Beer bottles, packaging and a pair of shoes. No, the Ford Focus on the parking on the Belcrumweg in Breda is not a nice image. A thorn in the eyes of retailers. But drag away? That is complicated.
The weeds grow centimeters high along the wheels, which are now as flat as a dime. The car is dirty, with bird droppings and dust, and the driver’s seat is flat backwards. “A homeless man is sleeping,” says Hans, who has just finished working at a car rental company Mabi. His car is in the parking lot, diagonally opposite the ghost truck. And it’s a thorn in his eyes.
“It is so often so full here. And if I leave my car here for longer than a day, I will be fined. Why does that not apply to this car?” He says. Every day it is for employees to compete for a parking space. The Belcrumweg is popular. “Certainly if there is a busy lawsuit at the court, then it is completely full here. That makes it even more frustrating that this car has been occupied for a year.”
Two weeks ago the police came to visit, but the consequences were disappointing. “I thought it would be towed now. But he is still there.”
In Helmond, a neighborhood was completely crazy last year of a neglected car:
As with so many ghost cars, dragging away is legally very complicated. In this case, the parking area is part of the nearby Jumbo supermarket, but it in turn rents it from a maintenance company. “Dragging away? That’s theft,” explains branch manager Raoul van den Brand. “And moreover, where should I leave it?”
He explains that the car is still a person’s property. Even if it has been unmanned for a year, the French license plates have been pulled off and it can be called a miracle if the car is still starting. With dragging you also saddle someone else with the problem. “I can put it on the street here, but that is not a thing of the case.” So he remains, so far. “Do you want him different?” The branch manager jokes.
A real solution has not yet been found. The branch is talking to Jumbo itself and with the parking company. Until a solution rolls out, the car remains. “While we do our best to keep the parking lot tidy and clean, then such a car is a thorn in your eye.”
