Hostility towards Navan traffic wardens highlighted

Meath County Council had the highest recorded number of abusive incidents towards traffic wardens in the country with 20 incidents recorded in Navan between January and August this year including a number of serious threats and physical altercations.

Local authority records obtained under Freedom of Information by thejournal.ie showed that Meath County Council had the highest number of recorded incidents.

According to thejournal.ie, in one incident, a warden at Kennedy Place in Navan in June observed three cars parked in clearway. He asked the drivers to move on and they refused. The warden said he would issue a fine and that the drivers responded by “laughing and making fun of him”. He then issued a fine.

As he was putting it on the windscreen the “driver drove off and as he was driving he grabbed traffic warden’s shirt”. The warden managed to pull free, but the council said the driver “then got out of the car and punched [the] traffic warden in the head”.

In March, a comment was posted on Facebook about a warden which stated: “Follow him home and burn him out”. According to theJournal.ie article, Meath County Council said this was “reported to gardaí who said the law does not cover Facebook” and gardaí advised the warden to report the comment to Facebook.

Other incidents in Navan included:

A taxi driver on Kennedy Road in July was “very rude and aggressive and shouted at [the] traffic warden”. According to the council’s report, the driver said “he would make his job hell and he would break his legs if he saw him near his car again”. The incident was reported to gardaí.
A fine was issued on Fairgreen Road in March for parking on a double yellow line. The owner became verbally abusive as the warden had issued a fine for tax the previous day. He told the warden that if he came his way the next day he would “put his head through the windscreen”. The incident was reported to gardaí.
The warden issued a ticket to a vehicle which was parked on double yellow lines. The owner shouted abuse at the warden and when he was passing by in the car rolled down the window and said he would come back with his brothers and “bust [the] traffic warden’s nose”. This was reported to gardaí.
While the traffic warden was taking photos of a car parked on double yellow lines, a car drove past and someone inside “threw a bread roll at him”.
A fine was issued for parking in the central median on Kennedy Place. The owner became verbally abusive. As the warden was leaving the area, the owner passed in the car and “gestured to him with his hand”.