Commuter gets 22 fines for parking on wrong side of municipal border

It’s not an uncommon story: You park somewhere in Brussels, cross the street to buy a parking ticket and end up with a fine. That’s because you crossed into a different municipality and paid to park in its territory.

You probably only got one fine, though. Last month, a commuter in Brussels received 22 parking fines in his postbox in a few days, reports BX1.

It appears the man in question started a new job on Avenue Louise, and his employer provided him with a parking pass for Brussels-City. He often parked on a cross street, Rue du Magistrat, which up to house number 22 is Brussels-City.

But sometimes the man parked in front of number 24 or even (gasp!) number 26, which everyone knows full well is in Ixelles. And while residents in border streets are allowed to park in either of the street’s municipalities, commuters are not.

The fines were for 22 occurrences of faulty parking, some of which had taken place a couple of months prior. “I fully admit that I made a mistake,” the criminal told BX1, “but I really can’t accept that these were sent to me so much later. Had I gotten a fine right away, I would not have parked incorrectly again.”

The parking.brussels agency confirmed that a system failure saw many fines going out very late from April to June. The agency said anyone with complaints about their fines could contact them and they would deal with them “on a case-by-case basis”.

Photo: Number 22 (left) is your last stop in Brussels City
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