This article from Malaysia says it all. People sit in their cars, parked in traffic, and when it’s pointed out to them they ignore you. Parking enforcement officers don’t seem to care whether illegally parked cars are ticketed or not – “They are like flies, shoo them away, others return.”
I have a solution that comes from Peter Guest in the UK. If they have more than one parking ticket in a year, tow them on the second offense. It costs nothing, the towing company will do it and sell the car if the person doesn’t claim it and pay the fees. Returning and finding your car is gone will make people think twice before breaking the rules.
Enforcement isn’t a complicated issue, but it must be consistent. Places like Malaysia where parking rules are new need this consistency.
This is why booting is a solution there. Most people simply ignore the tickets, and never pay the fines. It’s difficult to find them so the citation has little meaning. If, on the other hand, a car is booted from the first offense, the person must pay the fine to have their car released. It not only costs money, but time and trouble. This may not be necessary in countries where most pay the fines. However I’m told by those who know, that in many places around the world, writing tickets is useless unless backed up by strict enforcement.
JVH
