worse, they probably knew they were wrong, but still kept on being annoying until someone just gives up and gives in an pays the fees. Would like to know how much some of these businesses make by following those tactics……
Eh, next time you get clamped and that dude is not near by, just call your friend, jack up the two tires with your spare and your friends spare and take the clamps with you, that way when that monkey find my car in a wrong spot he cant clamp me too, that fool gon run out of clamps, unless government set up a business to sell him clamps we win.
anyone busines that has that clamps sign should be boycotted, make sure when you walk past them with your $75.00 that you could have bought something with, that you go let em know that they lost it to the parking guys, them are too foolish, foolish to realise that yeah, keep your parking spot empty and your pockets will fill up with air too.
Clamping errant people parking there is like shooting people who accidentally walk past your private property and that is barbaric think.
Now a better idea is to have government import parking meters and hire any number of 30 – 100 caymanians to enforce these sport, i reckon at $75.00 it wont be long before some of that hard cash is streaming intp the governents pockets.
if i am not wrong, you need to be a justice of the peace to enforce any laws or regulations, i doubt anyone done checked that out…
we shouldnt just accept this, i have all my friens with same car on speed dial now, i am taking them clamps home and making my kid play with them for a few weeks, let the man prove that i stole it, and i can show you a man that attached his property to mine and i takes mine
PS: enforcing silly things like this will desensitise us all to the law
thank 😉
"We at Parking Management Service Limited have invested both time and money ensuring that we are in compliance with laws in the Cayman Islands"
Well that was a waste of money – I would sue your lawyers!
Your signs refer to a "$75 FINE". You have no authority to impose a "fine" on anyone as a private company. The fee, if it is chargeable at all, represents compensation to the landowner for the costs of the trespass. Anything expressed to be a fine would not fall the right side of the test in the leading cases to allow it to be charged.
A clamper passing themselves off as being able to levy a "FINE" is probably committing an act of extortion and anyone who has paid monies in a car park with such a sign has a valid restitutionary claim for repayment.
Sounds like one of Miller’s constituents got wheel clamped.
I wonder. Do the persons named in the first and last paragraphs have anything inc come?
Holy c—p. Is this for real. Wheel clamping….front page news….get a grip ….do any of the wheel clamping posters understand that there is a MT Trashmore pile of problems out there. This thread provides humor.
What a nice divesion from the real issues…(not) Chuckie say we need to march and we guh march. Tell ezzard join us an bring all his nor side followers an his district council members too, time for CHANGE. 9 months toooooo late.
This is just a money making thing and the Security hide and wait for the driver to go into the Supermarkets ets and then go and clamp the cars. They should be glad that we are spending our moneys in their Supermarkets. What the should be told to do is to organoze the parking and those that really have the need be parked in the HANDICAPPED space. I am really worried that somebody is going top get injured one of these too many times. Alot of times we do not have a handicapped sticker but a real need to be parked slow. Also most of us do not have the $75 either, how embarrassing . These Securitys need training on how to deal with people.
I have never seen a bicycle or scooter or motorcycle, or for that matter a pedestrian, clamped anywhere..perhaps some of these people should get their fat XXXX out of their air-conditioned SUV’s and ride a bike or park and walk the extra steps instead of XXXXX and moaning about getting clamped for parking in restricted and reserved areas….You wouldn’t get clamped and you would actually be healthier. Mr. Miller, there are more important issues facing this nation…get a grip and stop stirring anti expat sentiment…we all know that these clampers are expats employed by Caymanian security companies…
Look who’s bringing up anti expat rhetoric.Don’t have a clue? Just look in the mirror.
My guess is, most of these “clampers” need extra lunch money!
Half the time when you ask them to speak with their company heads, they refuse OR come up with some excuse.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even work for a company!!
Ezzard going in the right direction. These things may sound petty right now, but we the general public need someone to back us up. People broke and fed up!
Oh, and while you at it Ezzard. How about getting gov’t and other road work companies to start agreeing to either, fixing the ridiculous amount of pot holes/road repairs or start paying for damage tires/rims!!!
Here’s one of an illegally parked vehicle I took earlier. Double yellow. Clamp em!
Are you not aware that Emergency Vehicles are exempt? *sigh*
And what was the emergency at the liquor store? Looks like abuse of their exemption – kind of like the story of abuse of gas cards for personal purchases…
I hardly think dropping off their dvd’s at blockbuster or buying that weekends stock of edible panties from It’s Your party could be classed in the "emergency" category
Yeah, exempt from speeding, overtaking, illegal tint…
do you know that emergency vehicles are fire and ambulance only.
hahahah…..good one. gosh i love CNS!
