Cameras that detect and automatically fine poorly parked cars should start operating in Portugal in March. The system was announced in August last year.
Currently, those who park outside the spaces designated for parking vehicles are only fined if a law enforcement agent passes by at the time. However, this scenario is set to change, with cameras that allow automatic fines for abusive parking, which are due to start operating in March.
According to data, in 2023 more than 33,000 fines were issued for abusive parking in Portugal and 15,515 vehicles were towed.
The city of Porto will be the first to implement this system, and initially the cameras will be installed in at least two service cars. The devices will be placed on the roof of cars and the software will identify poorly parked vehicles, followed by a photographic record of the license plates. Subsequently, it is up to the police officer on duty to collect the fine.
For example, if there is a queue with several poorly parked vehicles, these new cameras will photograph all license plates and the fine will be automatically assigned to the drivers of all vehicles. Therefore, as the police officer no longer has to issue the fine in person, there is no longer the possibility of some drivers escaping the fine because the law enforcement officer did not have time to get to their vehicle.
There is still no information about the timeline for this being extended to the rest of the country.
Source https://postal.pt/
