德国波茨坦违章停车无需罚款

German authorities are giving parking violators in one city an unexpected break by issuing tickets without fines.

德国波茨坦的违章停车者们近日收到意外惊喜，他们收到违章罚单却无需缴纳罚款。

The tickets, put on carelessly parked cars in Potsdam, include a fine of 0 euros and the cheerful message "Glueck gehabt!!!" (Lucky you!!!). The new approach is designed to admonish¹（告诫） motorists without hitting them in the wallet.

"The tickets serve as a warning to parking offenders²," said Regina Thielemann, a city of Potsdam spokeswoman. "They're issued when the driver isn't around. So they're given written notice when they'd ordinarily only get a verbal（口头的） warning."

Potsdam, the state capital of Brandenburg just outside Berlin, earned around 1.2 million euros from parking fines in 2011, she said. Around 120,000 parking fines were issued last year.

In Germany -- a country known for its fondness for obeying rules and punishing offenders -- Potsdam's fine-free tickets have caught the attention of the national media.

One recipient³, Kathrin Bach, said her initial reaction to finding a note on her windscreen was one of annoyance⁴（烦恼，打扰） -- until she read the message.

"I thought 'Oh no - got another ticket'," she told Germany's Bild newspaper. "I've paid loads of parking fines before because there are so few parking spaces in the area," she added.

Bach's offence -- parking less than five meters away from a road junction⁵ -- should have cost her 10 euros, according to the city's parking rules.