Is this fair? The sensor parking bays catching out motorists

It might be only a matter of minutes, but city parking bays fitted with in-ground sensors could be catching motorists out too early.

Motorist Glenn Baston told the Herald Sun he was fined by the Melbourne City Council for over-staying in a parking bay.

But the parking ticket recorded the offence was committed at 11.36am – even though his ticket was valid until 11.40am.

Consumer Action Law Centre’s Jonathan Brown it’s imprecise and there’s the loophole.

‘A lot of us have had that scenario where maybe we are sitting in the car waiting for someone in the car 5 minutes, does it count while we are sitting there waiting?

‘Or does it count for the moment we are walking to go and buy the ticket?

‘We have heard the occasional story for someone getting fined in the moment when they are off finding change.’

Mr Brown said it was a confusing, unclear scenario.

‘It is concerning to see that what’s written on the ticket and what actually happened are worlds, or minutes apart,’ he said.

LISTEN: Consumer Action Law Centre’s Jonathan Brown on 3AW Breakfast