Aachen employs smart phones to bust illegal parkers
Authorities in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Aachen are clamping down on illegal parking by using cameras on smart phones to make it almost impossible to challenge a citation.
The move makes Aachen the first large city in Germany – it has about 260,000 inhabitants – to use the technology to enforce parking laws, according to municipal officials.
Photos from the “crime scene” make protests futile and will save the city €80,000 per year, said Detlev Fröhlke, a spokesman for the city office that enforces parking ordinances, on Wednesday.
When parking enforcers find illegally parked cars, they are instructed to take three photos in order to confirm the offence. The data they enter in the system is compared with the photos to ensure everything is being documented properly.
The system has been in use for a month and if it’s successful Aachen hopes to use it to enforce other offences, such as the illegal dumping of garbage or unauthorized advertising on roads.
The Local/DPA/mdm
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The move makes Aachen the first large city in Germany – it has about 260,000 inhabitants – to use the technology to enforce parking laws, according to municipal officials.
Photos from the “crime scene” make protests futile and will save the city €80,000 per year, said Detlev Fröhlke, a spokesman for the city office that enforces parking ordinances, on Wednesday.
When parking enforcers find illegally parked cars, they are instructed to take three photos in order to confirm the offence. The data they enter in the system is compared with the photos to ensure everything is being documented properly.
The system has been in use for a month and if it’s successful Aachen hopes to use it to enforce other offences, such as the illegal dumping of garbage or unauthorized advertising on roads.
The Local/DPA/mdm
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