Disc Parking - Expensive Welcome to Edam

[DM]

We visited Edam in The Netherlands today to have a wander around and pick-up some cheese.

Having parked in a ‘Free for 4 hours’ car park we had a wander and returned to the van about 1 hour later to find a €104 parking ticket. Apparently it was a disc parking zone. No signage - just a very small symbol under the P which apparently designated disc parking.

So - what should I do?

1. Pay up and learn a salutary lesson. There isn’t even any discount for early payment as far as i can see.

2. Write to the Council with a letter to the tourist board explaining my ignorance and asking for leniency as there was no signage to explain what I should do (in Dutch or English)

3. Ignore it. Can / will a town council bother to get my details from DVLA and even if they do would they actually take enforcement action on an overseas driver. It’s not endorsable after all.

Has anyone been pursued for a parking fine in The Netherlands?

 

[ThomasHJ]

Ah that's too bad. But I don't think it's anything to really worry about. These parking spots are supposed to be lined with blue colored stripes and signs like the one below. Indicating the time you're allowed to park. You're obligated to place a blue colored card with a clock on your dash. Indicating at which time you arrived.

I googled it and it seems that (as in many countries) the British authorities don't share vehicle owner data with foreign countries. And in Britain it's the driver who gets fined, whereas in the Netherlands it's the car's registered owner. Also, it a municipal fine. They have even less capacity to follow up on these things. The articles explain that cities are unable to collect millions of fines from tourists each year. So my advice would be option 2: try and get out of it. And if that doesn't work, you could consider option 3. I honestly doubt you'll here about it. And even if you do, they won't be able to enforce it. However, I read that in some cities tourists get a wheel clamp after 3 unpaid fines, because tourists can't be forced to pay the fines. So that supports the idea that you can forget it, however, make sure you don't do it 3 times ;-)

 

[Jodalo]

Great hospitality! Makes you wonder why they issue the ticket if they can’t enforce it. I suppose they rely on people just paying up. And all for some tasteless plastic cheese.

 

[Hotel California]

How do you supposed the free 4h are checked when you parked up?
You should have put your disk behind the front window , simple as that.

 

[ThomasHJ]

@Jodalo your 'great hospitality' comment is a bit short sighted and somewhat unfair if you ask me. Tickets/fines for failing to abide by the law happen in all countries. In yours to. That has'nt much to do with a lack of hospitality, but more with keeping society liveable for all people, including tourists who come to visit. The fact that tourist sometimes are somewhat ignorant about local rules doesn't and shouldn't change that. You wouldn't want tourists in your home town breaking the law whenever they want without repercussions, messing up your daily life. If the signs wern't there, DM kan fight the ticket and will succesfully. If he just wasn't informed than it's not strange if it would be enforced. The fact that they can't enforce it has to do with bilateral agreements, not so much with whether you ethically/morally should pay up or not. Oh and as far as the cheese is conceirned, I don't like edammer cheese either but cheddar isn't anything to brag about either

 

[DM]

unable to collect millions of fines from tourists each year.

If it had been €30 or €40 then I’d probably have paid it. But €104!

I’ll take the risk. Highly unlikely to return to Edam twice more so I’ll risk the clamp

 

[Jodalo]

Chortle! I knew it was the cheese comment.

 

[DM]

How do you supposed the free 4h are checked when you parked up?
You should have put your disk behind the front window , simple as that.

I acknowledge my mistake - but it was genuine. We do have disc parking in the UK but not where I live. Limited free parking is policed by the wardens noting the cars parked at a particular time and returning later. The discs mean that they can save a second visit but it’s not the only way.

Where there is disc parking in the UK it has to be clearly signed. I searched the car-park. There was no explanatory notice so it was totally dependent upon everybody knowing the system.

 

[DM]

Chortle! I knew it was the cheese comment.

Cheese wars . I’m particularly partial to a bit of Brie.

 

[Jodalo]

Mmmm! Me too. But give me Stilton any day.

 

[westfalia]

How do you supposed the free 4h are checked when you parked up?
You should have put your disk behind the front window , simple as that.

I parked up in the UK recently and my mate parked behind me in a
Max 2hr stay.
I set the time on my clock, he didn't have one and thought it was strange
that i had one. He'd never seen one before.

 

[Hotel California]

Been in a lot of countries all over europe and if i'm not sure about yes or no i need a ticket or display the disk my habbit is to look at other cars parked up next or even ask people what the norm is , i agree it's not always clear. Even here in Belgium you can enter a disk-zone without noticing while driving and park up leaving your car behind unaware .

I even think that if the ticketmachine is out of order one needs to place the disk so they can check since when you are parked .

 

[soulstyledevon]

You got a parking ticket in a foreign country.
Easy fix.........

 

[TripleBee]

In France they do it a bit more logic. In the lines of paid parking spaces they put the word "PAYANT" (meaning you have to pay):



Where you have to place the blue time disk they have blue lines:



Makes it a lot easier to know what rules are going on in what place.

 

[ThomasHJ]

In the Netherlands we have the exact same blue lines...

