Fines for using visitor spaces
Fines for using visitor spaces
"I live in La Jonction and my car has a sticker for the corresponding zone. I regularly visit my girlfriend, who lives in a building in Chêne-Bourg, and there is a car park with around twenty spaces marked out in white on the ground, as well as two blue signs saying "parking visiteur" ("visitor parking"). On several occasions I've been fined by the fines department on the grounds that I've exceeded the maximum parking time indicated by the owner of the building, who seems to tolerate some visitors and not others, but no one has been able to answer my questions about the legality of this procedure...".
Philippe
The concept of visitor parking is not specifically governed by the Federal Road Traffic Act and its numerous implementing ordinances. In fact, by definition, these parking spaces reserved for visitors to a building are located on private property, whereas the scope of the federal legislation is on the public highway. It follows that the owner or residents of the building who feel aggrieved by the disturbance caused by an unwelcome visitor should take civil action against the latter, enabling them to defend their property against any usurpation. Criminal proceedings for trespass could also be envisaged, provided that the car park is clearly closed to the public.
However, it can be cumbersome and costly to set the legal machinery in motion through such channels. This is probably why a canton with recurring traffic problems such as Geneva has chosen to include an article in its criminal law stipulating that anyone who violates a duly reported ban on driving or parking on someone else's property will, on complaint, be punished by a fine (art. 10 LPG).
A number of legal experts and lawyers have already questioned the legality of the fines imposed in this respect, and challenging one of them could prove interesting, as it would be possible for you to invoke the consent of your friend, a resident of the building, and to examine whether the owner of the premises has the power and the right to require her to receive visitors for a limited period only...
