The Municipal Police of Girona fined 707 drivers between April 15 and 28 who parked where they shouldn’t have. A figure that represents an average of 50 fines daily, the majority for parking in loading and unloading areas.
Specifically, of the total fines imposed during this period, a total of 612 were for parking in distribution areas. Sixty-one were for parking in spaces reserved for people with disabilities and 34 were for parking on the sidewalk.
Violations of traffic ordinances increased the most during 2023 compared to the previous year. In 2022, there were 19,101 complaints filed, a figure that reached 21,948 in 2023.
A figure slightly higher than that registered in 2019, before the pandemic, when agents sanctioned 21,579 people for violating the traffic ordinance. The main reasons for fines were parking in temporarily prohibited spaces, occupying loading and unloading areas, failing to comply with a prohibition sign or parking on a sidewalk.
In 2023, 3,946 people were sanctioned for committing violations that hinder accessibility to public roads. 44% were for occupying a loading and unloading place; 41% for parking on the sidewalk and the remaining 14% for using spaces reserved for people with disabilities.
The Municipal Police of Girona carries out specific campaigns to detect this type of infractions. In the previous one, which took place between February 12 and 25, the agents reported 515 drivers. So, 365 were for parking in loading zones, 49 for parking in spaces reserved for vehicles of people with disabilities and 101 for parking on the sidewalk.
The City Council has promoted other intensive campaigns aimed at other users of public roads such as electric scooter drivers. The councilor of Ciutat que Cuida, Gemma Martínez, highlights the importance of the City Council carrying out this type of campaigns.
“Any person, regardless of their physical capacity, has the right to circulate normally through their city. That is why it is important for the police to carry out these campaigns, to remember that the sidewalks are for pedestrians or that not respecting the parking spaces of people with reduced mobility is inconsiderate towards them,” explains Martínez.