 

[DM]

It was a car park where I got caught out.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Having a parking disc in your glove box is an important bit of Cali travel kit, IMO. You never know when you'll need one, even in the UK in a few places.

 

[TripleBee]

In the Netherlands we have the exact same blue lines...

I think they should put it in a European law, so everyone would know it's the same rule in every country.
Oh, did I say European? Then every country will choose it's own laws...

 

[DM]

Having a parking disc in your glove box is an important bit of Cali travel kit, IMO. You never know when you'll need one, even in the UK in a few places.

I have one - just didn’t realise I needed to use it

 

[Eber123]

Good afternoon,

To be in trouble with the "rules of the road" happens very quickly at home, in the own country and in a country one visits.

To drive a wee bit faster than allowed (knowingly or ignoring it) happens to everybody on a daily basis. Parking can be challenging, and sometimes it is not clear what the local council try to implement.

People living in the area get use it it, people visiting might be sometimes in a total loss because signs and explanation is not clear, old and washed out. If that happens there is always a chance to get in trouble.

My wife and I have very different "parking approaches". She hates to spend one single cent on parking, while I actually prefer to use a car park that is clearly signed and charge for parking. Using a payable car park gives me the good feeling that there won't be any nasty surprises (well, what I am trying to say the rest risk is significant lower). Cost for parking is for me a part of the travel budget (like motorway tolls).

If it is not possible to find an official car park I follow the process as mentioned before... I check the other cars or ask people passing by, in the hope to find out what is going on (even if it is in Dublin, because there are places it is not clear either).

Last summer during our Europe trip I drove through a little village in the morning, destination Poland. In the middle of the village there was a 30 km zone. I missed this and I saw the flash of the speed camera. I was expecting a fine, but it never arrived. Now I don't expect any because it is too long ago.

Decision to pay or not to pay is something that is yours, but I would not contact the local council providing contact information during the process and later decide to ignore any follow up.

Have I said all that. Park fines are a pain in the neck, but EUR 104.00 for a parking violation is terrible. It is only acceptable if a parking slot of a handicap person is occupied, or for dangerous parking.

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[babble]

i've been caught out here in Belgium with that little sign saying you need to put one of those discs on display. only cost me 25 euro though. Can you prove what time you parked some other way?

 

[TripleBee]

I have one - just didn’t realise I needed to use it

View attachment 56199

Even with this disk, you will be fined.
The lawful disk only has the hour and half hour mark. The 15 minutes mark is gone.
You'd better buy a new one.

Old one with a fine (not mine!)


Legal one:

 

[ThomasHJ]

@DM: if you do consider challenging the fine, this might help you succeed:

From what I can find, (Im luckily not an expert on this subject) in the whole of our country there is no parking fine of 104 euro's. All local governments decide for themselves but the municipality with the highest fine amount for this offense states 63,80 euros. But almost all municipalities stick to 62.70 euros.

104 euro's is not a normal fine amount for 'not paying'. In the Edam-Volendam municipality, 104 euros IS HOWEVER a fine amount for:

- entering a zone with a vehicle above 3500 KG where that's not allowed or....
- changing/resetting the 'parking disc' without actually moving the vehicle

The only other option is that 104 euros is the amount of the fine + the amount you should have paid for the parking time. But the chance that that coincidentally adds up to 104 euros seems slim ;-)

So, you probably have a good change of beating the fine if you decide to go through the trouble. I know I wouldn't.

 

[aileron346]

It’s true that it’s tricky following all the different rules in different countries and regions, but you don’t have to travel much in the UK to see that we enforce rules with gusto against people who could never be expected to know the rules. Travel on any long distance train and watch tourists be regularly stung for massive fares because they didn’t understand the small print of their rail ticket.

Actually I’d quite like to see a bit more lenience for tourists, but we should put our own house in order first before criticising others.

But a nice fine; sympathy for that though.

 

[DM]

@DM: if you do consider challenging the fine, this might help you succeed:

From what I can find, (Im luckily not an expert on this subject) in the whole of our country there is no parking fine of 104 euro's. All local governments decide for themselves but the municipality with the highest fine amount for this offense states 63,80 euros. But almost all municipalities stick to 62.70 euros.

104 euro's is not a normal fine amount for 'not paying'. In the Edam-Volendam municipality, 104 euros IS HOWEVER a fine amount for:

- entering a zone with a vehicle above 3500 KG where that's not allowed or....
- changing/resetting the 'parking disc' without actually moving the vehicle

The only other option is that 104 euros is the amount of the fine + the amount you should have paid for the parking time. But the chance that that coincidentally adds up to 104 euros seems slim ;-)

So, you probably have a good change of beating the fine if you decide to go through the trouble. I know I wouldn't.

Thanks for this. The ticket seems to be made up of a €95 fine and €9 admin charge. I can’t really make head not tail of it. See below.

I don’t weigh over 3500Kg and I hadn’t interferes with the disc (as I didn’t have one). Now could they have added a parking charge as there wasn’t one - it was free for up to 4 hours - I stayed less than 90 mins.