Job opportunity:
The opportunity has arisen for the position of an experienced wheel clamper to work at the Legislative Assembly building and Rooster FM.
Duties include application of clamp to the piehole of ranting pseudo politician. Expertise is required during application of clamp to avoid contact with extra large chip on the shoulder of the recipient.
Compensation will be performance related. The successful candidate will also be credited with the gratitude of the educated population of Cayman.
Jed Clampit
Jed,you chicken or something? why do you want someone else to do your dirty work.Man up,and try to clamp him all by your self.
Attention, all young Caymanian men who are marginal students and may be at risk of becoming violent criminals, please listen up. Ezzard Miller has a life lesson he would like you to learn:
Rules are to be ignored and if you suffer consequences after breaking the rules, just complain. Never say you are sorry and never learn from your mistake. Just complain that someone dared to punish you for breaking the rules.
What an idiot.
Said Fizzy, looking in the mirror…
I agree that something should be done against these companies. I parked in the handy-caped parking once because my 11 year old daughter had her leg in a cast and it was far for her to walk to the store. After all I was taking it that that is what that parking is for anyways.
When I came out my wheel was clamped. The parking management guy told me that I should have a sticker in my window ????? Shoot well the hospital never told me that. So maybe the hopital should advise this to the patients when they are leaving and provide stickers.
Honestly speaking, do you think it is fair for me to pay $75.00 to someone because I parked in the handy caped parking when indeed I had a handy caped person?
What about the places that give you only an hour like banks for an example and who can predict the length of time you’ll be in a bank.
There needs to be something done about this because when they clamp the wheel of the car the Parking Management will not take it off until you give them $75.00 it does not matter what the situation is. I had the gentleman, I believe his name is XXXXX (Parking Management worker), say to me he cant take it off under NO CIRCUMSTANCE!
Sorry to hear about your daughter’s injury but…
Unless you have a handicap permit from the Department of Motor Vehicle Licensing you cannot use the handicap spots.
Your complaint is analogous to someone complaining that they were charged by the police for possesing a firearm because someone broke into their house and they went out and got a gun but never got a permit for it.
Plain and simple, you did not have a permit and therefore broke the law therefore you were clamped and fined. Our society has rules that must be followed. Ignorance of the law doesn’t give you right to break it.
If only I had a handy cape like Superman or Batman, then I wouldn’t have to driver anywhere, never mind worry about parking!
Here’s a thought: don’t park illegally and you don’t have to worry about it. You should be happy that you only had to pay $75.00 for parking in a handicapped spot – the signs in Miami state that it is a $250.00 fine and your car will be towed. It also isn’t the hospital’s responsibility to notify you of this. Common sense isn’t so common anymore…
Do you seriously expect anyone to believe that you would qualify for a Handicapped (note the spelling!!!!) Sticker on your car????? And do you seriously expect anyone to believe that you didn’t know that those parking spaces are reserved for those cars bearing the sticker???? It is not the responsibility of a hospital to advise you about this sort of thing – YOU aren’t disabled! Use the brains God gave you!
You did the wrong thing. Suck it up and wear it. And don’t do it again!
253 voters say no to clamping!
20,000 votes!
and only 253 said No
47,747 voters say yes to clamping. If you do the crime, ya do the time. Is this so difficult? sheez
I was clamped at the Queens Plaza in front of the pub one evening about 8 months ago. I had been in to quickly meet with a person on business and when I left I realized I had forgotten my phone inside (or so I thought). There were no parking spots in the plaza when I returned moments later, but there were several vehicles pulled up in front (parked) – I parked behind one of them for approx. 4 minutes, while I ran inside to search for my phone. The person I had met with had already left and there was no sign of my phone. I returned to find my car had been clamped !
No phone. No cash on me. No way to pay to get my vehicle out (so i could go to a bank … or my next meeting). No phone numbers in my head to call (as an expat i only have so many contacts and numbers – only knew 2 off by heart and there was no answer). I became very frustrated with the incredibly rude ‘clamper’ who doubled as the "security guard" at the plaza who kept sniffling and quite frankly seemed… intoxicated on more than meere alcolhol.
