DUBLIN’S MESPIL ROAD has regained its position as the city’s worst blackspot for the clamping of illegally parked vehicles.
New figures on parking enforcement activity in the capital last year show 911 vehicles were clamped on Mespil Road during 2019.
However, the Dublin 4 location is still topped by a street in a west Dublin suburb as the country’s biggest trap for parking offenders.
A total of 1,407 motorists were issued a €40 parking fine for illegally parking on the Main Street in Lucan last year.
Figures published by Dublin City Council show the overall number of vehicles clamped in the city in 2019 rose by almost 8% with an average of 127 offending motorists getting caught each day.
Mespil Road, which is located along the Grand Canal between the bridges at Baggot Street and Leeson Street, had consistently been the most likely location in Dublin city to be clamped for many years before being overtaken by the South Circular Road in 2018.
However, a 19% increase in the number of vehicles detected as being parked illegally on Mespil Road last year has seen it back again in top position as a clamping blackspot.
More than half the vehicles clamped on Mespil Road are for the offence of parking in spaces reserved for buses and coaches.
The South Circular Road had the second highest level of enforcement activity with 642 vehicles clamped followed by Waterloo Road with 549.
The main street in Ranelagh has emerged as a new location where vehicles are likely to be clamped if parked illegally – up from 87 in 2018 to 537 last year – the fourth highest total.
The top 10 clamping blackspots were:
Overall the number of vehicles clamped in Dublin city last year was up almost 8% to 46,516 – an annual increase of over 3,400.
The clamped vehicles would generate revenue of over €3.7m if all their owners paid the standard release fee of €80.
Vehicles which are not removed within 24 hours are towed away and impounded leaving their owners having to pay a release fee of €160 plus a daily storage charge of €35 to have them returned.
Dublin City Council signed a new five-year contract for parking enforcement last September with a company controlling Dublin Street Parking Services which has been operating clamping services in the capital since 2004.
The new contract is worth approximately €36.7m over the five years.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said total income from parking in 2019 had not yet been calculated but the figure was €32m in 2018 consisting of €29m in parking fees and €3m from clamping.
Although there are approximately 30,000 on-street parking spaces in the city, the council said the number of parking spaces fluctuated in the past two years due to suspensions, new schemes and construction projects.
The most common reason why vehicles were clamped last year was due to the failure to have valid paid parking which accounted for approximately a third of all offences.
Over 7,300 vehicles were clamped after their paid parking had expired by over the “grace period” of 10 minutes, while around 4,280 vehicles were detected parking on a clearway.
A total of 465 motorists had their vehicles clamped for parking in a space reserved for disabled drivers without a valid permit, while 227 vehicles were detected obstructing cycle tracks.
Figures obtained from Dublin City Council show the most common time of the day to be clamped is between 11am and 12 midday.
Thursday was the day of the week when the most vehicles were clamped, while the fewest number were clamped on a Sunday.
Somewhat surprisingly, more vehicles were clamped on a Saturday than a Monday, despite fewer parking restrictions being in place in some parts of the city at weekends.
Due to the extended holiday period, December was the month when the least number of vehicles were clamped – just 2,492.
It was around half the level of enforcement activity in the busiest month – May – when 4,798 vehicles were clamped.
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