Electric Vehicle Charging Bay - Defective Designation
An Irish electric-vehicle charging bay takes effect from the marking itself. Under Article 44B of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997, wherever traffic sign number RRM 035 is provided, no vehicle may be stopped or parked there. Two things follow, and one widely held belief is wrong. Article 44B contains no by-law requirement, so do not argue that the bay is invalid because no by-law was made — that is not a defence under this Article. The only exemption it gives is for an electrically powered vehicle "the battery of which is being recharged": that is the act of charging, so a vehicle that had finished charging is outside the exemption. What can properly be argued is that RRM 035 was not provided where you parked, or was not legible as that marking, or that the bay carried an information plate specifying hours of operation and you parked outside them.
Legal basis
Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 182/1997) Article 44B, inserted by S.I. No. 325/2014 and amended by S.I. No. 473/2025: where traffic sign number RRM 035 (electrically powered vehicle recharging bay) "is provided, a vehicle shall not be stopped or parked", and that prohibition "shall not apply to a vehicle that is an electrically powered vehicle the battery of which is being recharged"; Article 44B(3) provides that "the period of operation of the recharging bay (or bays) may be specified on an information plate which accompanies traffic sign number RRM 035". Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 433/2025) Regulation 85 prescribes traffic sign number RRM 035 itself. (The Road Traffic (Signs) Regulations 1997 are REVOKED — S.I. No. 200/2024 Regulation 3(a), itself revoked by S.I. No. 433/2025 Regulation 3(a) — and are not relied on.)
How to identify this in your case
Photograph the road surface where you parked, so it shows whether the RRM 035 electrically powered vehicle recharging bay marking was present and still legible as that marking. Photograph any upright sign or information plate beside the bay and record exactly what it says: under Article 44B(3) the hours of operation may be specified on a plate accompanying RRM 035, so a notice issued outside those hours is arguable. If your vehicle is electric and was charging, keep the charging session record showing the battery was being recharged at the time stated on the notice — the exemption covers a battery being recharged, not merely being parked while electric.
Sample appeal wording
Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.
Dear Sir or Madam, Re: Fixed charge notice [NUMBER] — vehicle [REGISTRATION] — [LOCATION] — [DATE] I make representations against the above notice in respect of an electrically powered vehicle recharging bay. Article 44B of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997, inserted by S.I. No. 325/2014 and amended by S.I. No. 473/2025, provides that where traffic sign number RRM 035 is provided a vehicle shall not be stopped or parked, that the prohibition does not apply to a vehicle that is an electrically powered vehicle the battery of which is being recharged, and that the period of operation of the bay may be specified on an information plate accompanying that sign. [Keep only the paragraphs that match your evidence and delete the rest.] A. The vehicle was being recharged. The vehicle is an electrically powered vehicle and its battery was being recharged at [TIME] on [DATE], when the notice was issued. The charging session record is enclosed, showing the session running from [START] to [END]. Article 44B(2) disapplies the prohibition in those circumstances. B. The marking was not provided, or was not legible. At the place the vehicle was parked, traffic sign number RRM 035 was [not present / so faded, worn, patched, painted over or obscured that it was not legible as an electrically powered vehicle recharging bay marking]. Photographs taken on [DATE] are enclosed. The prohibition in Article 44B(1) applies where that sign is provided; it was not provided here. C. The vehicle was parked outside the bay's hours of operation. An information plate accompanying traffic sign number RRM 035 at this location specifies hours of operation of [HOURS]. The vehicle was parked at [TIME], outside those hours. A photograph of the plate is enclosed. I ask you to cancel the fixed charge notice. Yours faithfully, [NAME]
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