Repeat offenders are ignoring fines: A fine mess

Life, unfortunately, offers too many examples for Sean Citizen not to occasionally question his usually costly commitment to doing the right thing, to be a good, well-behaved member of society.

This morning’s story about a person so utterly indifferent to car parking regulations that they ran up a bill of €55,000 because they ignored almost 1,000 — 919 — parking tickets is another sucker moment of self-questioning.

Car parking, for many urban workers, is now a real issue. Escalating costs and limited availability combine to push the getting-through-the-day needle deeper into the red zone for many people. Therefore, it is more than disheartening to see that repeat offenders can thumb their noses at their peers who observe the rules and pay for parking.

Cars were seized in some instances, though it is unlikely that the full debt was cleared in all cases. The law should be changed to allow assets of any kind to be seized in these circumstances. It also seems, like the collection of TV licence fees, a process ideally suited for commission-driven privatisation. Let’s restore meaning to these laws.