GRÄFENHAINICHEN, 14 OCT – 18-year-old Niclas Matthei has become known as the ‘Expert Reporter’ in his home country of Germany after helping to report thousands of parking offenders to the police.
According to reports Oddity CentralNiclas Matthei, a young man from the town of Gräfenhainichen, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, made headlines in several leading media earlier this year for his unusual hobby of riding his bicycle around town, recording parking violations and sending evidence to the local police.
He called himself Anzeigenhauptmeister or ‘Expert Reporter’ and he claims that he is only doing his civic duty.
Self-proclaimed ‘chief journalist’, he is knowledgeable about parking regulations in and out of Germany. So he immediately made a report by taking a picture of the offending car to the local police for further action with his smartphone while making his daily rounds.
According to his own records, Matthei made more than 4,000 police reports last year, which resulted in a total of US$154,227 in accumulated fines across the country.
Most of his ‘victims’ were in Saxony-Anhalt, but after seeing his popularity soar due to national media coverage, he decided to take his hunt across the country.
As you can imagine, Niclas is not very popular with drivers. At times he received violent reactions such as being threatened or punched in the face, but that did not stop him from his mission and instead made his spirit stronger. He claims that what he wants is that parking rules must be respected and offenders must be punished.
“What I want is for road traffic rules to be enforced because people think they can park as they please,” Niclas Matthei told the German tabloid Der Spiegel.
His actions have received a mixed response from the public, with some praising him for reporting offenses that are often overlooked by the police, and others calling him a ‘disruptor’ when offenders park under duress. Even the mayor of Gräfenhainichen criticized the teenager for obstructing the work of the local authorities with his overwhelming reports.
Interestingly, Niclas’ mother did not really support his actions. His mother told reporters that he was bullied at school and that his act of reporting the parking violation was now a form of revenge.
“My mother claims I don’t understand what I’m doing. He is wrong. I just accept it. Life is dangerous. I have already decided to become a whistleblower so that I can report something,” said Niclas. – Agency
