No more wheel-clamps in Amsterdam

Today was the last day the wheel-clamp will be seen in Amsterdam.

The much dreaded device, meant to make sure false parking did not go unpunished, was introduced 25 years ago. At the time, illegal parking got out of hand in Amsterdam, and the wheel-clamp was introduced to help a strict parking laws enforcement.

Nowadays, enforcing the rules has become more efficient, and false parking is not a serious problem any more. Moreover, foreign cars do not escape so easily any more either: parking fines can be enforced in all neighbouring countries in Europe.
Parking enforcement has become one of the few departments of the City of Amsterdam that turn out a profit.

Alderman Herrema officially handed the last wheel-clamp to the Dutch Police Museum, saying that the device no longer becomes a city that wants to show hospitality towards its visitors.