In the bustling streets of Hurstville, Sydney, where parking spaces are as coveted as a sunny day in winter, a local councillor found herself embroiled in a battle over a 'sneaky' $238 parking fine.

Georges River Councillor Ashvini Ambihaipahar was slapped with a ticketless fine after she made an emergency stop in a no-stopping zone to clear her foggy windscreen on a rainy night.

However, the fine wasn't issued on the spot but sent weeks later, leaving her without the dashcam footage that could have supported her case.

The incident raised questions about the transparency and fairness of the ticketless parking fine system.

Ambihaipahar's experience is not isolated; it reflects a growing concern among drivers who are penalised without immediate notice.

Georges River Councillor Ashvini Ambihaipahar challenged ticketless parking fines after receiving a fine in a no-stopping zone. Credit: Shutterstock

While the 'invisible' fines are environmentally friendly by reducing paper waste, they have been criticised for catching drivers off guard and generating a surge in revenue for councils.

Introduced in NSW in 2020 by the former state government, the ticketless scheme allows parking officers to send fine details directly to Revenue NSW, which then issues an infringement notice by post or through the Service NSW app.

While some councils, like Blacktown and Mosman, have chosen not to adopt this paperless system, others have embraced it, leading to a significant increase in fine revenue.

In 2023 alone, paperless fines generated a staggering $139 million across the state.

The NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos has since intervened, urging councils to reconsider the adoption of ticketless parking fines.

Local Government NSW President Darriea Turley claimed that issuing fines without tickets reduces ranger abuse.

‘[The state council] actually use cameras and AI for fines themselves, so I don't know why they are targeting local government,’ she said.

‘Councils just want the safety of their workers.’

The NRMA has also voiced its concerns, labelling the system as 'unfair' and highlighting the reduced transparency that makes it harder for individuals to contest fines, especially in inadequate or obscured signage.

‘While we understand councils have to manage parking and we can't have people abusing the system, [the move] reduces the ability for those who feel they have a right to contest [their fine],’ spokesperson Peter Khoury explained.

‘That includes instances where there is inadequate signage, where a sign is hidden, or other circumstances that may mean a review of a fine is successful,’

Councillor Ambihaipahar, having successfully contested her fine in court, is now championing the cause of abolishing the ticketless fine system in her local government area (LGA).

In related news, ticketless parking fines in New South Wales (NSW) have been discontinued due to public disapproval.

NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos instructed councils to return to using paper tickets for parking fines to rebuild community trust. Read more about this story here.

Key Takeaways

• Georges River Councillor Ashvini Ambihaipahar has challenged the ticketless parking fine system after receiving a $238 fine for safety reasons in a no-stopping zone.
• Ambihaipahar successfully contested the fine in court and is now advocating for abolishing ticketless fines in her local government area (LGA).
• The NSW state government asked councils to re-evaluate the ticketless fine system due to concerns over transparency and a surge in fine revenue.
• Paperless fines introduced in NSW have been controversial, with claims of unfairness and decreased transparency by the NRMA, but some believe they help reduce the rate of ranger abuse.

Have you encountered similar issues? Do you think the convenience of modern parking technology is worth the potential for 'sneaky' fines? Join the conversation and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

[Greg350]

from the NSW Road Safety rules [emphasis mine]...

I would suggest that if you can't see through the front windscreen, that would count as a (potential) 'emergency'.

I would suggest that she got that far, why not a few more metres to be in a safe position. NO, I would not class it as an emergency, being unable to operate your vehicle safely by using the demister is not other drivers problems. No Stopping zones are there usually because it's not safe to have a vehicle Stopped in that position. Often due to sight issues at intersections, or busy roads where stopped vehicles cause congestion.

What's the point of having a rule that you can just break when you want, because you feel like it's okay.

 

[David567]

It's revenue raising at best. They claim this money is spent on maintaining roads, but it's used to buy more cameras to catch more people to buy more cameras so they can even more more people. Meanwhile the roads have pot holes 1 meter wide in places that don't get fixed because catching people breaking minor rules is more important than real safety issues.

 

[Marvin Kombi]

DON’T PARK ILLEGALLY AND YOU WONT GET FINED!!!
Too many people these days are up in arms about surveillance cameras and remote fines. If you don’t do the wrong thing you won’t get caught! Simple.

 

[BeautifulMousey]

I really can't answer that personally as I don't and never have never driven in my life. Except when I drive someone up the wall or crazy

 

[gordon1940]

A/C on before you drive out of a spot, and fully understanding how this works would have helped immensely. I have friends who have theirs on the windscreen permanently, it’s awful in middle of summer. Read your car manual.

Yes ...It works before you Drive off.

