Why Don't They Have This in America?

In Switzerland, instead of parking meters that necessitate shoving your hand down car seat cushions or begging a local convenient store worker for change of a twenty in nickels, they use these. You simply turn the wheel at the top to signal your arrival time and observe whatever maximum time limit is allowed for your parking space.
Police officers are consistently prowling the streets, checking on times. So, there's definitely no way you can get away with setting your clock ahead or not returning before your time limit is up. It's brilliant, really. Parking is free if you follow the posted rules and you get a big fat ticket if you don't. Sounds pretty logical to me.
Since locals have a version of the clock that sticks to their windshield, these dashboard ones come with some helpful traffic tips for visitors. Ours includes a moving model which shows that you should use your blinker when exiting a roundabout. It was purchased at a chewing gum and lotto shop for 1 swiss franc.