NZ Man Beats AI Parking Fines, Sparks Nationwide Probe

When Keith Miller got slapped with two parking fines claiming he'd overstayed at his local supermarket for hours, he knew something was wrong. He'd only been there for quick 15-minute shopping trips.

The Wellington man didn't just pay up and move on. He dug through receipts and his home security footage to prove the AI-powered cameras had a serious flaw: they were counting two separate visits as one long stay.

Miller's detective work paid off instantly. Smart Compliance Management dropped both fines almost immediately after seeing his evidence. But that's when he discovered something bigger was happening.

After sharing his story online, dozens of other drivers reached out with similar tales of being wrongly accused. That's when Miller decided innocent people deserved protection from flawed technology.

He filed a formal complaint with New Zealand's Commerce Commission in January. The agency is now investigating parking operators nationwide for potential Fair Trading Act violations, with 17 complaints specifically citing problems with automatic number plate recognition cameras.

The technology works by photographing cars entering and leaving parking areas, then calculating time spent inside. The problem? It can't tell when someone leaves and comes back later versus parking the whole time.

Another Wellington driver, Bridget Murdoch, got fined $85 for parking illegally in a lot she never used. The cameras caught her car entering and exiting twice, but she was actually just making U-turns. Her fine vanished after journalists asked questions.

The Ripple Effect

Miller's complaint represents 250 parking grievances the Commerce Commission received in just six months. New World confirmed it knew about the issue affecting customers making multiple daily visits and had raised concerns with Smart Compliance.

The supermarket chain says the problem has been addressed, though the parking company still operates cameras at locations nationwide. Smart Compliance insists trained officers manually review each case and apply "fair and common-sense" judgment.

Miller doesn't oppose the technology itself, just its current flawed implementation. His willingness to "hold them to the fire" is now protecting countless drivers from paying fines they don't deserve.

One man's 30 minutes of research turned into a nationwide reckoning with parking enforcement technology.