'Parking fines should double'

PARKING fines in France should almost double from €11 to €20 to act as a better deterrent, an MP has recommended.

Val-de-Marne MP Gilles Carrez will submit the proposal to parliament this morning to increase the penalty, which he says has not changed in 24 years.

Mr Carrez said too many drivers were taking their chances and parking on streets without paying.

The move follows the launch of a new website that aims to draw a map of the best and worst places to park in French cities without paying.

AlertePV.com is building up a detailed database of the streets where motorists are most likely to get a fine - and the ones that wardens seem to miss, based on individual members' submissions.

Registered users fill in a brief form to indicate when and where they see traffic wardens, or the details of the penalty notice they are served. The results are displayed on a colour-coded map.

Site founder Benoît Oberlé told Le Post that the site had attracted 10,000 contributors but needed ten times as many to prove effective.

"A former police officer confirmed to me that traffic wardens work in the same zones and usually at the same times," he said.

"There is a community of drivers in France who want to help each other out. The site is a collaborative tool that allows them to share information - we are not inciting people to break the law."

AlertePV.com currently covers Paris, Lyon, Marseille and parts of Strasbourg, Nantes and Rennes and promises anonymity to all members.

Parking fines bring in €600m a year for local authorities - €100m alone in Paris.

Yves Roland - Fotolia.com