Rewarding antisocial parking

In Greece, it is well known that the chances of getting a parking ticket are minimal. “Moms in the Street” argue that, when the system fails to punish drivers who park illegally, it essentially rewards them.

To put it simply, the driver who parks on the corner, at the bus stop or in front of a wheelchair ramp, is rewarded by getting a free parking space. No matter how antisocial or downright dangerous their choice of parking spot, they have saved both the parking fee and the time they would have spent looking for a legal spot. Why shouldn’t they do it again?

On the contrary, the conscientious driver is penalized. He or she spends both time (looking for a spot) and money (for fuel or parking fees). Why would they do it again? Why not just park on the corner like so many others? Why not straddle the sidewalk? And what if they block the ramp, just for a few minutes?

How many people are so conscientious that they will keep on driving around, instead of succumbing to the temptation? Especially when all around them people seem to have done just that?

It’s no wonder that illegal parking has become the rule instead of the exception. What was once done by a minority is now something nearly everyone does. It is not only due to the tragic failure of authorities to plan for parking spaces. It’s also due to the general impunity. If drivers knew that they would have to pay a fine every time they parked illegally, many would take public transportation or a taxi. It is impunity that makes them take their cars everywhere and leave them anywhere – at bus stops, corners and sidewalks. The fact that tickets are often erased (if the driver appeals to the proper authorities), makes an already bad situation worse. Today, one in four fatalities on Greek roads is a pedestrian. Does anyone wonder how they came to be walking in the street instead of the sidewalk?

Image description: A narrow street with a pedestrian crossing, complete with ramp for the disabled. A black Smart car is parked right in front of the crossing (and the ramp).

Image source

How many dead in Greek streets?

An old woman in Keratsini

A man in Kolonos

A police officer in Katehaki avenue

Another old woman in Nikaia

A fifty-year-old man in Alexandras avenue

A woman near the Athens Hilton

A grandma and her granddaughter in Kifissias Avenue

When we started the “Moms in the Street” initiative, the tragedy of the grandma and her grandchild who were run over because someone had parked on the sidewalk was still fresh. Ten years later, another grandma and her grandchild were victims of a hit-and-run. This year, another grandma and her grandchild were sacrificed on Greek roads, where cars park on sidewalks and pedestrians walk on the tarmac.

All those years, we have been sounding the alarm: it is unacceptable that pedestrian infrastructure forces people to walk on the road. Not merely unacceptable, but downright criminal: every year, one out of four people who die in traffic accidents is a pedestrian.

It is criminal that there are no crosswalks at every intersection. The existing ones are blocked by parked cars, while drivers never stop at them. This is like telling pedestrians that the white stripes are meaningless and they may cross at any place. Yet when pedestrians do just that, it is their lives that are at risk (and often lost).

“Moms in the street” demand infrastructure that protects us as soon as we put the car keys in our pocket. We want protection when we wear neither helmets nor seat belts. We want the pedestrian infrastructure to be as safe and well-maintained as the one for drivers (if not more). We want the primary concern of those who rebuild or patrol Greek streets to be how and where pedestrians will cross.

Because we are all pedestrians. And when we walk, we have no airbags.