I asked why he didn’t clamp the other vehicles that were parked along the side both in front and behind me. ? He said he only had one clamp. So i guess i’m just the unlucky one? We exchanged words as he had no sympathy for my situation and wouldn’t even let me in his office to use the phone. I used the one at the pizza shop. At one point while I quetioned him on what a person in my position was to do – he shoved me out of his way! and stepped on my foot.
I called the police. They came and told me tough luck. pay or walk home (to deep West Bay). Thanks mr. police man. Most police I have encountered here are always very very nice. This gentleman left me in tears. A couple who watched the whole thing drove me to a bank machine while they told me that watching this reminded them why they left the island several years ago and now only returned to visit.
IF THE GOAL IS TO KEEP FIRE EXITS CLEAR – HOW IS PERMANENTLY HOLDING A VEHICLE IN THAT SPOT AIDING THE SITUATION ?!!?
Still Angry.
You were clamped because you were parked illegally. End of story. Learn from the experience.
If you don’t want the peaches, don’t shake the tree
Thank You so much Mr Miller. This has been going on for far too long and companies are mainly using it as an extra income. Clamping should be in force when you park a car and it some how causes others inconvenience. This is not the case in Cayman.
XXXX
If we can do away with clampers and then at ethe same time add meters to cabs in Cayman the island would be a long way closer to sorting out the basic injustices of the island
Has anyone considered that this problem is also due to the fact that buildings in Cayman are approved by our Planning Dept without the proper amount of parking spaces?
How many times have we seen huge buildings go up without adequate parking?
The source of the problem is not only the parking offenders and the clamping companies but the inadequate requirements being allowed by Planning.
Unless the government gets it act together to enforce parking requirements and laws then these problems will only get worse.
remember that old guy who got clamped at Fosters for parking in a handicapp spot, guy was clearly disabled and because he did’nt have a handicapp sticker on his car they clamped him. If the clamping company was capable of using discretion they would have given this guy a break but as far as I know they didn’t……so I support Ezzard in this matter cause clearly these companies have no heart.
Why not blame the person that failed to get the handicap sticker?
The law applies to old people too. If he didn’t have a permit he deserved to be clamped.
It’s all about using discretion as well, some people deserve a break but clearly these companies do not believe in discretion!!
Name one company that has a "heart"
I remember this story because I was there at Fosters store at the time. What the news paper failed to report, probably because truth does not sell newspapers, is that the old gentleman had the vehicle released without a charge.
So are you saying that it is the clamper’s fault that the vehicle did not display the proper permit?
The clampers did not make the rule regarding handicapped permits, that was government. The RCIPS cannot monitor handicapped spaces, so who else is going to keep the spaces free for genuine handicapped people?
Mr. Miller is entitled to express his views on any matter which he feels concerned about as an MLA and wheel clamping of vehicles is something he has brought to the fore on more than one occasion recently.
We at Parking Management Service Limited have invested both time and money ensuring that we are in compliance with laws in the Cayman Islands but understand that not all other companies act the same. We therefore welcome any government investigation and would assist them in any way we can to ensure that the industry remains professional and in compliance with laws at all times.
Wheel clamping a vehicle may seem contentious to many people, but we have yet to hear any viable alternative suggestions on ways to deter and prevent unauthorised parking of vehicles on private property.
Wheel clamping on private property is lawful. The relevant authority is Arthur and another V. Anker and another [1996] 3 All ER 783
It is unlawful for a motorist who has ignored clear warnings that an unauthorised vehicle would be clamped, to damage the clamp. See Lloyd v DPP [1991] Crim L. R. 904
For those parking violators who wish to pay the release fee in 1 cent coins, please note that a business only has to accept up to 50 one-cent coins.
Operations Manager
Check again about what the Cayman Islands law says about private property.A property is not considered "Private" unless it is blocked from public access for at least one occasion of 24 continious hours per year.
Therefore, places like Grand Harbour, Fosters, Kirks supermarket and other public parking areas which clamping is inforced illegally is deemed public, not private property. Parking violations is then the responsibility of the police.
Wrong, private property is owned privately. Do you put a fence up around your house every year for a day so noone can come on the land and have it turned "public". Me thinks you confusin’ public property with right of way and public use of private property at the invitation of the owners. But when using it, you have the obligation to adhere to their rules – not parking in certain areas amoung them.
