After being named and shamed earlier this year as the worst offender for unpaid parking tickets in London, Kazakhstan's diplomats have finally buckled and agreed to settle up almost $60,000 for 627 parking violations.
But that’s only a fraction of the Kazakhs’ debt to the city. In January authorities identified Astana’s representatives as owing $300,000 generated from 1,715 tickets. One Kazakhstani diplomat was singled out as the most prolific offender: The BMW 318i driver clocked more than $85,000 in unpaid fines with 471 tickets.
London’s Westminster Council, which is chasing more than $1,500,000 in unpaid tickets from diplomats, has had huge problems trying to get the cash from the embassy community, where 'diplomatic immunity' is often cited as a defense for violating parking regulations.
"No one likes getting a parking ticket but most motorists play fair and either pay the fine or follow the appeals process. It's time these diplomats started to respect the rules of the road in the UK, and stopped thinking they can do what they like at the expense of our taxpayers,” said Westminster's parking supremo Lee Rowley.
Over the pond in New York, home to 289 diplomatic missions, lawmakers are also grappling with the perennial problem of diplomats' unpaid tickets. Members of the diplomatic community owe the city $17.2 million. In a bid to collect, three lawmakers have proposed a bill to remove diplomatic license plates from offending vehicles and subtract fines from disbursements of foreign aid to countries that do not pay their dues.
Paul Bartlett is a journalist based in Almaty.
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