Woman charges for privately-drawn parking spaces on restricted street

The picture shows privately marked parking spaces on the side of the road. Reporter Shang Weizhi took the photo.

Report by correspondent Shang Weizhi: On Shi Pai Ling Road in Wuhan, someone has illegally marked out parking spaces and is charging fees. The traffic police have repeatedly painted over these privately marked parking spaces, but the collectors play "hide and seek" with the traffic police.

At around 12 noon yesterday, I saw near the Ya Mao Plaza on Shi Pai Ling Road that within less than 10 meters from the zebra crossing at the intersection, there were vehicles parked beside the non-motorized vehicle lane. I noticed more than ten roughly painted white "T"-shaped markings.

The owner of a nearby grocery store explained that parking is not allowed here. Not long ago, the traffic police painted over the parking signs on the roadside, but within two days, they were re-marked illegally, giving many drivers the false impression that this was a legitimate parking space.

In about half an hour of observation, seven cars stopped by the roadside. A woman holding an umbrella wearing a chest badge walked directly to the car owners demanding payment.

Ms. Chen, one of the car owners, said she often parks here, and usually pays 6 yuan for unlimited time parking.

"Do you know that parking here is not allowed?" I asked.

"Seeing the parking sign here and someone collecting the fee, it should be fine," Ms. Chen pointed to the parking sign on the ground and said.

In response, the woman collecting fees explained that she didn't know parking wasn't allowed here; she had always collected fees here before. When asked where her chest badge came from, the woman immediately said, "I won't collect fees anymore, I won't collect fees."

I glanced at the badge, which showed the area as Wuchang District, with the name column filled as Ms. Li.

Subsequently, I asked a traffic policeman on duty. He introduced that within 100 meters of the zebra crossing at the Shi Pai Ling intersection, parking spaces are not allowed to be set up. This year, they have already painted over the privately marked parking space signs five times, but it's difficult to catch them in the act, as they play "hide and seek" with the traffic police. Additionally, within 50 meters before and after the bus stop, setting up parking spaces is also not allowed. They have already received notice to increase patrol efforts and resolutely prevent the private marking of parking spaces, so as to avoid misleading car owners.

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