Moscow trailer: “Crocodiles” in action
Moscow has one of the strictest trailer parking regulations in Russia. No parking section parking – tow! To occupy someone else’s parking space — tow! Parking in the residential area is not standardized — drag……
In Moscow, Russia, workers drive green “P” trailer trucks around the city, either carrying or on their way to “confiscation” of illegal parking. Cars that park illegally on the hope that they will not be noticed for more than 10 minutes are towed away without exception, and administrative penalties such as fines are also imposed.
Crocodile is on his way
Moscow has one of the strictest trailer parking regulations in Russia. No parking section parking – tow! To occupy someone else’s parking space — tow! Parking in the residential area is not standardized — drag! All kinds of urban parking lot parking is not standardized — drag! Riding on the shoulder — dragging… Citizens compare green trailers to “crocodiles” – lurking in the water and waiting for a chance to roam the city.
Moscow illegal parking trailer is divided into department supervision and public report two ways. Like China, Russia has installed a large number of cameras on main roads and temporary roadside parking areas in major cities. The captured images are directly transmitted to the unified dispatch center of the Transportation Bureau or the Road Inspection Authority. The dispatcher determines the violation and calls the nearby tow truck on duty to arrive at the scene. The parked vehicles are transported to the suburban parking lot specially used to store the towed vehicles. In areas not covered by cameras, the transport bureau and the Road Inspection Administration regularly dispatch personnel to carry out round-the-clock patrols on key roads and areas.
No matter the department supervision or the public report, the whole process will not be issued to the owner of any notice, nor to the owner of any on-site defense or correction opportunities, so as to effectively prevent the occurrence of contradictions and conflicts; If the owner happens to return to the scene when the trailer is loaded, the towing activity is stopped and the inspector issues a ticket to the owner on the spot.
Trailer loading transportation and vehicle detention fee should be borne by the owners, and from the query vehicle which is transported to the parking lot to go through the formalities of the car, at least spend a whole day, hourly calculation of vehicles seized up, the extreme expend energy, financial and material resources of punishment to Moscow people squealed, for its. At his annual presidential news conference in 2014, Putin was asked whether Moscow’s tow truck industry was being too “diligent” and “warm-hearted”. “Everything should follow the principle of moderation and reasonableness,” putin said.
“Self-service” car finding
I experienced the power of Russian trailers several times during my study in Moscow, and I still shudder when I remember the first time I was towed.
It was a gray early summer afternoon, and I drove to school as usual. Behind the main school building there was a railed parking lot that was already full, except for a corner that was a little cramped, but almost forgotten, dirt road and years of no sun, wet and even muddy. I was in a hurry to get to class. As I left, I caught a glimpse of a small locked door at the back of the car, which was already covered with a thin layer of dust. I had heard of Moscow’s strict parking rules, so I thought to myself as I made my way to the classroom: The little iron gate didn’t seem to be used much, so it wouldn’t be a problem to cover it a little.
When I returned to the parking lot two hours later, all that awaited me was two deep ruts in the ground. I tried calling the management center’s hotline, but there was no answer. I ran out of ideas. So called a taxi, ready to go home first.
The driver was a talkative middle-aged Russian, and I casually chatted with him about my experience. He smiled and said lightly that his friend Yuri, who worked in the traffic bureau, could help me ask. The driver then dialed his friend’s number and the two hung up without saying a word. At the next intersection, the driver suddenly turned around and said, “Let’s go straight to the traffic station.” I kept saying “yes” without asking questions.
About 20 minutes later, the car stopped in front of a two-story house. The building is quintessentially Soviet in style, dignified, its yellowing walls patchy.
The driver led me into the hall. There was a long line at the right-hand window, and everyone had an anxious look on their faces. We made our way to the second floor, where an officer in a dark blue uniform was yuri, a friend of the driver’s. Yuri exchanged pleasantries with the driver and ushered us into the office. Yuri said to me, “When you came in, you saw the long line in the lobby, all looking for cars.” I shook a little: if it is their own to deal with, not to spend a day of time ah.
Yuri asked me for my driver’s license, passport and insurance policy, then pulled out a dense registration form and filled it out, item by item, according to my id. Yuri then issued a 5,000 ruble ticket and made another phone call to locate my car. Yuri wrote down the address of the parking lot and handed it to me. After I had cleared the formalities at the traffic bureau, Yuri told me I could pick up my car at this address and the fine would be sent to my personal account on the payment APP. I simply asked the driver to continue driving me to the trailer park.
The driver told me there were more than 20 trailer parks in Moscow, all in the suburbs, at least an hour’s drive from the city.
As it was getting dark, the taxi pulled up to the office in the trailer park, behind which was an open field enclosed by green bars and surrounded by dozens of floodlights. In the chilly light, cars of all shapes and sizes, some of them scrapped and stacked haphazardly, were parked everywhere.
I entered the 24-hour duty room, where a middle-aged man sat. I gave out the license plate number, and he slowly consulted the system: “Oh, here it is. It was delivered at 2pm, 1,000 rubles for parking, 5,000 rubles for towing.”
After I paid up, I walked into the vast parking lot, where the staff could only give a general location based on the time of arrival. I was slightly curious to shuttle between the rows of cars, some cars as if forgotten by the owners, fell a thick layer of ash; Some of them were obviously fresh. After about 10 minutes of searching, I finally found my car. The front hood and doors were sealed to make sure no one had touched the car before the owner picked it up. I thanked the taxi driver and said goodbye. As they left, owners lined up to pick up their cars.
The whole process, along with rewards and fares for the taxi driver, cost 13,000 roubles (about 1,200 yuan). On reflection, I should have been reported for obstructing the small iron gate that lets people in and out while parking. In fact, I was aware of the problem at that time, but I was too lucky to stop my loss in time. The next winter, I was towed again, this time because snow covered a disabled sign on the ground, causing me to park illegally. Although the process is just as complicated, I don’t complain anymore, because this is the price of breaking the rules, I have to keep learning the “parking way” here.
More than nine years of repressive policies have effectively curbed parking chaos in Moscow. The total revenue of the Moscow parking center has topped 43 billion rubles. This considerable amount of government revenue is used to beautify the city, build infrastructure for the disabled, subsidize the installation of road locks and maintain the streetscape.
