Thousands of parking tickets from camera scanning cars withdrawn per year
Thousands of parking fines issued as a result of a scanning car detecting a violation are withdrawn per year after the recipient files an appeal. Errors arise from incorrect time stamps or GPS address matching, the Telegraaf reports after surveying 18 municipalities that use camera scanning cars. An average of 18 percent of fines are appealed per year, and about half of them are then withdrawn.
Municipalities are still satisfied with using scanning cars to detect parking violations. It reduces the burden that these types of checks put on municipalities’ capacity. Camera scanning can also cover a much larger area per hour than inspectors can.
Several municipalities also noted that the high percentage of withdrawn fines includes many motorists who were at fault, but had extenuating circumstances. In most of these cases, the municipality still grants the objection and scraps the fine. In Amsterdam, only 2 percent of parking fines were scrapped “due to an error on our part,” a spokesperson told the newspaper.
Stories about scanning cars issuing incorrect fines make the news now and again. In Eindhoven, for example, the municipality fined many locals for parking in a courtyard located on the grounds of a housing association, where the city has no jurisdiction. In Amsterdam, a motorist received a parking ticket while he was driving. In Noordwijk, the scanning car misread license plates when it was just introduced, resulting in many unjust fines.
Municipalities told the Telegraaf that they try to prevent these kinds of errors with follow-up inspections. In some cases, they send an official to the scene.
