If you park wrong, you get a penalty, logically. And who parks correctly? Get sweets this Saturday – at least in 63 Bavarian communities.
The image of the carrot and the stick is so well known that – to stay with the image – the pastry has long been rock hard and the leather strap has worn through. It is all the more astonishing that one thinks that the picture can only be found to a limited extent in everyday life, and if it does, its balance tends to be to the detriment of the commendation. See, for example, the road traffic regulations: anyone who parks their car incorrectly must rightly expect a fine. On the other hand, if you obediently follow all the rules and keep the fire brigade entrance free, you get – yes, what? Respect? Feel good? Or rather beads of sweat on your forehead from desperately driving around the block three times and fighting with your fellow cars for the last parking space?
Sometimes, after all, there are sweets. However, only on Saturday and in Zwiesel, Marktredwitz, Pleinfeld and Abensberg, among others. In these as well as in another 59 Bavarian communities, field staff of the Zweckverband Kommunale VerkehrsSicherheit Oberpfalz – a service provider for parking space and traffic monitoring – want to stick a thank you card and a pack of gummy bears under the windshield of correct parkers. One wanted to “simply say thank you to all those who behave properly and considerately when parking,” says a statement from the special purpose association: “After all, that’s the majority of all road users.” Correct parking not only saves money, but also reduces the risk of accidents. “In addition, statistically speaking, the fire brigade and emergency doctor lose valuable minutes at every fourth scene because they cannot get through.”
Strictly speaking, that alone would be reason enough to park properly. Nevertheless, the idea of disciplining motorists with carrots in gelatine form seems to be enjoying a certain popularity among municipalities and police departments. For example, Richtigparker received gummy bears in Schongau in 2015 and in Ulm in 2019. And in Augsburg they were handed out to all those who were traveling at the proper pace – while speeders had to bite into the sour lemon instead. Wrong parking and speeding still happen in these cities. The only thing that will help is the well-known whip in the shape of a traffic ticket.