Man ticketed for car parked 1634km away
Despite it being more than a decade since Invercargill man Graham Reid had visited Auckland, a parking ticket turned up in his letterbox.
The 80-year-old has lived in Invercargill for about 37 years and has not travelled outside the Southland region since before his wife died 12 years ago.
When a ticket delivered last Thursday ordered him to pay $21 to Auckland Transport, Reid said he was not angry, just surprised – considering his car had been parked 1634 kilometres away in the garage at his Invercargill home.
The notice said the car was parked on Normanby Rd, Mount Eden.
When asked how the mistake happened, Auckland Transport spokesperson Mark Hannan said the officer took down the car registration incorrectly on June 12.
‘‘It doesn’t happen often. It’s human error,’’ he said.
The letter read: ‘‘You being the person in charge of the motor vehicle [registration number] parked a vehicle on the road where a maximum time a vehicle may park there was restricted by a traffic sign."
Reid was ordered to pay the fine by August 9.
The day after receiving the letter, Reid said he spoke to four different people, on a 15-minute phone call to Auckland Transport, before he received an apology for the mistake.
‘‘I knew it was wrong because I knew I hadn’t been there. It was quite unreal,’’ he said.
‘‘I thought what the hell is this? What’s going on?’’
He recalled his last trip to Auckland was to go fishing during a three-week break, but that was more than a decade ago.