德國:違章停車開罰單免罰金

German authorities are giving parking violators in one city an unexpected break by issuing tickets without fines.

德國波茨坦的違章停車者們近日收到意外驚喜，他們收到違章罰單卻無需繳納罰款。

The tickets, put on carelessly parked cars in Potsdam, include a fine of 0 euros and the cheerful message "Glueck gehabt!!!" (Lucky you!!!). The new approach is designed to admonish motorists without hitting them in the wallet.

這些罰單被貼在波茨坦的粗心違章停靠車輛上，包括零元的罰單和“你真幸運”的歡快字樣。這種新措施旨在告誡車主，但同時不收罰金。

"The tickets serve as a warning to parking offenders," said Regina Thielemann, a city of Potsdam spokeswoman. "They're issued when the driver isn't around. So they're given written notice when they'd ordinarily only get a verbal warning."

波茨坦市的一名女發言人裏吉娜•蒂勒曼說：“這些罰單對違章停車者來說是個警示，是車主不在時開具的，因此他們得到了書面警告，而通常只會得到口頭警告。”

Potsdam, the state capital of Brandenburg just outside Berlin, earned around 1.2 million euros from parking fines in 2011, she said. Around 120,000 parking fines were issued last year.

波茨坦是勃蘭登堡州的首府，鄰近柏林。裏吉娜•蒂勒曼表示，該市去年因停車罰款入賬120萬歐元。去年該市大約開出12萬份違章停車罰單。

In Germany — a country known for its fondness for obeying rules and punishing offenders — Potsdam's fine-free tickets have caught the attention of the national media.

德國因注重遵守規則和懲罰違規者而著稱。波茨坦的免罰款罰單引起了全國媒體的注意。

One recipient, Kathrin Bach, said her initial reaction to finding a note on her windscreen was one of annoyance — until she read the message.

收到這種罰單的凱瑟琳•巴赫表示，最初在擋風玻璃上發現罰單時，她的第一反應是懊惱，不過她讀到上面的消息時就消氣了。

"I thought 'Oh no - got another ticket'," she told Germany's Bild newspaper. "I've paid loads of parking fines before because there are so few parking spaces in the area," she added.

她告訴德國《圖片報》：“我當時想，‘噢，不，又被罰了。”她補充說：“我以前付過太多罰單了，因爲這附近的停車位特別少。”

Bach's offence — parking less than five meters away from a road junction — should have cost her 10 euros, according to the city's parking rules.

巴赫的車停在距離三岔路口不到五米的地方。根據該市違章停車條例，她本應被罰款10歐元。