Check with the police – call them to come and ticket a lazy moron parked illegally in a handicap spot – they will tell you they cannot ticket on private property…
Here’s a thought…
PARK LEGALLY !! Then the problem of clamping won’t occur. *sigh* How hard is that to figure out?
Grand Harbour, Fosters & Kirks have clearly marked areas where people are not allowed to park. And when people DO park in these areas, particularly the Fire Lane at Grand Harbour, they create a traffic nuisance! Negotiating around them is dangerous.
And how many times have you seen able bodied people slide into the Handicapped Parking area because they are just too damned lazy to walk the extra 20 feet it would take to park in an authorised area!! They don’t THINK! And they deserve whatever penalty is applied.
I applaud clamping!!!!
How is immobilizing a car with clamps helping this as you wrote, "And when people DO park in these areas, particularly the Fire Lane at Grand Harbour, they create a traffic nuisance! Negotiating around them is dangerous" Seems preety stupid to me.
Not according to the video with the police…seems you have take the coins so count you it ..
Under the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority Law (2008 Revision) pennies are only legal tender up to $0.50. Other coins (5c, 10c, 25c) are legal tender up to $250 and notes are legal tender at their face value for the payment of any amount.
Any individual or business is only required to accept payment in coins up to the limit of their legal tender. They may choose to accept higher amounts, but they do not have to legally.
I would assume the gentleman in the video did not know this when he accepted his bucket of payment, but it is obvious from the comment above that the companies have done their research and no one else will get away with that one. Therefore, as funny as the video is, you might not want to follow Mr. Guilfoyle’s example and pay using 7500 pennies.
1500 5c coins is still an option, but how about we all start parking legally and only raise a stink when we are incorrectly clamped instead? I don’t doubt that some parking attendants clamp incorrectly (i.e. you haven’t overstayed the posted limit, you are legitimately doing business on the premises AND you are in an actual parking spot that is not reserved for a specific individual, company or handicapped persons), but to be quite frank I’m sure the vast majority of people who are clamped deserve it. So man up and pay the fine in a polite manner.
Ok, so everyone should use 5cent coins to pay these guys.
No, just you. Be sure to keep a bucket of nickels in your trunk.
Excellent!!! *applauds Fact Checker* Couldn’t agree more.
Don’t forget about the waste of resources when the RCIP is called out to mediate the disputes between clamping companies and the car owners.
What a waste!
Don’t believe this hype!
Virtually none of the car parking areas in Cayman adequately advertise the risk of clamping – indeed the worst transgressors don’t, they post a little sign on a far wall – that is no use!
If you have not seen the sign they can’t clamp you. I note this man failed to bring everyone’s attention to Vine v. Waltham Forest (tut tut). I wonder why he failed to do that? Oh yes – it is bad for his business!
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2000/106.html
"The act of clamping the wheel of another person’s car, even when that car is trespassing, is an act of trespass to that other persons property unless it can be shown that the owner of the car has consented to, or willingly assumed, the risk of his car being clamped. To show that the car owner consented or willingly assumed the risk of his car being clamped, it has to be established that the car owner was aware of the consequences of his parking his car so that it trespassed on the land of another. That will be done by establishing that the car owner saw and understood the significance of a warning notice or notices that cars in that place without permission were liable to be clamped. Normally the presence of notices which are posted where they are bound to be seen, for example at the entrance to a private car park, which are of a type which the car driver would be bound to have read, will lead to a finding that the car driver had knowledge of and appreciated the warning."
If you are clamped and there is no proper notice at the entrance to the parking area, the clamper is committing a tresspass to the driver’s goods – and the criminal case does not apply. You could sue the clamper and do what you need to to free the obstruction to your car.
Here are some tips:
1) Take a photograph of where you are parked and where the signs are (phone camers are great for this).
2) Offer to pay by cheque or credit card. They cannot demand cash.
3) Record any conversations with the clamper – intimidatory language is a great source off a bumper law suit against them.
Not even sure the Anker case relied upon by "The Man" would apply here. It was only a majority decision and the Scottish Courts have held clamping to be criminal. The traditional Cayman approach to property access issues is more akin to the Scottish position than the English. Arguably the Grand Court would not consider any clamping legal.
Nonsense!
Is there a limit of $1 bills that you will accept? What about $5 bills?
1 cent coins are legal tender. By law you are obligated to accept them.
In Scotland, wheel-clamping on private land is illegal. It was banned by the case of Black v Carmichael 1992 SCCR 709 when wheel clamping was found to constitute extortion and theft.
