Petra (not her real name) goes away for a few days and stays in a hotel. She parks her car nearby. Temporary signs with a no-parking order are placed on the street. Petra reads them carefully. She thinks she can park today. The ban applies only later. To be sure, she checks with the hotel owner. She agrees with Petra. So Petra decides to leave the car in the parking spot.
Petra goes away for a few days and stays in a hotel. She parks her car nearby. Temporary signs with a no-parking order are placed on the street. Petra reads them carefully. She thinks she can park today. The ban applies only later. To be sure, she checks with the hotel owner. She agrees with Petra. So Petra decides to leave the car in the parking spot.
Car gone
She goes to enjoy her outing. Later that day she is shocked to see her car is gone. She also sees three missed calls from the municipality. Petra calls back to find out what went wrong. She is told her car was towed because parking was not allowed there. This surprises her. She thought she had looked carefully? And checked with the hotel owner?
An unpleasant conversation
The municipal employee refers to the website. According to him, it clearly states that parking was forbidden. He also says photos were taken of the signs. That is necessary because cars are not towed without reason. According to the employee, Petra did not look carefully. The conversation does not feel pleasant. It sounds accusatory. Petra feels she is the problem. She asks for the photos. She wants to be sure the decision is correct. She sends an email. And another one. But no response comes.
Apologies?
Petra does not know what else to do. She contacts the National Ombudsman online. We forward the complaint again to the municipality. They quickly take up the matter. The conversation with the employee is discussed with the team leader. Both sides remember the conversation differently. Petra is already happy her complaint was discussed. She also receives apologies from the municipality for the late response to the emails.
Final proof
Eventually she also sees the photos. They show that parking was not allowed at that spot. Petra immediately sees it. The hotel owner also misread the signs. Petra accepts the fine because she simply misread the temporary no-parking signs.
The human scale
I see people here doing their best. A citizen who looks, asks and is willing to admit she misunderstood. And a municipality that ultimately explains and apologizes. The problem is not in the decision, but in the way people talk to each other. That is where the human scale lies. That makes the difference.
This column appeared in De Telegraaf on Saturday, January 3, 2026. The person in the photo is not the person in the text.