Those have to park somewhere and can’t do so legally due to size and permissible gross weight. I usually get out of my way to report incorrectly parked SUVs, BMWs, Audis and such (we have a nice app from an indie dev for that in Poland). I’ve been averaging a dozen or so towed or wheel locked cars per week based on responses from city guard. I’ll keep on doing this until those fuckers learn to stay away from our cities.
Credit goes to the guy that made the app, it’s so effortless. It’s also published into a public database. Got one just now: https://uprzejmiedonosze.net/ud-OOWN3OESyFTn.html
Wait, your police is acting on those reports? Any hints on how to manage that?
Depends entirely on willingness to cooperate so it differs from place to place. My city guard will not fine driver unless they come and confirm offence in person but I’m sending so many reports that I have a fairly high success rate. I also asked nicely to respond to my emails with separate case numbers for each offence so that I can track them.
We have guys like that too, some even document their work on YouTube and gave me much courage and inspiration. You need to reach critical mass where people don’t park badly because other people don’t do it either.
Genuinely curious because I have no clue: what’s wrong with BMWs and Audis?
The worst and most reckless drivers here drive German cars. They are guilty of much more than parking badly but it’s the only thing I can be consistently successful with and I treat it as a form of taxing them.
You can stop reading here or you can read my tirades below if you’re interested what’s wrong with those drivers specifically. Here’s machine translated meme that summarises current state of polish roads:
While some would assume my beef with cars was because I prefer public transport, I also do ~15k kilometres yearly on average in my trusty Citroen C3 Picasso and had plenty of opportunities to determine enough is enough, through many near-death experiences among other things.
I have not seen a single good driver in BMW or Audi. There’s also Skoda (Octavia specifically), sports, muscle and cabriolet cars. With Mercedes it depends on the size. Those are the people who go through the life while making way by elbowing everyone else. Lawyers, judges, doctors (they are unimaginably wealthy in Poland), businessmen, celebrities, politicians and their spoiled children. Thugs, OF girls, influencers. Some would say liberal elites but I’d say those are our new feudal lords for reasons that would require even more tirades about regressive tax system and broken property market.
Their disregard for everyone else shows in the way they drive and they’re protected by the ruling class no matter who’s in charge.
We have barely any speed controls and police promotes apps that alert drivers to those controls specifically. We have street races daily in every city. Tuned motorcycles roar through major city arteries at 200km/h with covered plates. If they get caught? Surprise, no drivers license (so no penalty points lol) or the the guy was already barred from driving (you can be barred from driving multiple times with no jail). No valid technical inspection but car won’t be confiscated, just €300 fine which is nothing to them. Alcohol or drugs? Nothing a good lawyer won’t solve. If you kill someone but are a celebrity then the judge will find some bullshit reason to absolve you. If you are wealthy enough police will delay proceeding so that they can run away to Saudi Arabia or Uruguay.
Yeah, I’m furious just thinking about all of this. My city guard being somewhat responsive is the only thing that stops me from resorting to violence. Or restarting to minor violence more often.
I miss the days when Europeans would justly laugh in our faces about the size of our trucks.
It used to be that you would see one every now and then, inclusive the ridiculous red blinkers, and they you would do your civil duty and point at it and laugh, because you knew he payed a lot of money to get a shitty car imported. Now, just like McDonald’s, they are everywhere. Please america, make something that doesn’t suck ass, since people have to adopt everything from over there.
Parking spaces in the Netherlands do not easily accommodate these child-killing machines. So, they often end up clumsily parked over multiple spaces or blocking sidewalks. I have taken to submitting complaints to my municipality every time I see this happen.
It is not much but I am doing my little part. I did notice that one of these abominations has gone absent from my neighbourhood. I like to think my complaints have contributed to this
Have you gotten any traction on this with the police or municipality?
I’ve seen a lot of these huge American trucks parked like assholes and I’m seeing more and more custom lifted trucks. The other day I was riding my bicycle from work and saw this huge custom lifted thing. It was as wide as a bus and generally enormous. It was going 60kph in a 30 zone. Then proceeded to jump the kerb, drive across the bicycle path and park on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant. Four douchebags in suits stepped out.
I was shocked and didn’t really know what to do. I thought about taking a picture, but was worried such characters could be organized crime. I thought about calling the police, but frankly I don’t think they would take it seriously. So I just went home bummed out about the state of the world.
Speaking as an American, I am so sorry.
Sounds like a regulatable problem.
They are already somewhat regulated: In europe, they are considered trucks, not personal cars, so you can’t practically use them in the cities, park them on regular parking spots etc.
