Innsbruck market hall

Large-scale towing takes customers by surprise

The tow truck (in the background) in action at the market hall.

(Bild: zVg)

Parking in the loading zone was usually tolerated by customers of the Innsbruck market hall. Now they are often in for a nasty surprise: vehicle gone, 400 euro fine. Is there an explanation for this?

Oops, where my car was just parked there is now just empty gray asphalt!" Several customers of the market hall were recently confronted with this disillusionment. They had parked their cars in the loading zone to the south of the building to run their errands. Some of them may have parked for hours, and "black sheep" may even have wanted to save themselves expensive fees for days on end. There are a good dozen of these spaces available.

The tow truck is gone, and with it all the vehicles in this zone.

(Bild: zVg)

Towing operations even at "impossible times"
Apparently this is now a thing of the past. "Yes, for a few weeks now there has been rigorous towing, even at impossible times, i.e. at night," confirms Petra Mariner, head of the Markthalle, in response to an inquiry from Krone. Surprised and even angry market hall customers have repeatedly contacted her recently. It costs around 400 euros to "redeem" the towed car including the fine.

Many customers have parked here and I was not aware of any problems in the past.

Markthallen-Chefin Petra Mariner

Market hall boss: "Certainly not our initiative"
It is important to Mariner to emphasize that the initiative for the towing actions did not come from those responsible for the market hall. The space is clearly needed for the actual loading and unloading of suppliers, but she is not aware of any serious problems caused by the parkers.

"Action sharp?" No instructions known
Inquiry to the city: Is there a targeted "action sharp" going on here? The Mobile Monitoring Group (MÜG) involved in the towing operations referred to Martina Norz, who is responsible for the parking areas and emphasized: "I am not aware of any orders or instructions."

What is a loading zone?
She points out that a loading zone is generally intended for the "uninterrupted" loading of bulky goods. "Buying two apples is certainly not one of them." And if no owner shows up at the vehicle for some time, towing may well follow.