Hämeenlinna driver keeps risking parking fines rather than park farther away
Saturday 24th October 2026 on 13:01 in
Finland
Juulia Pietilä has received about 20 parking fines in Hämeenlinna this year for overstaying time limits, but continues to park near her home rather than pay for a space farther away, Yle reports. Last week, her car was fitted with a wheel clamp because of unpaid fines.
The 26-year-old parks in a time-limited street space where drivers must display a parking disc. She says she does not always manage to move the car before the limit expires. A video she posted on social media showed the clamp on her car; Pietilä says she was parked in a regular disc space, not a disabled bay or another prohibited spot.
Removing the clamp cost 300 euros. Pietilä also had to pay seven earlier fines that were still outstanding, bringing the total she paid to about 798 euros. The clamp was removed after officials confirmed that the fines had been paid.
Pietilä says the nearest suitable rental space she has found is at Kaivopark, a parking facility more than a kilometre’s walk from her home. It costs about 60 euros a month, which she considers expensive. All 13 parking spaces at her apartment building are already occupied. She says she has also seen a private offer for a space in a yard for 50 euros a month, but has not found a cheaper option.
She works from home as a tattoo artist and moves her car every two hours on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. The parking-disc requirement applies on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hämeenlinna has about 1,000 resident parking permits in use, according to the city’s senior parking and area inspector, Jyrki Juvonen. Several hundred spaces are available for permit holders. Juvonen said the city rarely uses wheel clamps, installing them between one and five times a year, and generally contacts drivers before doing so.
Under the law, a wheel clamp can be fitted to a vehicle after it has accumulated five unpaid, legally valid parking fines. Unpaid fines rise to 64 euros. Drivers can request a review or appeal a parking fine within 30 days.