Hazzard Miller strikes again. He says this issue is causing real hardship – real hardship!!! You have got to be kidding. If you didn’t park illegally then it wouldn’t be causing you any hardship. Perhaps the hardship is that you are too lazy too fat and/ or too ignorant to walk – so let’s park on someone’s private property and then lets complain when we get clamped.
Clamping is done all over the world. Cayman is no exception. In fact, in some countries clamping is handled by the Government itself. Maybe this government needs to start that as a form of revenue??
In all seriousness, when a person is clamped it is because they have done something wrong. Take for instance Hurleys or Fosters in Savannah. They will clamp you because you are too lazy to park in the PARKING SPACES NICELY PROVIDED but instead want to park right up on the sidewalk of the building which is clearly marked with 2 yellow lines. Well guess what, I BELIEVE AND SUPPORT THE PERSON THAT CLAMP YOU. No offense Cayman but we need to wake up to the fact that we are not SPECIAL as we think we are. We are not ENTITLED as we think we are. We are regular human beings like anywhere else in the world and we MUST RESPECT the rules laid down to us.
When you park in the Thompson Building Parking lot which is for his customers but you are going shopping at Kirk Freeport and you deprive the Thompson Building Businesses from making money to pay their staff because someone that meant to go there has changed his mind because there is no parking available because you are off busy looking for something at another location….well you deserve to pay that $75 or $100.
Ezzard, you are a fool for this one no offense. However I am only guessing that you are going after the clamping companies because YOU YOURSELF probably screwed up and got fined. Shame Shame.
Isn’t immobilizing a car on the double yellow line adding to the problem? If there were any hazard in the begining, its worsened by clamping the vehicle and having it stay ther till the owner pays up.
Are the tennants of the Thompson building getting any of the $75. or $100 fine to recoup their preceived loss in revinue as you illueded to?
If Ezzard is permitted to waste the peoples time and money playing out his personal vendettas in the House then the precedent he has set should allow for the rest of the Civil Service to take today off. I for one will be doing nothing today as a result of this nonsense.
Well that woule be nothing new for the Civil Service!
This is the sad thing about Cayman, we are so busy arguing about what is ‘Petty’, that we fail to see the true nature of an issue.
This may seem like a small matter, but it is the ‘Principle of the matter’ that is most important here. And for this reason alone, I will agree with ‘the Ezz’.
On the other side however, when we ignore the ‘small’ things, they often mushroom, and we end up with things like a run-a-way crime problem, because we refused to address the ‘Gang’ issue in its infancy.
While I will agree that certainly some ‘victims’ of clamping are unfortunate, most that I have observed, deserved it (just look at how many abuse the designated Disabled-Parking areas).
Yes, there is a Parking issue in GT, but what is the excuse in a Supermarket Parking-lot? Why would one park in a space clearly marked Reserved, or block an entrance-way?
Perhaps it is our ‘do what I please in my own country’ culture coming back to haunt us. A culture where persons routinely take up 2 & 3 parking spots, stop and block traffic to ‘have a quick chat’, or buses that stop any and everywhere to pick-up & drop-off passengers, often without signalling or even bothering to pull-off the road.
In the end, where REALLY is the route-cause of these issues stemming from? Why do we need Parking-Marshals, Security Guards, and such like measures anyway?
The answer is as obvious as it is dis-heartening. We have been breedinga culture of indiscipline, and now, it is ‘biting us in the ass’.
Obviously those that support these wheel clamping have some interest in it, I say THANK YOU EZZED MILLER!!!! I have gotten to the point now where I do not even go to down town unless I have to! What a get rich scheme! Bodden Town in front of the Family Services Center is now doing this, the guy sits across the street and watches for you to park right in front of the building then clamps you!!! Have you seen the parking lot at the back of that building??? Who is benefiting from this? Imagine you must pay cash to be released!!! Quick way to create a crimminal! Sooner or later there will be some serious incedent due to this wheel clamping, so well done Mr Miller "Nip it in the Bud"
While I agree there are about 200 far more important issues to tackle – I agree that this should be looked into. I have parked in town before in a parking spot that was not at all clearly marked that it was reserved (ie there was a sign at the far end of the car park which stated ‘reserved parking’ but it was totally unclear that it applied to every spot in the car park that was almost completely empty – btw this is the Saad group parking) – and been clamped. You have to pay them cash right there to have it unclamped. If you want to dispute the fine – you have to call ‘the boss’ – who then makes it clear to you that even if you are in the right, trying to appeal it will not be worth your time or money.
