In 2025, the City of Mainz’s traffic enforcement division initiated a total of 138,676 administrative violation proceedings related to stationary traffic. Of these, 316 cases involved “parking against the direction of traffic.” These figures show that this offense accounts for only 0.23% of the total, representing a very small proportion. Unfortunately, however, this is associated with disproportionately high risks.

Stopping or parking against the direction of traffic or on the left side of the roadway constitutes a clear and long-standing violation of the Road Traffic Regulations (§ 12(4) StVO). This regulation applies regardless of whether the road is a side street, whether many vehicles are parked in the same manner (incorrectly), or whether such violations were not or only rarely penalized in the past. Penalties are imposed in accordance with the nationwide uniform catalog of fines and range from 10 to 35 euros.

In recent years, traffic enforcement has observed that this illegal parking behavior is occurring noticeably more frequently again. This is not a phenomenon limited to individual neighborhoods, but affects all neighborhoods of the state capital Mainz. Overall, the most common parking violations continue to involve parking at parking ticket machines as well as parking in areas with absolute or restricted stopping bans.

Karsten Lange, the department head responsible for traffic enforcement, emphasizes: “Regardless of the prevailing parking pressure, traffic enforcement regularly observes traffic-hazardous situations that arise specifically from parking against the direction of traffic. These hazardous situations occur particularly when pulling out of a parking space and subsequently merging into moving traffic.”

In the dark, a vehicle parked on the left side of the road is significantly harder to see, as the rear reflectors and taillights are not visible to traffic coming from the correct direction of travel. In poorly lit areas, this can lead to significant visibility problems.

Even in daylight, this parking behavior is highly critical to safety, emphasizes Daniel Joseph, head of the Traffic Monitoring Office: “Even when parking the vehicle, the driver must swerve to the left and thus drive directly into oncoming traffic. Cyclists and other motor vehicles traveling properly on the right side of the road are approaching the vehicle and, due to the vehicle’s position and limited visibility, cannot be seen until it is too late when pulling out of the parking space. Since the driver is seated on the left side of the vehicle, the view of the traffic area is further obstructed.”

These situations are not isolated incidents but represent a well-known and recurring phenomenon on inner-city streets. Against this backdrop, the issue of parking against the direction of traffic was revisited in recent employee training sessions, and it was explicitly emphasized that this violation must be penalized uniformly and consistently on all streets.

Department Head Lange notes: “This misconduct has already been penalized in the past. The fact that this parking behavior was—in the perception of citizens—sometimes not or not consistently addressed in the past does not constitute legal tolerance and does not justify refraining from taking action in the future.” 

The City of Mainz is aware that the parking situation—particularly in the downtown area—remains strained and is in some cases further exacerbated by construction sites, events, and temporary closures. However, the subjectively understandable interest in parking against the direction of traffic must not serve as a criterion for the actions of traffic enforcement. 

Karsten Lange: “The difficulty of finding a parking space does not justify behavior that violates traffic regulations. If we allowed this, it would ultimately benefit those who disregard traffic rules—while rule-abiding behavior would be disadvantaged. Such a practice is neither legally permissible nor justifiable to other road users.”

At the same time, traffic enforcement cannot “create compensatory parking spaces” nor establish different regulations for individual neighborhoods or streets. Daniel Joseph: “Selective non-enforcement would be unlawful. Detected violations must therefore be penalized regardless of their prevalence—the provisions of the Road Traffic Regulations are decisive.”

Revenue from parking tickets and fines for parking violations always goes into the general budget of the City of Mainz.