Lohmen’s initiative in Saxon Switzerland to charge parking fees in some parking spaces exclusively by mobile phone has drawn some criticism. Officially since the beginning of October, motorists were supposed to pay a fee for three free parking spaces for a walk around the village. However, this fee can only be paid for using a smartphone with the appropriate app. There are no traditional parking machines.
So if you don’t have a mobile phone connected to the internet, you can’t park in these parking lots or you risk paying a ticket. This is how Mayor Jörg Mildner (CDU) explains to Sächsische.de. Specifically, it concerns the two hiking car parks in Daubemühle and in Mühlsdorf, located to the left and right of the Liebethaler Grund, as well as the Wesenitztal / Lohmener Klamm stop above the old Niezelgrund hydroelectric station.
This sparked a series of negative comments on Facebook. Many users said “cheek”. It was mentioned frequently to people who do not have a smartphone – especially the elderly. There are also doubts about whether the local cell phone network is sufficient. But the main question is: Is this legitimate? Can the municipality make mobile phone parking the only payment method?
ADAC: Mobile phone parking as an additional option only
The ADAC assessment is clear: Cell phone parking is an additional option to pay at a parking ticket machine or parking meter, explains Stefan Miller, vice president of traffic law at the Munich Automobile Club legal headquarters. “It cannot be replaced by electronic parking management, it is only supplemented, because otherwise parking options would be unacceptably restricted,” says the ADAC specialist.
Wesenitztal / Lohmener Klamm car park on the road to Porschdorf. No blue sign for parking yet, just a warning not to dump debris. © Dirk Schulz
in a Road traffic regulations are found in §13 Paragraph 3 described. Mobile payment is listed as a potential alternative to parking ticket machines. The mobile position is not shown as the only payment method in StVO.
At least in Saxony, ADAC has not yet encountered this alternative, explains Florian Heuzeroth, a spokesman for the Dresden Automobile Club. Here, the association is more committed to the fact that purely coin-operated machines, which are still widespread in many places, are supplemented with a digital payment option. The relevant clause of StVO only applies in public places.
On the other hand, in private parking spaces, the owner can set the rules – and therefore he can also specify the method of payment. If you do not agree, you have to find another parking place. However, the hiking car parks in Lohmen are clearly public parking spaces.
Municipalities must enable traditional numbers
As early as 2006 – and thus a year before the first Apple iPhone was introduced – the scientific services in the German Bundestag were concerned with cell phone parking. in a Details on the legal basis Above all, potential unequal treatment due to mobile phone situations, which can result from different costs, is discussed – and ultimately rejected.
However, at the time, the authors essentially assumed that mobile phone parking was an optional extra. The text reads: “The user can choose between traditional and alternative payment methods. There is no obligation to use them.” And: “In any case, the municipalities should continue to operate the traditional system along with the alternative system.”
A parking ticket machine should come, but only one
Now Lohmen municipality wants to make improvements – with a central machine for parking tickets. It should be on the parking deck in the middle of Lohmen Castle, explains Mayor Jörg Mildner. There, drivers can pay for their tickets for the three parking lots concerned with cash or credit cards. There are signs in the three car parks for hiking trips explaining the procedure.
If you don’t know in advance you still have to drive to the parking lot first and then have to go back to the village center if you want to pay in cash. It’s about 2 km from the Mühlsdorf strolling car park – one way. Those who are not familiar with the site first head to the parking lot, then back to the machine, and then back to the car park, so they also drive at least four kilometers through the village.
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No date has been set for the arrival of the central ticket machine. The municipal council has to decide on the purchase first, and delivery dates are currently unclear. Until the machine is finally installed, no tickets will be distributed, as Mayor Mildner paradoxically admits: “for reasons of goodwill.”
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