It will be "yellow card" week, according to Dublin Corporation. From tomorrow a team of spotters will be out on bicycles and motorcycles, slapping stickers on illegally-parked cars. "It's yellow and it's a warning" is the word from the corporation's traffic department.
The yellow stickers will warn drivers that a yellow wheel clamp will follow in a week's time if the car is parked in the same spot. The clamp will cost £65 to have removed.
The corporation has been kind enough to make the sticker peel off, unlike other parking notices, but they warn that the longer it remains on the windscreen the more difficult it will be to remove.
This morning will see a launch of the new clamping vehicles and details of the plans to curb more than one in three drivers who park illegally in Dublin. According to a corporation source, Dublin has one of the highest levels of illegal parking in Europe, with up to 40 per cent of motorists parking where they should not. Corporation officials have complained that the disregard of yellow lines and empty meters have been "turning the city centre into one large car-park".
Motorists who are clamped will have to possess a chequebook, direct debit card or credit card to have the clamp removed by the contractor employed by Dublin Corporation. Unlike the Garda pound, where drivers retrieve vehicles that have been towed away, the declampers will not accept cash for security reasons.
The sticker system will continue to operate after next week, with spotters placing stickers on vehicles when they alert the clamping van. This system will give those illegal parkers who have "just nipped into the shop" a breathing space.
It is also believed that a sticker on one parked vehicle, proclaiming that the clamper is on the way, will be a deterrent to other drivers.
The clampers will take their day of rest on Sundays, but there will be limited "towing away" of vehicles on Sundays from September. This will be concentrated on large public events, such as GAA matches in the city, where public safety is at stake.
