Ever been towed?

[KEK Inc.]

Just happened to me today.   

Parked in a spot that doesn't normally have any parking restrictions.  They had large temporary construction 'no parking; tow away zone' signs; however, the dates were from 4/24 - 4/25 from 8 AM to 4 PM handwritten with a sharpie.  I parked Sunday (4/27) night and got towed Monday  (4/28) morning. 

I saw the signs, but I also saw the dates and other vehicles and thought, "Oh, they forgot to remove the sign since it's the weekend."   Fast forward to Monday morning, when I went there and noticed no cars there, I noticed that now the signs no longer had the sharpied dates and a new non-laminated 8.5"/11" paper that is binder-clipped to the sign says it's actually until 5/2 (except on weekends). 

$200 later, I picked up my vehicle, and requested a hearing for the ticket for Seattle Municipal Court.  I knocked on nearby houses who also got towed, and I have several witnesses (and people who's vehicles also got towed) on my side who noticed the sharpied sign with their contact information.  Unfortunately, I have no photo evidence of the sharpied sign, so I'm not sure if it will hold water in traffic court.  Honestly, I've never had any infractions, so I'm not really familiar with the due process in traffic court.

One of the people I talked with was more fortunate than I was and was there when the traffic cop put tickets and sent the 7 tow trucks in, and the traffic cop claims the SDOT printer paper sign overrides what is said on the actual sign; however, it rained and was windy that weekend and half of the signs lacked this paper.  Furthermore, the piece of paper just says this:



Even if I did notice this sign, the sign doesn't really mention an interim, and one can easily imply that the piece of paper alerts of two possible sets of restricted parking times.

[wxfree]

That notice really bothers me.  It's obvious that it's meant to indicate a span of dates and times, but there's a valid reason bills ramble on for thousands of pages and user agreements are so long that no one reads them.  Legal wording has to be precise and specific.  What that notice says and what it means are two different things.  It says that the parking restriction is effective at 8 am and 4 pm on those two days.  There's no indication that the restriction is effective between those hours or dates.  While it's common sense to infer that, legal wording must mean exactly what it says, otherwise it's open to whatever interpretation is reasonable to whoever is inferring its meaning.

Even if you can't prove the paper wasn't there, it does not state that parking is prohibited at any time on April 28.  I'd move for dismissal of the citation and, if successful, apply for compensation for the towing costs.  This will likely get you laughed out of court because the law doesn't mean much in traffic court.  I'd try, but unless you're willing to appeal to higher courts where the judges actually understand the law, don't expect much.

[KEK Inc.]

I found something interesting snooping around Seattle.gov

3. Verify No Parking Easels

You should verify that the "No-Parking" easels are in place and properly marked at least 72 hours in advance of the date(s) for which you requested a Temporary No Parking Zone. However, Seattle Municipal Code (SMC 11.30.060) only requires 24 hours notice be given in order to tow a vehicle from a temporary no parking zone.  The times and dates of the Temporary No Parking Zone must be clearly written on the easels. Also, a printed Public Notice confirmation form must be placed on at least two signs per block prior to the temporary no parking zone going into effect. The Public Notice should be attached to the upper right-hand corner of the sign, preferably with a plastic sleeve and binder clips as shown in this photo:

Temporary No Parking Zone sign

Failure to comply with these requirements means these signs and the temporary no parking zone will be unenforceable. Please submit the online verification form at least 72 hours in advance of the start of the Temporary No Parking Zone.

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/tempnoparking.htm

Technically, since the easel is blank now, it's unenforceable after they erased the old times.



---
I'm going to call bullshit if the notice and nothing else is the only thing enforceable about the sign.  I live in the University District, so there tends to be a lot of people and drunk people stealing signs.  Wind and rain deteriorate the notices. 

[jeffandnicole]

If you can figure out which company or organization wanted the restriction (maybe it's a utility, maybe it's a non-profit), you can use that info and call whatever department is in charge of putting up the notices in the city to see what the originally permitted time was for the parking restriction.

[KEK Inc.]

If you can figure out which company or organization wanted the restriction (maybe it's a utility, maybe it's a non-profit), you can use that info and call whatever department is in charge of putting up the notices in the city to see what the originally permitted time was for the parking restriction.

SDOT (Seattle Department of Transportation).  And according to SMC 11.30.060 and SMC 11.72.440, I think I should be getting my $250 back.  The easel must have correct information 24 hours prior to the parking restriction.  The easel had previous dates and is now erased, so according to the Sseattle Municipal Code, it's unenforceable. 

It's supposed to be for construction.  My guess is that they're rebuilding the curb and repaving part of the road since large tree roots are damaging the pavement.  So far, all I've seen are survey chalk-marks.