 

[gordon1940]

That woman who stopped to clear fog from her windscreen was eminently sensible. That, even without facing those horrible "blue" blinding headlights that people keep on, day and night make it dangerous to drive under such circumstances .

As for the"ticketless fine" law, what else can be expected of the former brain-dead LNP politicians of NSW, who also made it utterly impossible to keep Covid out of Australia, difficult as it was in the first place

Gawd!! Where did COVID come from??

 

[JimmyFlatrock]

The article appears to be all about the fairness or otherwise of the ticketless parking fine system, with some like the NRMA questioning it and deeming it unfair.

Given the person who was issued with the fine successfully contested the fine in court suggests everyone's time could have been saved if the ticket issuance was able to be challenged at the time.

From that point of view, I would also suggest it is an unfair system created to raise funds to pay for the exorbitant wages of some.

 

[Veggiepatch]

But it was to clear her windscreen. She got that far, she can move another few metres to a safer spot.

Were you there at the time of the incident in question?

How do you know that by moving A FEW METRES magically transforms an alleged illegal parking manoevure into a legal one? Sure thing Nostradamus!

For all we know, the nearest point where parking is permitted may be a kilometre down the road.

 

[Macarj]

She stopped in a no stopping area surely her car has a demister and I don't see how that is a sneaky fine

 

[Rob44]

But it was to clear her windscreen. She got that far, she can move another few metres to a safer spot.

Unfortunately it seems it took a magistrate to bring some common sense into the argument irrespective of the evil-doing of this law-breaking bandit woman who put the entire New South Wales motoring public at grave risk of their lives.

 

[Rob44]

Gawd!! Where did COVID come from??

PR China, by all accounts.

 

[Rob44]

Yes it would but they're places you can safely pull over without being a danger to others.


She should have pulled into a safe spot there is no excuse.As for keeping Covid out of Australia l thought you said the vaccines would do that !.Doesn't seem to be working Rob.

Ah yes . Keeping Covid out of Australia. At the time that the Liberal Government of NSW unleashed Covid on Australia and did sweet FA to stop it spreading as far as WA, the NT and Tasmania, the first vaccine had not been released and one might also note that the useless Morrison government was still prattling on about going to the footie in March 2020; and when a vaccine finally got to Australia after numerous deaths from Covid, access to it was restricted to the elderly and all the rest had to take their chances with anti-vaxxer hooligans and neo-Nazis rioting in the streets.

So Dear Ebby, you oversimplify the issue. As an aside it is odd that Australia still has not manufactured its own vaccine despite assorted waves of Covid running through the country; Cuba had three home-brewed vaccines brewing once the mRNA approach was understood properly. And as shown by the WHO's campaign against smallpox, in countries such as Australia one has to make vaccination compulsory, so in Australia the Covid pandemic will never be ended.

 

[Rob44]

"‘Councils just want the safety of their workers.’

Don't the Councils responsible for the safety of their workers put out warning signs etc etc to warn motorists where such workers are working on roads and pavements? And is not stopping to clear one's windscreen of fogging aiding and abetting the safety of such workers?

 

[Ezzy]

But it was to clear her windscreen. She got that far, she can move another few metres to a safer spot.

How do you know that for sure?

 

[Ezzy]

Loved my HG HOLDEN with its 1/4 vent window for those occasions.
I believe 1/4 vent windows were invaluable in cars but l guess what we have now is progress?

 

[Ebby]

Ah yes . Keeping Covid out of Australia. At the time that the Liberal Government of NSW unleashed Covid on Australia and did sweet FA to stop it spreading as far as WA, the NT and Tasmania, the first vaccine had not been released and one might also note that the useless Morrison government was still prattling on about going to the footie in March 2020; and when a vaccine finally got to Australia after numerous deaths from Covid, access to it was restricted to the elderly and all the rest had to take their chances with anti-vaxxer hooligans and neo-Nazis rioting in the streets.

So Dear Ebby, you oversimplify the issue. As an aside it is odd that Australia still has not manufactured its own vaccine despite assorted waves of Covid running through the country; Cuba had three home-brewed vaccines brewing once the mRNA approach was understood properly. And as shown by the WHO's campaign against smallpox, in countries such as Australia one has to make vaccination compulsory, so in Australia the Covid pandemic will never be ended.

