From the front, the...
From the front, the Tender - which we previewed back in issue 826 - looks like a standard MINI, but it"s actually 72cm longer. There is no roof, and the stylists have done away with the conventional doors, too. Instead, the model features a Jeep-style cut-out in either side.
In the past few days...
In the past few days, I"ve had personal experience myself. Last week, when I politely asked a parking attendant if I was allowed to leave my vehicle in a certain spot, not only did she refuse to offer me a response, but she looked at me as though I was something she"d just stepped in.
This woman had hate running through her, from the tip of her cap right down to her size nine, steel-toed boots. Who needs to get involved with legitimate anti-car protests, marches and debate when you can be paid to pull on a uniform and wear a badge that gives you a licence to pick on motorists so easily?
Certain factions may claim drivers are only ever fined if they do something wrong. Not so. Within the last few weeks, it has been revealed that in London, Westminster Council parking attendant L4150 issued 682 penalty notices over a period of 13 months, thereby raising around í‚á£68,000 in revenue for his grateful bosses. Trouble is, the man with a number - but conveniently for him no name - appeared to work in a fraudulent manner, according to the Independent Parking Adjudicator.
Attendant L4150 issued a í‚á£100 ticket to a Roy Briggs, who had done nothing to deserve a fine. When he complained, Westminster Council backed its man up. Fortunately for Mr Briggs, he had video evidence which proved his innocence, and won him í‚á£1,040 compensation. But one question worth asking is how many L4150s are out there? Others are what"s his name, where is he from and when will he be thoroughly investigated, charged, put in the dock and - hopefully - prosecuted and punished? Not that car and driver-loathing attendants are the only uniformed officials who can abuse their positions.
One trainee cop was so keen to be let loose on drivers that he stands accused of impersonating a fully trained officer, stealing a police uniform and allegedly issuing parking fines as well as directing traffic. Thankfully, a smart senior officer caught him in the act, hauled him in for questioning and informed him that he faced serious charges. Unsurprisingly, the trainee has since resigned.
But I bet you a tenner he"s now considering doing the next best thing, by applying for a job as a traffic warden or parking attendant. Another tenner says he"s also thinking about working part-time as a wheel clamper. And until motorists are seen as honest members of the public, rather than second-class citizens, these jumped-up people with little train-ing, and even less scruples, will be given the power to punish them as they so wish.