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Welcome to the April edition of the SPARKS Network ezine, which helps local authorities improve enforcement of parking, moving vehicles, congestion charges, road tolls and low emission zone regulations against vehicles registered in other countries. SPARKS presents at Parkex in Birmingham Join SPARKS Network manager Bill Blakemore as he shares the latest views on enforcement of parking, moving vehicles, congestion charges, road tolls and low emission zones against vehicles registered in other countries. Bill is speaking on Wednesday, 22 April at 11am on the topic How can we accelerate traffic enforcement across national borders For more information visit the Parkex website. Parkex, Birmingham NEC, 21-23 April 2009 Proposed insurance regulations unenforceable against FRVs The UK’s proposed continuous insurance enforcement regulations ignore offences by foreign vehicles, currently between one and three per cent of vehicles on UK roads. Scheme operators will be unable to tell whether FRVs are legally insured in their own country, or completely uninsured, so will not be able to enforce the regulations against non-UK vehicles. Insurance proposals ignore foreign offenders FRVs will continue to flout law despite new sanctions New on-the-spot payment and immobilisation powers for the police and vehicle examiners fail to address most foreign registered traffic offenders, according to the SPARKS Network. Until the government focuses on how to deal with offending FRVs observed by enforcement cameras, most foreign drivers will continue to ignore local driving and parking laws. New police and VOSA powers fail to address most FRV offenders Urban mobility action plan takes into account decriminalised offences In its vote on 31 March on the urban mobility action plan, the transport committee adopted an amendment calling for the European Commission to take account of the needs for cross-border enforcement. The SPARKS Network is grateful to members who helped secure this amendment. MEPs adopt SPARKS-supported amendment FRV offenders rack up +£1m in penalties in Northern Ireland More than £1m in penalty charge notices issued in Northern Ireland to vehicles from the Irish Republic, remained unpaid during 2008, according to a report on BBC Radio Four You & Yours programme broadcast on 3 April. The SPARKS Network welcomes new member VVSG (Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten), the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities in Belgium. The network also has a new url – www.sparksnet.org - and a new logo voted for by members. The SPARKS Network welcomes members from public and private organisations involved in traffic management in EU member states. Full details on membership benefits, membership categories and becoming a member are on the website
The SPARKS Network is an initiative that enables local authorities in the UK and EU member states to collaborate in resolving the issue of cross-border enforcement of civil traffic contraventions. Our objective is for traffic enforcement to be equally effective against all vehicles irrespective of nationality. Aims include identifying legislative solutions, increasing awareness of the issues within government, working with local authorities to seek common solutions and gathering data to build a coherent picture of the size and impact of the issue. Find out more about SPARKS
The SPARKS Network works hard to ensure that information on our websites are up-to-date and accurate and that applications function correctly. The SPARKS Network will treat any personal information that you provide to us in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. We welcome your views on this ezine, which should be addressed to the editor Jo Ann Sweeney at |
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 www.sparksproject.org |
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