With very limited parking in town, there should be careful mangement – of even the parking spots that are the property of specific companies – and certainly over sight of these parking companies to ensure that they operating in a fair manner (ie all clampable spots should have a very clear sign right on them that makes this explicity clear).
And most certainly more handicapped (and for the elderly) parking spots throughout town are needed – and these people should be clamped and fined for parking in.
Perhaps getting a sex offender register going would be a bit more important. The public deserves to know who these people are and where they live…….
And, Wed 8:19, maybe we need to clamp them too, don’t you think?
Good one! And of course, there would be no option to pay a fee and remove the clamp!
Please research the Registry in the U.S. before you push for this. There are people who have their lives ruined by being on this list for offenses such as uninating in public, 18 year old having sex with a 16/17 year old, and countless other stories. I knowthis isn’t the U.S. but they have a fine example of turning the laws original good intentions into a joke.
Yes, and how many people’s lifes have been ruined by repeat offenders who were roaming around because the public has not been made aware that these offenders have moved or are working in their area?
I would say you gain some and you loose some……
Overall, perhaps the same principle that is debated inrelation to the claming of the cars should apply here as weel. If you follow the rules and obay the laws (ie don’t urinate in public) you shouldn’t worry that you end up innocently on a sex offender registry.
The Government should implement parking meters and make some money!
Good idea, you pay for how long you need the parking spot instead of using a spot that limits you to 30 mins. Really when you go to some places 30 minutes is just not feasible.
Yes, Scotiabank comes to mind when reading this – I can barely bank or cash a cheque in a lunch hour there even if there’s only 2 people in the queue in front of me the tellers are so agonisingly slllllooooooowwwww. I don’t expect many park there and get their business done within 30 mins – its almost an impossibility!
It is an issue needing to be looked into. Focus on the crime (sometimes I believe this issue could be classed as such though) and not on replacing suitable and effective Directors.
While I support Mr. Miller’s fight for Caymanians-to a given length, I cannot and will not support his calling on Dr. Hoeksema to resign. Sorry but this Dr. has brought to the table much expirience, diversity, gainful ideas, leadership and workmanship that some Caymanians have just forgotten. Thisstatement in no way degrades the aspiring Caymanian or the high acheiving, but it does mention and it’s intention is to highlight our "Caymanian first " regardless attitute. This has proven wrong so many times. I too am ashamed, sometimes, but let’s call a spade a spade!
Let’s focus on injustice and crime. Cayman is going to waste one empty shell at a time and all we can here about are the effective and compassionate non-Caymanians.
What an idiotic problem created by idiots.
Let me make this easy for you: If you don’t want to have your tire clamped, then don’t park in places you are not allowed to park. I do not park in places that I am not supposed to park in, and guess what? I never get clamped! Amazing, huh?
Why is this difficult for some people????? What is wrong with you? Just follow the rules and life is much simpler!!!
What in the world is Ezzard thinking? I expect to hear this speech soon:
"My fellow Caymanians, do not follow the rules. Ignore parking signs. Park in handicapped spaces, and anywhere else you want. If you are clamped by the Hun, fear not, my people. We shall fight them on the beaches; we shall fight them in the hills; we shall never surrender. It is our birthright to park where ever our vehicle stops, without fear or shame. I declare, my Caymanians, this shall be our finest hour."
This is leadership? What an embarrassment.
Tyre.
I am fed up with the constant use of American English.
Hazzard, why not form a "fair clamping committee" and throw all that spare money we have at this issue. After all these clamping companies are proud Caymanian businesses who deserve your support and admiration.
You focus on those leading issues of the day Hazzard.
Ezzard wants the spotlight so weekly on the Talk Radio he comes up with some motion or issue to keep the focus on Ezzard. Unfortunately his priorities seem to be the softball issues in the country while the really huge and dangerous issues are left to others to deal with.
Ezzard wasn’t happy about his pay cut and didn’t see the significance to the civil service or the people of the country in showing just how in serious danger the country’s finances really are in.
Yawn. What’s next? A legislative motion to investigate those who wear mismatched socks?
I match my socks by thickness, not by colour.
Hey – at least he is doing something.