[1995hoo]

I remember during my fourth year of college one of my roommates was parked legally, but while his car was parked there the university's parking department came out and changed the signs (with no advance warning to anyone) to designate those spaces as being "service vehicle" spots, meaning he was then parked illegally. So they called a tow truck to remove his car and he happened to arrive right as they were about to hook it up....the parking "officer" made him pay a $25 "drop fee" to have the tow truck let the car go. Absolute horseshit scam, but he didn't have the time or money to allow them to tow the car and then take them to court over it (which, of course, is almost certainly what they were relying on).

[Pete from Boston]

Drop charge is pretty standard if you catch them in the act.  Around here it's usually $75-100 for the drop charge alone. Tow companies are not usually interested in conducting a roadside hearing (when someone blocks your driveway, you may end up thankful for this).

[1995hoo]

Drop charge is pretty standard if you catch them in the act.  Tow companies are not usually interested in conducting a roadside hearing (when someone blocks your driveway, you may end up thankful for this).

Right, but what made it a scam here was the way they sneakily changed the signs and then decided to tow him. Moreover, the parking "officer" was present at the time, so it wasn't a question of the tow company "conducting a roadside hearing."

[DSS5]

Nope, I was booted for parking in a reserved space once.

[Pete from Boston]

Drop charge is pretty standard if you catch them in the act.  Tow companies are not usually interested in conducting a roadside hearing (when someone blocks your driveway, you may end up thankful for this).

Right, but what made it a scam here was the way they sneakily changed the signs and then decided to tow him. Moreover, the parking "officer" was present at the time, so it wasn't a question of the tow company "conducting a roadside hearing."

I understand.  But the tow companies don't work for the parking officer, and the drop charge is them getting paid for their time.  Some tow truck drivers are also giant scumbags, so there's that, too.

[Brandon]

Only been towed once after an accident - car couldn't move.

However, this thread made me think of this:

[agentsteel53]

many times, but due to mechanical problems.

I've never had a bad tow truck driver, but I've never been towed for legal reasons, so what do I know.

[GaryV]

I got a ticket for parking in front of my house during a snow emergency - after the road had been plowed.  The city website even said the restrictions were lifted after the plows went through.  Several neighbors also got tickets.  The lieutenant at the police station was not amused at having to deal with all the tickets.

[KEK Inc.]

A little update:  The signs are now removed, despite the interim being 4/24-5/2. 

[DandyDan]

Back in college at NIU in DeKalb, they had this off-campus dorm type place where a friend of mine lived.  I normally parked in the area marked for visitors, only all the spots were taken, so I parked in the next row, figuring that since most of the spots weren't taken, it would be all right, especially since it would only be 30 minutes tops.  Go back and find my car gone.  I tried explaining to the people who ran this place what happened and I told them all the legal parking spots were taken and it was one big runaround, but eventually (the next day), they agreed to pay for my car getting towed.  It was one big annoying situation, which would have been preventable if they had more visitor parking.  Needless to say, that was the last time I ever parked there.

[ET21]

Back in college at NIU in DeKalb, they had this off-campus dorm type place where a friend of mine lived.  I normally parked in the area marked for visitors, only all the spots were taken, so I parked in the next row, figuring that since most of the spots weren't taken, it would be all right, especially since it would only be 30 minutes tops.  Go back and find my car gone.  I tried explaining to the people who ran this place what happened and I told them all the legal parking spots were taken and it was one big runaround, but eventually (the next day), they agreed to pay for my car getting towed.  It was one big annoying situation, which would have been preventable if they had more visitor parking.  Needless to say, that was the last time I ever parked there.

Don't worry, they're just as anal now. Never deal with parking services here

[Scott5114]

That paper doesn't meet the standards set out in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. That may make it not legally enforceable. (How are you supposed to see it in the rain?)

[KEK Inc.]

That paper doesn't meet the standards set out in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. That may make it not legally enforceable. (How are you supposed to see it in the rain?)

According to SDOT, it's unenforceable too.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=12225.msg295623#msg295623

[KEK Inc.]

UPDATE:  Just got back from traffic court and lost.  I appreciate the honesty of the cop I subpoenaed.  Once I said my testimony about the dates being altered and incorrect, she changed her stance; however, the judge noted that there are 3 other signs on the block, and that we have no evidence that the other 3 signs had wrong dates; therefore, they're within legal enforcing distance of my vehicle.  I know the other 3 signs were also wrong, but the judge didn't care.  $47 at cashier #6 please. 

