Unpaid 140,000 Won Over 50 Instances in 1 Year 2 Months
12 Vehicles Exit Parking Lot by Tailgating
Selfish drivers who closely tailgate vehicles exiting to avoid paying parking fees have been caught.
On the 12th, SBS reported, "In May, at an outdoor parking lot in Seoul Hangang Park, 'tailgating' was captured behind a van that had just paid the parking fee." It was a method to avoid paying parking fees.
The same vehicle exited the parking lot using the same method three weeks later, and it was found that over a period of 1 year and 2 months, about 140,000 KRW in parking fees were evaded 50 times at this one parking lot.
After investigating closed-circuit television (CCTV) and entry-exit records, it was found that there were 180 cases of fee evasion using the tailgating method at this parking lot just this year.
At a nearby parking lot, nine vehicles escaped without paying fees by tailgating, and in 2022, at a parking lot in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, 12 vehicles were caught leaving without paying a single cent using the same method.
The parking lot authorities reported two habitual tailgating drivers to the police and recovered four times the unpaid fees according to regulations. Among them, a K5 driver was caught not paying 1,980,000 KRW in parking fees over 66 instances and was fined 3,000,000 KRW.
Among the methods to evade parking fees, tailgating by closely following the vehicle in front before the barrier gate lowers is the most well-known, but there are also cases exploiting the fact that turnaround vehicles are not charged fees.
Last year, at a public parking lot in Jeju City, a vehicle was caught heading toward the exit immediately after entering the parking lot. When the barrier gate opened, the vehicle did not leave but reversed back and parked inside the lot. This was an act exploiting the fact that when the barrier gate opens and the vehicle is recognized as exiting, no parking fee is charged.
Deliberately using parking lots illegally or through loopholes like this constitutes misuse of convenience facilities and can result in criminal penalties of up to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 5,000,000 KRW.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
