Camera scanning cars issue 500,000 unjustified parking fines per year, regulator says

More and more Dutch municipalities are using camera scanning cars to check parked cars, and then use an AI algorithm to determine whether they are parked illegally or without paying. These automatic scanners are able to check many more cars than an enforcement officer on foot, but also result in around 500,000 unjustified fines per year, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) calculated based on data from municipalities.

According to the AP, scanning cars scan approximately 250 to 375 million vehicles for municipalities per year, issuing 3 to 5 million parking fines annually. About 10 percent of the fines are imposed unjustly. People who object to their fines are successful in having them scrapped in 40 to 62 percent of cases per year.

The scanning cars use advanced cameras to view license plates and, using AI algorithms, check whether payment has been made for the parking space. An enforcement officer checks the images.

According to the AP, this combination of human judgment and technology has various shortcomings. For instance, the scanning car only takes a snapshot and does not see the surrounding circumstances. For example, the scanning car cannot determine whether the car is parked or just stopped for loading or unloading.

The scanning car also can’t always see the disabled parking permit, which is not registered by license plate, meaning that people with disabilities are overrepresented in unjustified fines.

The system sends a fine automatically, typically via digital mail. If people want to object, they face a time-consuming and often automated objection procedure, the AP said. People who are less digitally skilled are often unable to navigate this procedure, increasing the gap with digitally skilled people.

Municipalities are only allowed to use scanning vehicles if they have investigated the privacy risks and mitigated these. According to the AP, not every municipality that uses a scanning vehicle has done this.

The AP also has concerns about municipal oversight of the commercial parties that sometimes carry out the enforcement process.