German authorities are giving parking violators in one city an unexpected break by issuing tickets without fines.
The tickets, put on carelessly parked cars in Potsdam, include a fine of 0 euros and the cheerful message "Glueck gehabt!!!" (Lucky you!!!). The new approach is designed to admonish motorists without hitting them in the wallet.
"The tickets serve as a warning to parking offenders," said Regina Thielemann, a city of Potsdam spokeswoman. "They're issued when the driver isn't around. So they're given written notice when they'd ordinarily only get a verbal warning."
Potsdam, the state capital of Brandenburg just outside Berlin, earned around 1.2 million euros from parking fines in 2011, she said. Around 120,000 parking fines were issued last year.
In Germany -- a country known for its fondness for obeying rules and punishing offenders -- Potsdam's fine-free tickets have caught the attention of the national media.
One recipient, Kathrin Bach, said her initial reaction to finding a note on her windscreen was one of annoyance -- until she read the message.
"I thought 'Oh no - got another ticket'," she told Germany's Bild newspaper. "I've paid loads of parking fines before because there are so few parking spaces in the area," she added.
Bach's offence -- parking less than five meters away from a road junction -- should have cost her 10 euros, according to the city's parking rules.
德国波茨坦的违章停车者们近日收到意外惊喜，他们收到违章罚单却无需缴纳罚款。
这些罚单被贴在波茨坦的粗心违章停靠车辆上，包括零元的罚单和“你真幸运”的欢快字样。这种新措施旨在告诫车主，但同时不收罚金。
波茨坦市的一名女发言人里吉娜?蒂勒曼说：“这些罚单对违章停车者来说是个警示，是车主不在时开具的，因此他们得到了书面警告，而通常只会得到口头警告。”
波茨坦是勃兰登堡州的首府，邻近柏林。里吉娜?蒂勒曼表示，该市去年因停车罚款入账120万欧元。去年该市大约开出12万份违章停车罚单。
德国因注重遵守规则和惩罚违规者而著称。波茨坦的免罚款罚单引起了全国媒体的注意。
收到这种罚单的凯瑟琳?巴赫表示，最初在挡风玻璃上发现罚单时，她的第一反应是懊恼，不过她读到上面的消息时就消气了。
她告诉德国《图片报》：“我当时想，‘噢，不，又被罚了。”她补充说：“我以前付过太多罚单了，因为这附近的停车位特别少。”
巴赫的车停在距离三岔路口不到五米的地方。根据该市违章停车条例，她本应被罚款10欧元。
Vocabulary:
parking space: 停车位
road junction: 三岔路
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