Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Prague's new parking zones - Residents use loophole to register cars in their childrens' names

The City Hall's plans to introduce parking cards in the city centre as of October 1st has triggered an unexpected side-effect. Prague may soon top the world ladder in the number of young children who own luxury vehicles. People who own two or more cars have found a loophole in the new regulation which says that every citizen of Prague [in central districts one, two, three, five and seven] - including newborns and centenarians - has a right to a parking pass for the price of seven hundred crowns a month [PER YEAR, actually... about USD 35]. The price of a pass jumps steeply for a second or third car to 7 thousand and 14 thousand crowns respectively. News of how to get around the regulation spread like wildfire and in recent weeks the authorities have noted a massive transfer of car ownership to young children. The kids are happy to brag about their new Toyotas* and Volvos but the city hall is not so happy [I am sure some politicians predicted this]. However it seems that there is little it can do legally and it has decided to bide its time and see how things develop. - Radio Praha

Original story

Very related bad news

... don't miss the story at the first link which talks about fake policemen and women being stolen...

*************************************************************************************
GREENWASH ALERT NO: 1 * Toyota is a "partner" of the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation (Nadace Partnerství/NP), arguably the most important member of the Environmental Partnership for Sustainable Development, a member of the European Greenways Association (EGWA), which is itself a new member of World Carfree Network. A representative of NP is the treasurer of EGWA. Other partners include Škoda Auto, Peugeot and Citroen, plus the investment group Penta, which owns a company that produces weapons sub-systems used by the U.S. Navy in Afghanistan and Iraq. Penta is also considering developing a second international airport in Prague which is likely to target lowfare airlines.

1 comment:

Hanley Tucks said...

I'm puzzled as to why they want more than one space per adult. Surely they can only drive one car at once? Or are they hoping for spaces across the city, to remove from them the terrifying threat of having to walk 1 or 2km?

It will be amusing if in a few years the child, now an adolescent and legally the owner of the vehicle, decides to sell it so they have some spare cash for nightclubs :D