More than 18,000 parking tickets are being handed to British drivers every day, new figures show.
Some 1.7 million vehicle keeper records were requested by parking management firms in the second quarter of 2018-19, according to RAC Foundation analysis of Government data.
This is the highest total on record for one quarter and represents a 20% increase year-on-year.
Parking companies obtain records from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to chase vehicle owners for alleged infringements in private car parks such as at shopping centres, leisure facilities and motorway service areas.
Each resultant penalty charge can cost drivers up to £100.
A Private Member’s Bill which would lead to the introduction of a code of conduct for private car park operators was back before Parliament on Friday.
The Government has committed to supporting Tory former minister Sir Greg Knight’s Parking (Code of Practice) Bill, which has cleared the Commons.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: “Parking should be an inconsequential act with the system working for both drivers and land owners. But yet again we see numbers that suggest the relationship is going badly wrong.
“It is surely inconceivable that 18,000 drivers a day are knowingly setting out to ignore parking rules and attract penalties of up to £100.
“Frankly we think Sir Greg Knight’s Private Member’s Bill can’t come into law too soon, bringing the era of self-regulation of private parking to a close with firms having to abide by a code of practice signed off by ministers.”
The DVLA charges private firms £2.50 per record.
The agency says its charges are set to recover the cost of providing the information and it does not make any money from the process.
– Here are the number of vehicle keeper records obtained from the DVLA by parking management companies since 2006-07:
2017-18: 5.65 million
2016-17: 4.71 million
2015-16: 3.67 million
2014-15: 3.06 million
2013-14: 2.43 million
2012-13: 1.89 million
2011-12: 1.57 million
2010-11: 1.17 million
2009-10: 1.03 million
2008-09: 687,000
2007-08: 499,000
2006-07: 272,000
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