Increased parking fines have done little to deter Londoners from parking in fire routes and accessible parking spots.
In January , London increased the fine for parking in a fire route from $80 to $100. The ticket for parking within 3m of a fire hydrant increased from $80 to $100, and it now costs you $375 if you get caught parking in an accessible parking space.
However, compared to the same time period last year, bylaw officers have seen a spike in people parking near hydrants and in fire routes.
In the same time period in 2014, 94 infractions were issued for parking near a hydrant, compared to 144 this year. Between January and March of last year 121 tickets were issued for parking in a fire route, compared to 173 so far this year.
"We need to make sure emergency services vehicles have access to the building. If there's a fire in apartment building and there's people parking in the fire route then they can't pull in there and get access to the fire hydrants," says Manager of Municipal Law Enforcement Annette Drost. "We can't control everyone's behaviour, all we can do is make it clear that the fine is not worth taking that risk."
Drost says the number of fines issued for parking in accessible spaces has dropped, by only slightly.
She tells BlackburnNews.com the fine increase is not meant as extra revenue for the city, but rather an effort to ensure emergency routes are always clear.
