WINNIPEG – Keep your eye on your mailbox because the city is now mailing parking tickets.
Starting today, if you’re parked in the wrong spot in front of a school or in a fire lane, the city could mail you an infraction.
The city has five enforcement vehicles that can capture licence plates while moving.
The hope is that this will do a better job of catching rule breakers than people on foot.
“Our officer would attend an area, they would identify an infraction and write a ticket. But the person in the vehicle, we don’t have the authority to say, ‘You must wait for your ticket,’” explains Ryan Arabsky, manager of regulations and compliance with the city. “The person can then just drive away, and in a lot of cases all they would do is just circle the block which creates even further safety and traffic issues.”
Arabsky says it’s a problem all over Winnipeg, with rushed parents ignoring pleas from school staff.
“Park a block away, park two blocks away and walk that short distance rather than parking in a no stop zone. It creates a safety hazard and traffic issues as well.”
One of the locations where enforcement vehicles were targeting on the first day was General Wolfe School on Banning. The entrance is on the northbound side of the road, where no parking is allowed, but there is one-hour parking on the southbound side.
This didn’t stop people from idling on the wrong side of the road as school got out. Seven cars could have been ticketed, but the officer told 680 CJOB that she was just giving out warnings today.
Those drivers could have faced fines up to $70. If you illegally park in a fire lane, that could cost you up to $300.
Comments