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When I first looked at this I saw it as conflicted-interest, private law enforcement. I've changed my mind a bit after looking at it a little deeper.
First off, if Shaw (owner of only booting company in town) were going to charge $200 or something ridiculous, apartment owners would stop giving him permission to do what he does on their property because they'd probably lose business. Tenants or customers might not want to take the risk.
Second, it sounds like many want to argue that $80 or $90 even $70 is out of line. It's as if the fee is viewed as a high price to pay for parking. It's not parking payment folks; it's the price you pay for trespassing. Shaw's opponents will likely find themselves spending more than $70 to illegally park now, and it's a shame that this results from vilifying a businessman with perhaps a "creepy" demeanor. The real culprits are those who choose regularly to park their cars wherever they damn well please as if no one can lay claim to private property rights.
For sure signage needs to be clearer. For sure owners of property need to make it clear to their patrons that they allow booting before they sign them on as tenants or customers. For sure property owners need to make it clear to Shaw that parking permits need to be stuck to the INSIDE of a car and owners could offer tenants parking passes for visitors. More than once as a student living in student housing I had to go find a parking spot well away from my own unit outside of my own parking lot because of this free-for-all attitude which arrogantly expresses a disrespect for property rights, an American institution.
People seem to be very willing to discuss figures as if there is some universal standard for the price they deserve to pay for screwing up. It doesn't work that way. It reminds me of driving at high speeds on Utah highways. No matter how fast I'm going, the driver behind me wants to drive a little faster. It's a race. It's as if passing people is what gets you there fastest. In this case I'd argue it has little to do with the dollar figure. It's the fact that it wants to increase.
However, since we're talking private law enforcement, we need to see some competition. All the regulations could go away save those that address price fixing if there were someone else ballsy enough to take this on. It’s a dirty job but it sounds lucrative, unless of course $70 or $80 is just not enough to sustain such an endeavor. In that case, deregulation seems in order lest we all prefer to pay $200 to be towed!
I really think the biggest problem people have with this is that we're not used to paying our fines on the spot. So we argue that it is unfair and would prefer to pay MORE money LATER if you'll just tow my car.
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11 comments:
Have to agree with you 100% on this one. You break the private land owners rules (which you agreed to if you live there) and you pay the fine, no matter what it is. Same as if you get a speeding ticket, you pay the fine no matter what it is or you come visit the jail for a while. By the way if you do come visit the jail, I will smile and wave at you from the other side of the glass.
Hehe TTL,
I hope the next time I see you it has nothing to do with that glass! Highly doubtful I'm sure!
:)
OK, fine. Rules are rules. Fine print is fine print.
But if my kid is bitten by a coral snake and I can't get to the hospital because some overzealous land owner believes he is judge-jury-executioner on his rental property, I am going to own him, his daughter and his dog.
Just post a county-backed fine, like a parking ticket. And keep your damn iron of my ride.
Coral snakes don't live in Cache Valley. Boots don't get put on unless you park where you are not suppose to and the County can't back a ticket on private property. But, I do somewhat see your point. I will admit, it is easy for me to be on the other side of this fence because I have never been booted nor do I park near areas that boot. I just don't know or visit people in these areas.
Yeah, I know coral snakes don't live here. But if one crawled into an RV on its way out of Texas and ended up here (or if was a rattler, black widow spider, asthma attack, peanut allergy reaction, compound fracture, whatever), the point stands.
The county can do what it wants - like make/change laws.
I say if you are renting your personal property, you are taking a risk like any other business.
Just because your business is rental property doesn't mean you are exempt from similar constraints of other businesses. Post a towing sign in the lot like Angie's, and enforce it.
Boots are the control implement of the lazy property owner. I'm with Bluto. Give a good, honest tow job any day.
Blower,
I'd say it's not the place for government to enforce the law on private property. The cops have no business touring your parking lot let alone your back yard unless you phone them in.
The last thing we need are more cops on duty so they can have time to tour private parking lots looking for parking violators.
I personally would rather be booted in place than impounded so fees can add up while I pull together the funds to get my car back.
Your snake bit analogy is ok if it's a cop who kills your kid this way? Or is it that you don't think even they should put their grubby paws on your ride?
We don't get to break laws then choose what punishment suits our guilty conscience for the misdeed. I mean hell, if you want to hot-wire my car and "borrow it" for a while (until you're caught) should you choose how much time you get to spend sleeping with one eye open in the slammer?
Blower,
I'd say it's not the place for government to enforce the law on private property. The cops have no business touring your parking lot let alone your back yard unless you phone them in.
The last thing we need are more cops on duty so they can have time to tour private parking lots looking for parking violators.
I personally would rather be booted in place than impounded so fees can add up while I pull together the funds to get my car back.
Your snake bit analogy is ok if it's a cop who kills your kid this way? Or is it that you don't think even they should put their grubby paws on your ride?
We don't get to break laws then choose what punishment suits our guilty conscience for the misdeed. I mean hell, if you want to hot-wire my car and "borrow it" for a while (until you're caught) should you choose how much time you get to spend sleeping with one eye open in the slammer?
oops, gratuitous double click...
"not the place for government to enforce the law on private property?"
OK. So every bit of private property is a Republic unto itself, responsible for enforcing its own laws?
So when I come over and shoot out your porch light and cut down that sweet spruce in your front yard, whatcha gonna do? Beat me with your 7-iron? Boot my car?
I never pegged you for an anarchist, but if the BOOT fits ...
Ignoring a sign and parking in a private lot is not "breaking the law" as you say. And I'm not saying beat cops should be involved. But if the county approved the sign and approved the fine, cool.
Otherwise, you could just put up a sign that said, "You no park-a here. If you park-a here, I break-a you windows, break-a you legs and break-a you face."
"OK. So every bit of private property is a Republic unto itself, responsible for enforcing its own laws?"
To some extent, yes. If you break in to my house I can shoot you. But then I have to prove you broke in...blah...
Of course if you walk across my lawn I can holler obscenities at you but would be hard pressed to stay out of the clink if I shoot you.
Sure there ought to be some regulation as to what sort of "law" you can lay and enforce on your property (one of my concerns from my first post on this topic), but we're not exactly talking Old-West style methods for enforcing trespass laws here. I think public enforcement of parking rules on private property invite the police themselves to tresspass on your property anytime they please. I think that would pose a greater negative than the dilemma presented by choosing between a tow truck (more damage, more money, same result in your snake analogy) and a boot.
Landlords do not currently hold the authority to write tickets no matter who approves the sign and fine. The method will prove as it has in the past ineffective unless the tickets have some teeth. People scoff at parking tickets, but it seems the boot is getting some attention.
At least if your car is booted, you don't have to worry about it beeing looted in the impound yard. You also still have access to the medication you left in the glove box that surely you may not be able to live without for the 2 days it takes to find your car let alone get it back or gain access to it.
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