Hi guys!

This is my first post so I guess I'd better introduce myself. My name is Julian and I'm a Brit and I've been living in Switzerland for nearly nine years now.

Anyway, now I have a question regarding parking fines. Outside my apartment, there is a large Kehrplatz (turning area) which people use for occasional parking due to the ridiculously inadequate provision of visitor spaces. Obviously, this is illegal and people doing this risk a fine. When I parked there recently, I figured that I'd only get a small fine and would most likely get a chance to move the car into a vacant visitor's bay before the parking warden did his rounds. Unfortunately, this was not possible and I got fined - a somewhat harsh SFr220 for parking safely in a large turning area. People parked on the street outside of designated bays, arguably causing more of a risk were not ticketed.

So, my question. The fine seems large to me and out of proportion to the offence committed (my car was not causing an obstruction, given the size of the turning area). Is this a flat fine, no matter the circumstances or is there some wriggle-room? Should I just pay up or can I appeal?

There is a list of all fines (search forum/google). Yours is not a parking fine, but obstruction.

I was once fines CHF120 for parking outside a marked parking bay, as there was no room. Ironically the policeman's car writing the ticket was parked on the pavement (sidewalk)...

Yeah, parking fines in CH are a bit of a riddle.

Parking on the sidewalk is worse than parking on the street so that gives you something like 220 CHF instead of 40 CHF (even though you obstruct traffic less). Parking in the turning area would probably be as parking on the sidewalk.

However, if there is parking forbidden sign you are allowed to stop for 5 min on the sidewalk if leaving at least 1 m to the wall and then you don't get a fine. You do however get a fine if you stop 5 min on the other side of the road where there are parking field but don't put money in the parking meter. So if you are going to do a quick errand it is better to stop on the sidewalk under a "no parking" sign than in a parking field and not putting money in.

It could have been worse. They could have had towed your car away - then you would waste more time and money.

This is just to finance the freedom of the two Swiss hostages from Libya Pay and help the freedom