[Dr Frankenstein]

Yes, from the restaurant where we all parked our cars at the 2011 Newark, NJ meet. I was the only attendee to get this treatment.

I caught the truck as it was leaving the lot when Rob and I got back from dinner. They wanted $300 to give the car back to me, which I managed to negotiate down to $250. The tow truck driver was a rather nice guy, probably in his 60s.

I was kind of lucky, as impouding lots aren't open on weekends, so I would have had to stay an extra day and miss school and work.

[cpzilliacus]

From a friend's apartment complex in Arlington County, Va. after I had helped him move some stuff.

Arlington County is notorious for predatory towing practices, and the towing companies have plenty of easy money to be made because parking is tight in most of the county.

[abefroman329]

For parking where I shouldn't have been parking?  At least 3 times.  For all 3, I was 100% in the wrong.  For two, I just plain didn't notice I was parked in an area where I wasn't entitled to park, and for the third one, I knew I was parking where I wasn't entitled to park, and just plain didn't care (blame the hubris of being 24 for that one).

[Max Rockatansky]

For illegal parking no.   I have been when I bottom out a vehicle in a sand pit and wasn't sure if I cracked an oil pan out at Elephant Butte Lake in New Mexico.

[kphoger]

Never been towed.

I've parked overnight on two occasions in a town where it was illegal to do so (River Forest, IL).  I got two parking tickets but was never towed.  I later let a friend borrow the car in exchange for him paying off my parking tickets.  He then totaled the car in a roll-over wreck and I never saw it again.  And it was in my parents' name.  So I guess that's actually worse than being towed.

I've also had major mechanical failures but never had to be towed.

The first was when my friend's pickup had a front wheel bearing go totally out in the middle of the Mexican desert in July.  It came off in pieces, ain't goin' nowhere.  With the help of two hitchhikers and a second vehicle (thank goodness we were traveling in caravan), we ended up finding a country-bumpkin mechanic (who could not vocalize due to a tracheotomy) 15 miles down the road, then driving another hour to AutoZone to buy a new wheel bearing (and drop off the hitchhikers), and then back again.  All told, we lost about 4 hours of our time.  But we ended up with same-day roadside assistance from 15 miles away and only about 35 dollars in labor charges.

The second was when our car overheated in the middle of nowhere western Colorado last summer.  Between Naturita and Uravan, for those familiar with the area.  100° sun, and near-zero cell phone reception.  A couple of guys in a logging truck stopped and determined the radiator had run completely dry.  I had about 12 gallons of drinking water in the car, so we filled her up.  After proceeding to Gateway and then heading west up to the top of John Brown Canyon, we realized we were still losing steam out the top, so we put more water in and drove with the heater on full blast to a mechanic in Grand Junction.

The most recent one was just last week, and it's probably related to the Colorado episode.  On Monday of last week, the car started to overheat again, and I barely made it drop my son off at his piano lesson.  Had to put the heater on full blast to avoid pinning the needle at H.  Found out I had a major coolant leak.  It's a 13 mile drive from home to piano, and I'd lost about 2½ to 3 gallons of coolant.  The radiator had ruptured, likely because I had put a lot of stress on it by driving in the mountains of Colorado in the summer with no pressure and overweight cargo.  A friend brought some water out to me, I filled up the radiator, and then I limped to my mechanic–barely made it there, as it was starting to overheat again.  My mechanic quoted me too high of a price the next day, so I then drove it to my friend's mechanic instead.  It's a good thing the stoplights were all green, or else I probably would have pinned it to H.  After that mechanic replaced the radiator, I discovered that coolant had gotten onto the serpentine belt during my driving all over town with a blown radiator, so I had to replace the belt and clean the pulleys the following day.

(I've now decided to carry 5 gallons of water in the car at all times.)

[kkt]

Couple of times the shared car of my ex-wife and I have been towed:

A country house had a driveway that was steep and at the top turned to line up with the garage, and sloped toward the dropoff.  The people that live there were already parked at the top of the hill, taking the inside of the corner where it wasn't slow sloped.  So my wife took the outside of the corner and slid a couple of feet.  Fortunately she found some traction and did not continue down the hill into the ravine, but she didn't have enough traction to drive up the hill again either.  We tried pushing the car by hand, but it was too hard going uphill and we decided we really didn't want to be pinned under the car if it started to slide again.  So discretion being the better part of valor, we called for a tow truck.  Fortunately we didn't have to leave right away.  They came in about 1 1/2 hours and put it back just fine.

Second time was after getting T-boned when the other driver failed to stop for a red light.  Totaled car.  What would be described as "minor injuries" but are a couple of years of pain, twice-weekly PT appointments and bizarre side effects of nerve medications.