PHOTO Drahoňovského Street in Prague: 500 traffic violations since January alone
photo: PrahaIN.cz reader/Dangerous parking in close proximity to the crossing in Řepy
An angry citizen of the Prague Řep turned to the editorial office of PrahaIN.cz. According to him, not for himself, but for safety. In Drahoňovského, a large, white van has been parked on the street repeatedly for several months.
There would be nothing so bad about this if the owner did not like to park his vehicle near the crossing. As proof, he sent several photographs that he had taken over time to the editors.
“Let everyone park as they wish. Of course, I understand that there are few parking spaces. We all know, but that person parks in such a way that it is dangerous for pedestrians,” he said. “He doesn’t care about security. I witnessed almost an accident at the crossing about three times,” he added.
You can see what they are talking about in the photos sent. The car is parked very close to the crossing. When someone wants to cross, they must first enter the road, only then can they look around. However, it is difficult to see even for drivers who are driving on the road.
As for mothers with prams, they usually push the pram in front of them, thus their little one gets onto the road first.
The situation is also dangerous for small children, who are said to be moving around a lot.
The crossing is located in Drahoňovského Street, and the city patrol was repeatedly called to the scene. It fined the van. There was no lesson learned.
At the same time, the rules of the road speak clearly. The car cannot be parked closer than five meters from the crossing, unless otherwise marked. In this case it is not.
Even the police don’t know what to do with it
This is also confirmed by the spokesperson of the city police in Prague, Irena Seifertová:
“From the photos sent, it is clear that the driver of the vehicle in question is committing an offence. A driver may not stop and stand at a pedestrian crossing or a bicycle crossing and at a distance of less than five meters in front of them. For this traffic offence, the driver faces a fine of up to 2,000 crowns on the spot.”
Badly parked van, end of June 2022, photo: PrahaIN.cz reader
If, in addition, the vehicle creates an obstacle on the roads, he can decide to remove it.
“A vehicle that has stopped or is standing on a road in a place where the Road Traffic Act does not allow it, usually restricts or threatens other participants on the road, or at the same time restricts and threatens them. However, such a vehicle can always be automatically marked as an obstacle to road traffic, which can be removed according to § 45 paragraph 1 letter 4 of the Road Traffic Act. To assess the question of whether in a specific case a vehicle is an obstacle in the sense of this provision, the degree of threat to the safety or smoothness of traffic caused by this vehicle to the server is,” explained PrahaIN.cz Irena Seifertová.
Badly parked van, beginning of August 2022, photo: PrahaIN.cz reader
If the driver repeatedly parks incorrectly, the fine can be imposed again and again. Alternatively, this offense will be reported to the relevant administrative authority. The latter can then impose a fine of 1,500 to 2,500 crowns plus the costs of administrative proceedings in administrative proceedings.
Since the beginning of this year, the police in Drahoňovské have dealt with an incredible 500 traffic violations, seventeen of which concern the aforementioned vans.
“In the vast majority of cases, due to the absence of the driver on the spot, the offenses were reported to the administration. For a long time (with regard to personnel options), patrols of constables carry out the most important inspections of the given area, focused precisely on traffic discipline. During the day, they are local police officers, and at night, car patrols. The fact that we are not indifferent to the situation and that we are dealing with it in the long term is also proven by the fact that the police patrols managed to contact someone at the address of the company’s headquarters to which the vehicle is registered, unfortunately no one answered the bell,” added the spokeswoman.
The question arises as to why the management of the Prague 17 district, under which the street falls, has not yet responded. We therefore asked the mayor’s office Alena Kopejtková (ODS) and the press spokesperson for a statement, but no one answered us by the time the article was published.