There are all types of evasion and without going right into this particular
case there is a lot of evasion on the tubes and buses.
The current estimate (this is only what I heard) is around £45 million a
year.
Ascertaining the difference between a genuine mistake and deliberate
avoidance is tricky but that is why we have the protection of the
Magistrates Court who can make the ultimate decision. Many countries on the
continent have a penalty system like parking fines or speed cameras. You
can end up with a spot fine of around £100.
Steve
"David Varnham" wrote in message
...
I think it is a terrible waste of time and money and serves no real
purpose.
People make mistakes, I have before and I think any londoner that uses
transport every single day will sympathise with this particular traveller.
They will look back at the time they thought their tc was valid and it
wasn't. It happens to people every single day and it seems that the only
difference between getting away with it and being prosecuted comes down to
luck and the discretion of the revenue protection officer. Why prosecute
people? I would have thought that the criminal justice system should only
be
brought in where the person caught has be caught a number of times? If LT
want to recoup money why not simply employ more revenue protection
officers,
I am sure they'll pay for themselves in the long run.
--
============
David Varnham
Sponsor me running the Windsor Half Marathon in September he
http://www.justgiving.co.uk/varnham
All sponsorship money goes to Mind.
"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
news
In message , Richard J.
writes
I don't understand why this wasn't dealt with by imposing a £10 penalty
fare.
Yes I thought I was alone in this thread at being surprised that it
wasn't dealt with in this way. In fact I thought that imposing a £10
penalty was the automatic way to deal with such cases.
I can only assume that they've had a lot of fare evasion on that
route, and wanted a few prosecutions as a deterrent.
That makes sense, I suppose, especially since the "honesty" policy of
not checking every ticket/pass now being adopted is so "foreign" to the
average UK passenger. Certainly up here on Midland Metro the fare
evasion before the introduction of conductors appeared to reach dizzying
proportions, if the number of people caught when they *did* do check was
anything to go by.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk