NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS
COMMON SENSE WINS IN THE GOLDEN STATE
Motorists parking at broken meters in California cannot now be ticketed, following years of confusion over the matter.
Last month the state’s senate passed
a law, sponsored by the American Automobile Association (AAA), after support from both political main parties.
MAYOR SPARKS GENDER ROW
A German mayor has sparked controversy by allocating the ‘more challenging’ parking places in his town to male drivers.
Gallus Strobel, mayor of the Black Forest town of Triberg, made worldwide headlines in July after ruling that each space should be painted with a male or female symbol, depending how difficult it is to park in. Women have been allocated wider and well-lit spaces nearer to the exits of the town’s car parks, while men are being told to use spaces with more difficult angles and those nearer to cement pillars. Strobel has been quoted as saying
that he is aiming to challenge political correctness with the policy, even going as far as to claim that more difficult spaces will prove to be an ‘attraction’ for ambitious drivers.
He told the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung: ‘Men are, as a rule, a little better at such challenges.’ Strobel strenuously denies that the approach is sexist, and has claimed that the ‘equal-minded policy has had mostly positive feedback, and that it will actually attract more people to the town, keen to put their parking skills to the test. He added: ‘There are also great women drivers, they are most welcome!’
MULTISPACE METERS SINGULARLY UNPOPULAR
An experiment with multispace parking meters has been abandoned just after a year after they were installed.
The experiment in Boston, USA, saw 900 single-space meters replaced with 90 multi- space meters last year – at a cost of
12 AUGUST 2012 around $1 million.
But as soon as the new meters were installed, problems began to surface, with complaints that the meters were confusing, slow, and particularly problematic for older drivers.
Those using the meters needed to walk from their parked car to the
multispace meter, print a parking receipt, and return to the vehicle to put the slip in the window. Now, following the political about-turn by the city’s parking authority, plans have been made to reinstall single meters – following a six-month trial and assessment.
www.britishparking.co.uk
AAA has 10 million members in California alone, and reports that member complaints are on the rise as meter technology is changing and ticket fines are getting bigger. It has welcomed the law-change as a victory for common sense. ‘This bill was needed because motorists don’t know what to do when they find they’ve parked at a broken meter,” said Steve Finnegan, government affairs manager for the AAA. ‘That’s because rules change from city to city and they aren’t always posted. This bill fixes this problem by making clear what the rules are so motorists are not unfairly ticketed.’
Shutterstock.com / AXL
Tony Strong/
shutterstock.com
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