Zowie: Italian Woman Receives Illegal Parking Ticket Fine, Plus Interest Penalities, Dating Back 1,800 Years
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 27, 2011
And you thought it cost a lot to pay for a parking ticket in San Francisco (the highest in the US), New York City, or Chicago.
Italy now takes the cake — or the torta — for the world’s record for issuance of the highest parking penalty ever because of an accidental 1,800-year typo.
What a difference the omission of a zero can make…
From The Consumerist, Car Receives $44,500 Ticket For 1,800 Years Of Illegal Parking:
Accurate data entry is important. Need proof? Just ask the woman in Italy who was taken to the hospital for a dizzy spell after receiving a €32,000 ($44,500) parking ticket. How long does a car have to be parked to receive that kind of fine? About 1,800 years. Wait, what?
From Sydney Morning Herald, Typo leads to 2000 years’ interest:
Police in Sicily issued a €32,000 ($44,500) fine for an illegally parked car after totting up 2000 years of interest by mistake, Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper has reported.
The interest due was calculated from the year AD208 after a policeman left out a zero when trying to write “2008″.
“When she opened the envelope with the parking fine, the owner of the vehicle had a dizzy turn and had to be taken to hospital,” the paper said on its website.
The police later acknowledged the error and the woman’s husband stumped up the €102 actually due.
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