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CLARENDON STREET HAS again emerged as Dublin city’s worst blackspot for the clamping of illegally parked vehicles, as overall clamping rates in the capital rose by 10% last year to over 40,000 vehicles.
It is the third year in a row that Clarendon Street – which runs parallel to Grafton Street at the back of the Westbury Hotel – has topped the list of locations in Dublin where motorists are likely to have their cars immobilised.
Figures provided by Dublin City Council show that the overall number of vehicles clamped within the local authority’s administrative area last year was up 10% to 40,732 – an annual increase of almost 3,600 vehicles.
The most number of vehicles clamped in a single day was on 1 November, 2022 with 181 compared to the daily average of 112 vehicles being immobilised in Dublin last year.
Vehicles were found to be parked illegally at over 1,600 locations across the city by parking enforcement staff from Dublin Street Parking Services operating on behalf of the council.
The increase in clamped vehicles was expected as traffic levels in the city had risen following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions during the third year of the pandemic.
There are around 30,000 on-street parking spaces around the city.
Only around 23,000 vehicles were clamped in Dublin during the first year of major lockdowns to counter the pandemic in 2020.
The latest figures also show Dublin City Council collected over €30.6m in parking fees from parking metres and customers with online accounts in 2022 – an increase of 40% over the previous year.
Income from parking fines, which were introduced in June 2021 to allow for greater enforcement of parking regulations across the city as a complement to clamping, totalled just over €434,000 last year.
Figures from clamping release fees have still to be finalised but are expected to be up significantly due to a combination of increased detections and an increase in the cost of clamped vehicles being released from €80 to €125 which came into effect last February.
The figures show that 751 vehicles were clamped on Clarendon Street last year, although it represented a 39% drop in the number of illegally parked vehicles detected at the same location in 2021 when 1,240 was the record number of vehicles clamped on the same thoroughfare in a single year.
The location which was the city’s worst blackspot for illegal parking for many years – Mespil Road – recorded the second highest number of clamped vehicles last year with 684 – with detections more than doubling over 2021 levels.
The third most common location for clamping vehicles in 2022 was South Circular Road – another known target area for parking enforcement staff – with 586.
Other areas which recorded increased clamping activity last year included North Great George’s Street, Castleforbes Road, Synge Street and Chelmsford Road.
The latest figures show the most common parking offence by motorists in Dublin city last year was non-payment for use of a parking bay which accounted for 41% of all clamping events.
Over 4,700 vehicles were clamped for parking on a clearway with Clarendon Street and Chelmsford notable locations for the offence and another 2,357 for parking on a footpath with prime locations New Ireland Road in Rialto and O’Devaney Gardens in Stoneybatter.
Figures show 1,328 were caught for parking in an operational bus lane with a large portion of offences detected on Waterloo Road and South Circular Road.
A total of 314 motorists had their vehicles immobilised for parking in a disabled driver’s space without displaying a valid badge with Fishamble Street and Parnell Square prime locations for the offence.
The figures also reveal that 71 motorists were caught misusing spaces reserved for electric vehicles, 67 for parking on a pedestrianised street, while 42 vehicles were clamped for parking on cycle paths.
Between 8am and 9am remains the time of day when offending motorists are most likely to get their vehicle clamped with the other high-risk periods occurring between 7am and midday.
Statistics show Thursday remains the day of the week when offending motorists are most likely to be caught with 6,859 vehicles clamped on Thursdays last year.
Considerably fewer detections are made on Saturdays and Mondays (approximately 5,600 each) with just under 2,600 vehicles clamped on Sundays.
On a monthly basis, the most number of vehicles clamped occurred in July with 3,870, while the least number – 2,157 vehicles – were clamped in December.
The top 10 Clamping blackspots in Dublin City in 2022 (Previous year ranking in brackets) were:
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Totally unrelated to Article.
Why have the Journal stopped reporting on the Pascal Donohoe issue yet are going after SF?
Thought the Journal was a media source that would report not be like RTE?
Go after all the infractions by all parties otherwise ye loose all credit..
But this is typical of media in this country
@James Johnson: why has anything new happened in the Pascal Donohoe issue. Have they found more?
@Darren Byrne: if you watch the Debates he tries to speak when asked to clarify if he will commit to speaking before the house but Martin pushing him down eventually he says he will. I’m not just out for Pascal but every political figure with dirty hands. It’s a disgrace
@James Johnson: Both the Pascal and SF stories warrant Page 8 coverage in a newspaper. That they are covered in Ireland almost to the same extent as Zahawi and Lady Mone multiple million pound scandals in U.K. is illuminating.
The price of parking in Dublin is scandalous, particularly given the lack of transport alternatives for many and the state of many of the roads, some look like they have been carpet bombed.
@Jules: Dart, Bus, Luas, Feet, Bicycle not enough??
@Jules: you don’t have to drive in all the way and if you aren’t considering where you are parking then it is your own fault. Drivers love to go on about nowhere to park to justify parking where they like. There is still a lack of enforcement. I could walk out my front door and find 40+ cars parked illegally in 10 minutes and that is the Dublin suburbs. Points to licences should be added for parking illegally say 1 point for every 3 parking fines. It does put peoples lives at risk by blocking cycle lanes
@David O’Connor: You are assuming that Jules lives in Dublin, does not have mobility/health issues or accompanied by young children particularly infants in buggies and does not want to transport any items, luggage, significant amount of shopping, don’t think your solutions work for everybody but continue to deny that car transport for many is the only means to suit their circumstances.
@David O’Connor: Luas and Dart only serve certain areas of Dublin. Bus service is rubbish, and some people are not able to cycle for health reasons. And some people like myself work at 6.30am across the city. Fed up of being vilified.
@Honeybee: it is completely disingenuous to suggest that is who is parking illegally. Yes there are people who have much more limited choices. They are by no way the majority who park illegally and we make allowances for people with disabilities who also suffer from bad and illegal parking. Cars parked on the path certainly restrict wheelchair users. It is mostly selfish drivers parking illegally. The exceptions are that with most drivers parking selfishly
@Lisa Jones: whats working across the city got to do with illegal parking
@Honeybee: what have all the things you listed got to do with illegal parking?? Mobility/health issues aside, are you saying that public transport doesn’t serving any of the rest?
@Craic_a_tower: You are right, it would be disingenuous, that is why I did not suggest it. I was replying to David’s post about alternate forms of transport which I was simply pointing out are not suitable or available to all of us. Illegal parking is not defensible but I do have sympathy for people whose time limit expires before they make it back to their vehicle just to be issued with a ticket or clamped because of a few minutes in the difference when their vehicle poses no obstruction. It is really stressful if you have an appointment and are watching the clock if there is a delay which is outside your control.
@Honeybee: Why not get a taxi or park legally? I agree that one way to look at the clamping blackspots is to provide more car parks, but come on, where does it end? I dread to think what Dublin traffic will be like once the National Children’s Hospital opens.
Not surprised, Clarendon Street markings are very confusing
They can put some of that €30.6m into sorting out the roads. Just drove down Fitzwilliam Street upper to lower and it’s like a ploughed field. Streets are in bits.
The signs are misleading and difficult to understand. That could be the main reason it is such a heavily clamped street.
Pedestrianise Clarendon Street…problem solved overnight!
have your say