Norway’s metrology authority tells Oslo parking wardens to stop measuring with their feet

Oslo’s parking wardens measure some distances by placing one foot after another, counting the shoe lengths and multiplying them by the length of the shoe. Norway’s metrology authority says the approach is too approximate when the result can lead to a fine.

The method is used by the municipality’s more than 100 wardens, including to check whether cars are parked at least five meters from an intersection. The authority recommends using a tape measure or measuring stick instead.

The issue gained attention after a driver challenged a fine issued following a foot-length measurement near an intersection in Oslo’s Torshov district. Oslo District Court ruled in the driver’s favor, saying the method did not document the distance.

Calculations cited by Motor show why shoe size matters: 22.7 shoe lengths equal five meters for someone wearing size 36, but the same count equals 6.33 meters for someone wearing size 45. The municipality argues that tape measures are difficult and impractical because wardens often work alone.

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In general, I would say that measuring by foot sounds quite approximate. Since the measurement is used to impose fines, motorists who are fined should be able to trust that the calculation was done properly.