Speed Cameras & Speeding Fines Blog

Melbourne’s council coffers is now raising $1 every second as parking inspectors continue to fine violators every minute all over the city.

On a report published by The Herald Sun – after getting hold of a compilation report of every ticket issued on parking violations with the first half of 2009 on the entire city of Melbourne.  It was discovered that there were about 240,000 tickets issued within that time frame alone.  Given this number, The Herald Sun dug deeper into the hidden truths about parking in Melbourne City.

Careful study made on the city’s parking showed that at the rate that parking tickets are being issued, it is expected that drivers are on the brink of paying over $40 million in fines this year.  This amount is about 80% of the total figures collected over the last 10 years.  Furthermore, this amount excludes the over $20M that they are able to collected from the parking meters and ticketing machines.

Among the streets that are considered to be top grossers when it comes to parking tickets issued are Lonsdale, Queen, Collins, Exhibition and Russell.  Toping the list is Lonsdale where tickets issued raised almost 10% of the city’s fine.

There’s also the problem on parking meter defects which puts drivers in danger of being fined.  The most common cases are coins jamming the machine and timing errors among others.  It was further discovered that there are at least 150 meters posing to be a problem everyday.  Multi-bay machines also suffer problems especially during wet weather thus creating extra tickets for drivers.

It seems that parking inspectors also take advantage of sport events like blockbuster footy matches, Ben Cousins’ return game and the bushfires tribute as these days were one of the most ticketed days in the city.

Additional offenses that rise up to the occasion are assaults and verbal attacks on parking inspectors which has doubled within the past five years as there are some drivers could not restrain themselves from showing their frustration over the high fees and fines being slapped on them.

Was all this the result of what they’ve learned from the lecture that former premier Jeff Kennett gave them last October where he discussed how they could maximize opportunities during challenging times?

On a statement issued by Melbourne City Council parking spokesperson Cr Brian Shanahan, he confirmed that parking fees and fines are a good source of revenue for the city.  He further explained that the more fees and fines they get, the lesser they get to charge ratepayers.  But according to him this is not something that they take pleasure of doing and imposing on people.  It was a necessity that has to be implemented.

To further justify his statement, he explained that these drivers who are being fined for their violations are costing city traders because the latter were getting fewer visits from other customers.  The move was more of trying to create a situation where spaces are turned over quickly.

Shanahan then tried to analyze the situation by saying that about 10% of the traffic at CBD comes from drivers who keeps circling around in an effort to find an on-street space.  This shortage on street space is expected to get a whole lot worst as predictions of drier weather by the council in Melbourne is projected to lower the use of off-street car parks.

This move of the council has brought about a lot of resentments from drivers who felt that the tickets are being issued by parking inspectors who seemed to be watching over meters eager to slap tickets as soon as they hear the machine tick.

Shanahan defended these parking inspectors by saying that there are no quotas set nor bonuses to be paid for additional tickets issued.  It’s all about implementing the rules on parking and allowing others to use the space right after them.

While complaints continue to increase by the thousands, there are still some people who find this strict implementation of policy a good way to teach people.