Ross Giblin/Stuff
The number of parking tickets issued by Wellington City Council continues to drop, down from 145,364 to 109,432 in the first 11 months of this year . (File photo)
When a bright red car parked in a two-hour Wellington City Council parking bay stayed for more than six, it became a 2022 parking statistic.
The car parked outside Stuff’s Wellington offices in Brandon St became one of the 2419 vehicles towed across the capital in relation to parking infringements this year.
Over the past month staff at Stuff have continued to see the driver defy the council’s parking rules, with an average of one to two parking tickets issued and secured under its windscreen wiper each day.
Parking tickets can be issued if someone doesn’t pay for parking, if someone overstays the time limit, parks unsafely – for example, on broken yellow lines or on the footpath – or if the vehicle is parked on a road with an expired warrant of fitness or licence label.
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Most, including not paying or overstaying, incur a $40 fine; parking in an unsafe way costs $60 and parking in an area reserved for disabled people will incur a $150 fine.
But we wondered who was this person who dared to defy the rules? And why? Were they paying the tickets? Just how much had they been fined?
After weeks of speculation about the driver, he agreed to speak with Stuff under condition of anonymity.
The driver said he received more than 200 tickets this year, of which he estimates he paid only about 80 (worth an estimated $3000-$5000) after challenging the remainder due to technicalities.
KEVIN STENT/Stuff
Wellington City Council parking wardens issued $5.5 million worth of parking tickets this year between January and November. (File photo)
He reckoned he had saved thousands in paying for parking after he started chancing it last winter and went five months without a ticket. The ease of access offered made it “worth it”.
The closest available car park charges $5 a half-hour up to a total of $40.
“What I pay in tickets is less than what I would pay in hiring. It’s cheaper to just get ticketed.”
He has a dedicated park of his own but found others often parked in it. There was also a safety aspect as he often worked late into the night, and he said public transport wasn’t always an option.
He accepted criticism about his parking strategy but said when he was fined legitimately, he paid it.
Gianina Schwanecke/Stuff
A car ticketed on a street in central Wellington.
And what followed the infamous tow that sparked the office’s fascination with the red car? He says he contested that too and got off.
Why? Because a vehicle can only be towed if it is obstructing any road or vehicle entrance, or if it is in the interests of road safety or public convenience to do so. There is no maximum number of tickets that mean a vehicle can be towed.
However, Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said its records showed the infringement “has not been appealed by the vehicle owner” and had been paid in full.
MacLean also revealed the greatest number of tickets issued to a single vehicle, which he didn’t identify, was 195 between January 1 and November 30 this year. The tickets totalled $7434.
That’s from 109,432 tickets issued over this period, totalling $5.5 million, compared with 145,364 worth $6.4m over the same period last year. In 2019, WCC issued 178,750 infringements.
Braden Fastier/Stuff
Parking wardens were shoved and shouted at while ticketing protest vehicles near Parliament earlier this year. (File photo)
The street with the most parking offences was Featherston St, with 5135 tickets issued, totalling $211,199 over the same period. This included those ticketed during the Parliament occupation.
And the model of car most likely to receive a ticket? Toyota, with 29,726 tickets.
MacLean noted there had been decreased occupancy of the council’s 2600 or so metered parking spaces.
“This is most likely because of the Covid pandemic and the flow-on effects from that, such as an increase in the number of people working from home,” he said.
The council was also looking to reduce the number of on-street metered parks in the city in relation to its climate change objectives which meant the city was focused on increasing the uptake of other forms of transport.
