Strange how a number of parking spaces suddenly became vacant simultaneously on a Dublin street yesterday. Could it have been that drivers were heading out for safer regions as the first wheelclampers were spotted? One motorist was in for a very nasty shock and will take a dubious place in history for being the first to have a card clamped with the bright, toy-town yellow trap.
The unfortunate little mustard-coloured Nissan Micra became the centre of attention in Merrion Square as "traffic spotters" - Dublin Corporation's name for wardens - paced the pavement and officials from the traffic department talked gravely on mobile phones and walkie-talkies.
Even tourists were attracted, bemused by the growing group of people surrounding the car, wondering what was going on. When told this was the first wheelclamping in Ireland, they delightedly got out their cameras.
Motorists at fault are faced with paying a £65 fine by credit card over the phone, or by walking - presumably - down to the parking shop at Bachelor's Walk to pay the fine, then trekking back to the car to wait to be declamped.
By 7.30 p.m. yesterday, 12 cars had been clamped. Eight drivers had paid the fine. Dublin Corporation said that with the exception of one French motorist, those fined had paid without complaint. The agony will go on. The clampers will operate Monday to Saturday between 7.15 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. If a motorist misses the luminous yellow clamp on a back wheel, notices on the windscreen positively yell the message.
The first is a yellow warning notice put on before a wheel is clamped. This states the time - in the case of yesterday's Nissan, 9.34 a.m. - and a blunt "Authorised for Removal/Clamping".
A driver may think this is a warning notice, giving sufficient time to make a getaway. Not so, unless the driver has the getaway speed of Michael Schumacher, for the clampers could be in the same street or only minutes away.
When the clamps go on, the windscreen is decorated with a white notice with red capital letters with the clear message "Stop - Do Not Attempt To Remove It!" To avoid any doubt, a blue immobilisation notice with the rules instructing "Do Not Ignore" is also stuck under a wiper.
The second car for treatment yesterday was a silver LandRover. The third unlucky vehicle was a white Peugeot 306 with a Northern Ireland registration, clamped despite a "nurse on call" sign in the window.
The clampings also brought out the musers, whose conversational topic was how to get the clamp off. Bystanders put forward various theories, the most popular being that all you had to do was remove the wheel. Judging from the speed at which so many drivers drove out of their parking spots yesterday, few were prepared to take the chance.