Porto, Jan. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The Porto Municipal Police issued an average of 108 fines and towed away 46 cars from the street per day in 2024, having registered 1,077 vehicles in disabled parking spaces throughout the year, it was said on Thursday.
"We have around 40,000 notices of offence, and we mustn't forget that, of these 40,000 notices, we have almost 17,000 vehicle removals," the police commander told journalists today at the presentation of the “Participate in Road Safety” operation.
Speaking next to the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, in the Sala D. Maria of the Paços do Concelho, the commander of the municipal police listed the main figures for 2024 for the force he leads: exactly 39,657 reports and 16,897 vehicle removals.
"The "top 3" we have are parking on the carriageway in both directions [6,048 notices], [and] parking in reserved spaces - private car parks, disabled people and loading and unloading" - a total of 5,376, of which 1,077 were in spaces for disabled people.
António Leitão da Silva also pointed to a figure that "should make us all ashamed" when he mentioned the 5,172 vehicles removed for parking on pavements.
According to the local authority's figures, the top offence was "failure to comply with the indication given by the C16 sign - stop and parking prohibited", with 3,370 registrations, and "parking a vehicle in a place where vehicles access a property", with 1,542 registrations.
There were also 990 parking offences "on a carriageway where traffic is moving in one direction only, preventing vehicles from passing", 892 records of parking on pedestrian crossings, 788 cases of parking on a carriageway "where the vehicle is not as close as possible to the right-hand edge of the carriageway" and 752 records in places with a C15 "parking prohibited" sign.
He also said that, of the 54,287 calls received by the Municipal Police in 2024 (an average of 149 per day), there were "23,000 incidents in which effective resources were deployed on the ground", 75% of which "were exclusively traffic incidents".
The telephone service, integrated into the municipality's Integrated Management Centre (CGI) telephone system and accessible when you call the Municipal Police, also has a specific redirection for improper parking in a place reserved for people with disabilities.
António Leitão da Silva recalled that parking in a place reserved for people with disabilities "is a serious administrative offence that amounts to [the withdrawal of] two points on your driving licence".
The Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, said that "the main point has been made" by the commander of the Municipal Police, but added that "road safety has profound implications for the quality of life in cities".
"There are many who say that this is exactly where civilised and uncivilised cities are divided, and we want to be a civilised city, and civilised from the point of view of behaving in a way that suits our needs and the needs of others," he said.
Rui Moreira also insisted on changing the policy on fines, especially the difference between a fine for not validating a transport ticket on the metro and improper parking.
"We hope the state realises the sanctions framework needs to be revised. Anyone who today doesn't validate a metro pass or exceeds the validation area pays €120. But anyone who parks a car on the pavement, putting traffic and pedestrian safety at risk, only pays €30," he said.
For Rui Moreira, "this is an incomprehensible situation", arguing that the amount of the fines should be the responsibility of the municipalities.
JE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa