Selectively fining 'outsiders'

A number of contributors confuse time-controlled parking with residents' parking, which they see as one and the same. They are not. Whereas time-controlled parking is, indeed, a proven way of managing parking in areas of high traffic density - and one extensively used internationally - it is only in Malta that I have ever seen this implemented such that it exempts local residents, allowing them to park for unlimited periods. In Europe - which we so long aspired to join - traffic regulations do not discriminate between drivers.

By trying hard to find other instances of the discriminatory scheme used in Pietà in other localities, some correspondents' efforts backfire on them. The fact that a handful of these exist does not make them right. What it does show is that this discriminatory form of parking is spreading - which was easily foreseen, and is what originally induced me to put pen to paper.

The question that correspondents benefiting from such discrimination need to answer is a simple one: Would they be in favour of the said parking scheme operating in all local councils, and not just their own? Do they not see that this would make it immeasurably harder for people to find a place to park anywhere - except, of course, in their own locality? And would that not defeat the purpose of having a car in the first place?

There is in fact a bigger issue at stake - namely regarding a phenomenon which has increased significantly over the last year: the use of fines by local councils as a revenue source. This is where council members would seem to have a clear conflict of interest. If they fine the local residents, they will fall out of favour, and likely not be re-elected. If, on the other hand, they can devise ways of fining those from outside their area, then (besides having more funds to spend) they can use at least part of the money to benefit local residents, thus gaining greater support.

Time-controlled parking which "favours residents", as some have put it, is an ideal way of selectively fining people, depending on whether or not they are from the local area. The more extensively it is implemented, the easier it is for locals to park (i.e. the more the council gains the support of its residents), and the harder for everybody else (who cares!), thus increasing revenue potential.

The use of CCTV cameras around such areas is particularly efficient: if somebody overstays in a parking space, even by a single minute, s/he is automatically fined - unless of course it happens to be a local resident, for whom the rules do not apply. This benefits everybody within the council, including local car park operators, for whom this generates business, as those who have sustained fines realise this to be the cheaper alternative.

From a purely parochial perspective, this is a highly attractive solution. There is, however, one major flaw. We usually use our cars to travel, and, given the miniscule size of our local councils, the likelihood that a journey takes us outside our locality is fairly high. This will therefore frequently set us up as targets of councils other than our own. From citizens of an already tiny island, we will suddenly become "outsiders" to more than 98 per cent of it! Do we really want the parochial thinking and small-mindedness bound to result from this sort of practice to even exist?

Few people would deny that the wardens have become exceedingly trigger-happy, often abusing the fact that people frequently prefer to pay a fine than waste an afternoon contesting an unjustly issued ticket. What when all councils adopt this new approach of selectively fining "outsiders"?