German authorities have a new way of making sure that motorists don’t cause any more parking obstructions – they simply give them a parking ticket without a fine.
Yes, the tickets, put on carelessly parked cars, include a fine of €0 and the message “Lucky you!!!” Eh…not giving people a fine for causing an obstruction? Somehow we don’t think this will work out too well.
Then again, seeing as how Germany is noted for its strict adherence to rules and regulations, it could be some kind of reverse psychology. Motorists will be so freaked out by the fact that they DON’T have to pay a fine, they’ll make sure that they park better the next time they get in the car. Hmm…again…how do the authorities think that this will work?
“The tickets serve as a warning to parking offenders,” said Regina Thielemann, a spokeswoman for the city of Potsdam where the zero-fine parking tickets are being dished out.
“They’re issued when the driver isn’t around. So they’re given written notice when they’d ordinarily only get a verbal warning,” she added.
Postdam is the state capital of Brandenburg and the city earned around €1.2million from parking fines in 2011. Around 120,000 parking tickets were issued last year. With the city making so much money from bad parking, you’d have to wonder why they’ve suddenly stopped charging motorists. It’s probably because Germany is absolutely raking in the money given the current state of the European economy.
“I thought ‘Oh no – got another ticket’,” said one recipient.
“I’ve paid loads of parking fines before because there are so few parking spaces in the area,” she added.
Could you imagine if Ireland started doing this? People would just start leaving their cars in the middle of the M50. Maybe it MIGHT work in Germany, but over here it would be absolute chaos.
