Want to "hunt" poorly parked cars in Paris? Today's the day!


The "Operation Prevention" flyer inviting pedestrians, cyclists, mobility challenged people and parents with children in strollers to "hunt" poorly parked cars and to plaster them with stickers educating their owners about proper parking procedures has intrigued me ever since I first noticed it while riding the bus.

As people are encouraged to meet in front of the town hall in their arrondissement ("district") to register and to pick up their stickers, this initiative is definitely endorsed by the government.

What do you think? Is it a good idea to arm people with stickers and send them out on a vigilante style mission to educate other citizens about correct parking practices? I'm still trying to make up my mind.

Comments

  1. I'm all for it--maybe it's the curmudgeon in me. Another related (?) peeve of mine here in Chicago is when restaurants take over the sidewalks. It's late November now and restaurants still have 3/4s of the sidewalk covered with their fencing and chairs and tables chained together--unused of course, since it's freezing outside. Oh, don't even get me started. And I honestly wonder what difficulty people in wheelchairs would have navigating some of these streets--the sidewalks were never intended for outside dining in the first place.

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  2. What could possibly go wrong?

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  3. Joseph, That's interesting that the restaurants don't have to move the tables during the winter. It must make it even more difficult to clear the snow. Who owns the sidewalks in Chicago? In the old part of Annapolis, they're privately owned. It's the owner's responsibility to repair the brick sidewalks and to make sure that they're clear of snow and debris, etc.

    Your point about a wheelchair is a good one. I thought about that the other day when I had to squeeze through the two serving areas at Cafe Flore. Pedestrians have to dodge the waiters and to manoever past the tables that have taken over a large portion the sidewalk. There was no way that a wheelchair would have made it.

    Anonymous, Since I just saw a driver verbally abuse a meter reader when she gave him a parking ticket, I was thinking that someone could get really angry if they found another citizen, who isn't employed by the government, putting stickers on their car for being poorly parked. Meter readers, the people who check the tickets on the metro, policemen, etc all work in fairly large groups in case they encounter an irate person. That's why I'm not sure what I think about putting a "regular" citizen in a postion where they could be at risk.

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  4. How did the day go? Did you see anyone issuing stickers?

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  5. Full disclosure: The town hall of the 16th arrondissement was one of the few that wasn't issuing stickers and since the only time that I left the 16th was to go on the bateaux mouches cruise yesterday evening, I didn't see anyone putting stickers on cars.

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  6. It seems a good idea in theory, but over-zealous people might abuse it. It's probably best left to the authorities to deal with illegally parked vehicles. It's incredibly annoying when cars block pavements or bike lanes as I know from many years of trundling around with a baby in a buggy and from cycling. However, vigilante-ism is fraught with dangers!

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  7. Steph, Like you, I think that it's a good idea in theory but am not sure that it's the best way to handle the parking problem. I can, however, understand how frustrating it must be for those who can't just walk around a poorly parked vehicle.

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  8. I am curious to know the followup! Was it in the news?

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  9. Sorry that I can't give any follow-up on this post because I didn't watch the news last Saturday. I'm going to try to participate in this event next year so that I can get a bit more information and see how it is received by the other residents of Paris.

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  10. I agreed upon it because its the major problem in some area.Nice to know about it.Its a good step to avoid the stupid car parking.I like this blog.Its very informative.

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