It doesn’t matter if you’re driving a brand new sportscar or a beaten-up old banger, the warning from Monaco’s Public Parking Service to those inconsiderate drivers who park poorly or use public carpark as personal garages is the same: impounding has begun.  

Monaco’s government is tired of people taking advantage of the public carparks in the Principality. So tired, in fact, that two ministerial decrees and a Sovereign Ordinance intended to ensure “better use of the spaces available” and punish those out flout basic rules have been issued.  

NOW IN EFFECT 

The new rules, which went into effect on 1st November, take aim at the people who misuse public parking lots through behaviours and actions such as parking for extended periods, taking up more than one space or, incredibly, using a parking space as a private storage facility by leaving large and cumbersome items on spots that could otherwise be used for parking.  

In a statement made on the tenuous situation, the government said, “Public car parks are not immune to various incivilities, ranging from the abandonment of vehicles to the storage of bulky items, which penalise those who have no parking space… These vehicles prevent the rotation of parking spaces and sometimes present a security risk, particularly if [the vehicle] is in poor condition, and thus constitute a danger for users and public parking facilities.” 

CONSEQUENCES 

The Public Parking Service and its agents have now been given freer rein and increased authority to deal with any parking-related problems that may arise or be reported.  

For example, from now on, vehicles parked improperly or abandoned for a long period of time in the same space, without a subscription, can be impounded “more efficiently”, giving real consequences to rulebreakers.  

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Photo source: Troy T, Unsplash