After nine months of watching this government spend our money on world tours, first class airline tickets, housekeepers, chaffers, hotel rooms abroad and in the Brac etc. it is nice to see someone was still working and actually earning their paycheck.
yet again ezzard is tackling the most serious issues….zzzz…. what a waste of gov’s time
get over it, clamping is here to stay, everybody is aware of it as long as it is properly sign posted
people know when they are parking illegally…. the innocent have nothing to fear…., if you think you are in the right, call the police….
lol….the MLA’s pay-cut has just been justified!
*takes out popcorn*
This will be an interesting one. Go for it Ezzard! These guys think they own the streets!
Its about time the authorities look into this menace. Those Idiots driving around and putting clamps on peoples’ cars. I hope someone is successful with the recharge and get $1000.00 back. The video of the man that paid in pennies, he made my day. I hope they are still counting them.LOL
What a load of rubbish. The majority of motorists have never had their vehicle clamped simply because we park correctly in the spaces provided and leave when our business at that establishment has finished. Simply obey the rules.
Every car that I have seem clamped was simply due to the fact that the driver was not visiting a business that the parking was allocated to, or had not left when they concluded their business, or was in a no-parking area. No business is going to allow their customers car to be clamped & charged, if that customer is legitimately in their place of business. It would be business suicide.
Now if you are parked on a yellow line, in the drive way, not actually visiting the business, disappeared a while ago to go to another business premises, etc., that is a different story.
The company I work for has this problem all of the time: a "customer" parks in the allocated space, comes in for 2 minutes, then disappears elsewhere for over an hour. What happens now when the next legitimate customer arrives? Why should the violater not be clamped?
That’s a pile of hogwash yourself. You do not speak from knowledge only bleed from your mouth. I have been clamped while waiting at the Cell company after approx 32 mins. I was doing business on premises and the guy who clamped me just said so what.
So until you walk a mile in a man’s shoes please refrain from opening your yapper.
If there was nothing here it would not be brought up.
Generally the proceedure they are suppose to operate by is drive by and note cars there then come back in 1 hour or so and clamp. However some days they want to meet a quota and clamp people early.
If I go to say GT at the old drug store plaza and go do some business with the cell company there then hit ala kebob for some food I can guarantee you I am clamped when I get out. So what does this say? I should should not shop at the local businesses. Hell even Cellularworld told me they complained because their customers got clamped and even one of their employees who was there dropping stuff off from the main store got clamped and she swore she was there not even 30 minutes.
So please unless you ACTUALLY know something don’t say anything.
If anyone gets their car clamped while they are conducting business in the establishment to which the parking belongs, then they should complain to the establishment. After all, it is the establishment, or their landlord, that has engaged the parking control firm. If the time allowed if not long enough for them to conclude your business then they need to do something about it.
If, as you say in your example, the two companies could/would not vouch for you actually conducting business at their premises and therefore get your vehicle released, then I would suggest that you do not give them your business ever again & tell everyone you know about it. Then they will exert control over the parking control firm. Arguing with the guy with the clamp is not the answer.
I repeat, I have never had a clamp because I follow the rules and I refuse to trade insults just because you cannot express yourself without them.
Hold on where did I say they did not vouch for me? I was in Cellular World for over 30 minutes waiting for something to be brought over from Mirco centre and they locked me during my stay within cellular world.
I went outside to my car about 30 mins or so after I left the car and found it clamped. I went right back into Cellular World to complain and then I got the story from the girl there who got clamped the week before if my memory serves me.
They said there is nothing they could do. This had nothing to do with them at all. I told the agent who released me that I was only in there for 30 mins and he said sorry his log showed different. I told him his log was wrong and to prove to me I was there and he said it was my job to prove to him not the other way around.
What they should be employing and this happens in the US is the businesses at the address have parking pass stamps that they can stampa card which they have also which grants you access out.
I even mentioned to the agent that I could take him inside and they would tell him that I was there and his words were "not my issue and not how it works".
They do not care about controlling people on the properties as much as they care about dollars through the door. I am behind Ezzard 1000%. I want these thugs closed down.
try parking at corporate center!!
It is obvious to me that the "clampers" are only in it for the money and don’t care much for the parking situation because, by clamping the offender they immobilize the car for as long as it takes to collect their $75.00 and so, the spot is taken up for this period.
I have seen them immobilize a car at Grand Harbour for a complete day in a space where they say would impede fire service in the event of a fire. Now, if it is ok for them to immobilize the vehicle for a day, why can’t someone park in the same spot for a few minutes??