So 'Dear Robert' we all have choices and some are cleverer than others to make the right one and realise all this harp about Covid vaccines working just isn't .Why is it taking so long to eradicate it if were so. Keep well

 

[Rob44]

So 'Dear Robert' we all have choices and some are cleverer than others to make the right one and realise all this harp about Covid vaccines working just isn't .Why is it taking so long to eradicate it if were so. Keep well

1) the Covid vaccines like other vaccines such as the cholera vaccine do not 'persist in the body forever and as with the Cholera vaccination the immediate immunity conferred wanes after 6 months or so, thus requiring a 'booster'.
2) the Covid virus mutates, as do influenza viruses, and in the case of Covid this would seem to be about every 4-6 months and therefor the vaccine for one version of Covid just doesn't work very effectively for the next version.
3) there is now a happy world-wide pool of Covid viruses all happily replicating and mutating and without a major world-wide campaign to stamp out the virus, which would entail a mixture of quarantine for those infected and compulsory world-wide mass vaccination with a universal Covid vaccine, Covid won't be eradicated; that opportunity was probably lost in the first instance by the failure of the local PR China officials who sat on the realisation that Covid was a new virus, for I understand 24 days and , secondly, by assorted national governments such as ours which did sweet FA to implement a sane national strategy of containment involving serious compulsory quarantine BEFORE the bug had got to Australia.

It is interesting that Tasmania did eradicate the Covid introduced from the cruise ship allowed to dock in Sydney and the passengers on which were neither tested nor quarantined before wandering around Australia. So we were all going about our business happily until the Liberal State Premier aped Morrison to declare the pandemic to be over, and permitted a flood of mainlanders and cricket tourists into the State to watch the Ashes Cricket Test. After that Covid has been knocking along happily, making some variably sick and killing others.

The key lies in simply understanding what is meant by doubling time for reproduction of any organism. Simply start with 1 and double that every day and in about 3 weeks, say 24 days, you end up with very a large number, 16 000 000, to keep it simple and the next doubling, will come to 33 million. That concept describes the scope of any epidemic, or the proliferation of rabbits. I have no idea of the doubling time involved during the early days of the pandemic but if one person sneezes in a crowded market those droplets can infect what, 10 people per sneeze? Hence the need for rapid co-operation at the outset to minimise spread until a vaccine can be produced. That did not happen and the anti-vaxxer crowd and their conspiracy bullshit certainly added fuel to the flames.

Yes; I would have liked to have kept well; however, I am not the only one whose lungs have been knackered on behalf of the Ashes Cricket Test. Life at sea-level has now become life at 17 000feet altitude with little hope of acclimatisation.

 

[richmich.4422@gmail]

How on earth did Covid get into this topic of "Receiving Parking Tickets, Driving With Fogged Up Windscreens & Stopping In Wrong Places'?

 

[JimmyFlatrock]

How on earth did Covid get into this topic of "Receiving Parking Tickets, Driving With Fogged Up Windscreens & Stopping In Wrong Places'?

It's complicated.

 

[Ebby]

1) the Covid vaccines like other vaccines such as the cholera vaccine do not 'persist in the body forever and as with the Cholera vaccination the immediate immunity conferred wanes after 6 months or so, thus requiring a 'booster'.
2) the Covid virus mutates, as do influenza viruses, and in the case of Covid this would seem to be about every 4-6 months and therefor the vaccine for one version of Covid just doesn't work very effectively for the next version.
3) there is now a happy world-wide pool of Covid viruses all happily replicating and mutating and without a major world-wide campaign to stamp out the virus, which would entail a mixture of quarantine for those infected and compulsory world-wide mass vaccination with a universal Covid vaccine, Covid won't be eradicated; that opportunity was probably lost in the first instance by the failure of the local PR China officials who sat on the realisation that Covid was a new virus, for I understand 24 days and , secondly, by assorted national governments such as ours which did sweet FA to implement a sane national strategy of containment involving serious compulsory quarantine BEFORE the bug had got to Australia.

It is interesting that Tasmania did eradicate the Covid introduced from the cruise ship allowed to dock in Sydney and the passengers on which were neither tested nor quarantined before wandering around Australia. So we were all going about our business happily until the Liberal State Premier aped Morrison to declare the pandemic to be over, and permitted a flood of mainlanders and cricket tourists into the State to watch the Ashes Cricket Test. After that Covid has been knocking along happily, making some variably sick and killing others.

The key lies in simply understanding what is meant by doubling time for reproduction of any organism. Simply start with 1 and double that every day and in about 3 weeks, say 24 days, you end up with very a large number, 16 000 000, to keep it simple and the next doubling, will come to 33 million. That concept describes the scope of any epidemic, or the proliferation of rabbits. I have no idea of the doubling time involved during the early days of the pandemic but if one person sneezes in a crowded market those droplets can infect what, 10 people per sneeze? Hence the need for rapid co-operation at the outset to minimise spread until a vaccine can be produced. That did not happen and the anti-vaxxer crowd and their conspiracy bullshit certainly added fuel to the flames.

Yes; I would have liked to have kept well; however, I am not the only one whose lungs have been knackered on behalf of the Ashes Cricket Test. Life at sea-level has now become life at 17 000feet altitude with little hope of acclimatisation.

Well thankyou for all that crap