No peace for those trying to be “clever” by parking along the road within the blue lines without paying the ticket or renewing the pass when the time is up. The controllers from Gps, Global Parking Solutions, who oversee the city stalls as well as managing a large portion of the barrier parking lots, issued 23 fines per day last year. The sanctions amounted to 8,495 (including some parking prohibitions on yellow lines). With double tickets, this totals a neat 16,000 fines in a year.
No exceptions
Just under 70 percent of the fines were issued by controllers to drivers who hadn't paid despite being comfortably parked within the blue lines. In second place, with around 1,500 cases, are those who thought it unnecessary to renew the ticket even though the allowed time had expired. "What could happen if I stay a bit longer?" And yet, the fine arrived mercilessly. Among the scenarios, there are also the "careless" or perhaps those who believed they were right having purchased a subscription but instead were fined because annual passes are not valid in those spaces. There are also cases of those who usurped spaces reserved for residents: 418 motorists tried to find a spot on the yellow lines without authorization in a year. Fortunately, according to Gps staff's checks, fines issued to those who parked in spaces reserved for disabled people remained very low last year: just four in 365 days.
The methodology
The question of the "double fine," which came into effect in Vicenza in 2015 and still raises discussion, persists, especially because in many cases, Vicentines are not exactly aware of the mechanism of the sanction. In practical terms, when receiving a fine for parking on the blue lines without paying the ticket or for displaying an expired ticket, one has to pay twice, once to the Municipality and once to the operator. The first is the fine for the violation of the traffic code, while the second is an administrative penalty. In case of parking without a ticket, the fine is 41 euros as provided by the traffic code (28.70 euros if paid within 5 days), plus a fixed penalty for the ticket of 25 euros in the central area (zone A), 20 euros in the intermediate area (zone B), and 15 euros in the peripheral area (zone C).
The hardest-hit areas
It sometimes seems like a mirage to find a parking spot in the Viale Eretenio area. Many not only see the oasis of the blue lines but enter it without paying the due toll. A total of 1,587 sanctions. The second most fined area is Viale Giuriolo with 739 fines. It is followed by the former courthouse with 632. Just off the podium, two areas: Piazzale del Mutilato (519) and Via Torino (517).
(GdV, domenica 25 febbraio)