Good point. Tow it, don’t just clamp it.
Have you seen the size of a fire truck? If need be, they would simply remove the clamp and have the fire truck push the little dinky car right out of the way.
OBEY THE LAWS — that means all of them. Don’t park on the double-lines, don’t take up more than one space, dont stop in the middle of the road to honk at a friend or hit on some girlie.
Countless times I have seen people block the roadway (down by Hard Rock) and block the access ramp to the side walk (Blackbeard’s Grand Harbor). Its disgusting to see someone who thinks they are above the regulations that everyone must follow. I don’t care if you are only going in to the store for 5 mins. Pick a spot and walk the extra 10 feet, you lazy @ss!
THANK YOU EZZARD! It’s about time, hopefully you will be able to let the rest of our legislators see this gross injustice that’s been done to all of us motorists.
THANK YOU AGAIN – I hope you are successful in helping us out.
Maybe if people didn’t have the entitlement attitude that has Cayman such a nasty place to be in these days, and parked legally and out of spaces reserved for others – or more importantly – the handicapped (ASIDE – Ignorance, selfishness, laziness, and being fat are NOT handicaps) – then they would not be being clamped.
Noone has the right to park in a reserved place UNLESS IT IS RESERVED FOR THEM!!!
If they have a problem with that, then perhaps they could give me their home address as I am sure they will have no problem with my dog sleeping in their bed tonight!!
Stop being lazy – walk a few feet – exercise is actually good for you and even if it is raining, I doubt a few drops are going to kill you.
I will continue to support these guys, employ their services, and most importantly – REALISE THAT THEIR SIGNS ARE A WARNING AGAINST VIOLATING THE RIGHTS OF ANOTHER PERSON!!!
Cut it out XXXX – crawl back under a rock and come back out when you are ready to tackle the real issues. I don’t know, but it comes to mind that perhaps some of the following should be slightly higher on your agenda…
Murder
Illegal Guns
Child Abuse
Gangs
Obesity (hey – start at home on this one… I am…)
Racism
and the rest of the commandments…
Well said 21:02! Caymanians of Ezzard’s type just can’t see why anyone should get between them and what they want, whether it is a job they are not qualified and experienced for or a parking place they are not supposed to be parking in. I hope his constituents (all 200 of them) are pleased with the sort of time wasting micky mouse stuff he keeps going on about.
Yes we are pleased with our representative because he is asking the questions that some of us want answered and speaking on topics that we would like addressed.After all that is his job.Some of you may not like it because he is standing up for Caymanians ,but you know what :Get used to it.
Boy, are you right about that: This is all about the entitlement attitude and it’s not surprising that Ezzard is leading the charge because he’s a big advocate for entitlement. Too many people think the laws (including those for civil society) are for ‘other’ people. Is it any wonder we have a growing crime problem with a pervasive attitude like that?
To Sour Grapes, I think your name says it all.Now, do you care to tell us what you are sour about.Probably some Caymanian refused to let you walk all over them. Maybe Cayman has become the nasty place that you say it is ,because of the attitude of people like yourself.Just look at your last paragraph and see what I’m talking about.Obviously you are biased against Ezzard and chose to ignore his position on the topics you mention,or you are ignorant of the facts and still decided to make this insulting post.FYI the "Heart smart Health Week "taking place this week was first introduced when Mr Miller was the Exco member with responsibility for health.
And a model of health he is… And I assume you are too, Fizzy. Otherwise you would have no problem parking legally and walking – fitness or fatness – I think I know the answer…
At times I appreciate….. some…. of Mr. Millers stands …..but who gives a biggggg woooo haaa about clamping. The country has no money, no steady form of income, Cayman is driving away financial services, the MLA’s from the past decade have driven off stay over tourism, the hospital can’t produce or balance the books, MT trashmore welcomes all tourists flying or ship to Cayman, the CS is bankrupting the country, crime is rampant, education is floundering, ……
What is the priority here…..
I am glad that Ezzard is taking this on as I am not at all sure that what these clampers are doing is legal. Perhaps if building owners want to employ clampers then they should have a separate license to do so with the license fee being 100% of the money charged.
Mr. Ezzard! Is this the most dire concern you can table in the House right now?
We have crime, rising cost of living, possible job loss to civil servants, environmental concerns etc…and you are consumed with "clampers".
He must have got clamped!