Cars being Towed in Downtown Detroit

**softailrider** · March-19-12, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by milesdriven

I understand the function of the meter maids, where there is an actual demand for parking, but they don't need to be at Michigan/Junction, Chester/Morang, or 7 Mile/Evergreen where I've seen them writing tickets in recent years.

The metermaids must get some kind of a percentage of what is collected - I've never seen any other city employees work that hard.

**pseudo** · March-21-12, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by GOAT

You people piss and moan about the state of Detroit [[and rightfully so). So when Detroit finally acts like a real city instead of some semi-anarchist, third world thunderdome, you get all uppity.

What do you want? A real functioning city that does what other cities do or one that is the state it currently sits?

...just another reason why Detroit hasn't moved forward inover 40 years...even the residents don't know what a real city is to live in anymore.

Couldn't agree more. Feed the meter. Pay your tickets.

**webband1** · March-21-12, 09:35 PM

Looking on Google Street View, the signs on Farmer behind the Y say "No Standing".... I see cars parked there every time I go to work out... Does no standing = no parking? Why the different vocabulary?

**Zacha341** · March-21-12, 09:42 PM

Yep... and the state is lighting an additional fire under the butts of those who don't pay! No license renewal for YOU! LOL!

Originally Posted by pseudo

Couldn't agree more. Feed the meter. Pay your tickets.

**Zacha341** · March-21-12, 09:44 PM

What must that job pay an hour? To get cursed out daily. Ugh. I imagine some have the temperament for the job....

Originally Posted by softailrider

The metermaids must get some kind of a percentage of what is collected - I've never seen any other city employees work that hard.

**drjeff** · March-22-12, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by webband1

Looking on Google Street View, the signs on Farmer behind the Y say "No Standing".... I see cars parked there every time I go to work out... Does no standing = no parking? Why the different vocabulary?

For some reason this seems to be the signage commonly used in the city. No standing is actually more restrictive than no parking- it means you can't even stop your car there and wait for someone.

**Detroitnerd** · March-22-12, 10:17 AM

They don't just check your license when your meter expires. They check your license when they come by and have a boot available. You might still have time on the meter but if you have ancient parking tickets, you'll get booted. It's a lot of fun ... trust me.

**Detroitdave** · March-23-12, 05:43 AM

Originally Posted by astongraham

I have to say that I don't understand your point. If you are parked illegally then you should expect to be ticketed and towed. How is this original to Detroit? Newsflash from someone who leaves the state regularly, they do it everywhere. Have a nice day.

OK I'll give you that , but when I travel and have lived in other cities it clearly
say no parking/standing tow a way, so there is no guessing . A ticket yes towing ? come on , now they have to figure out [[A) wheres my car ,[[B) then I have to pay for towing ? expensive lesson learned .
If this is happening now just wait until opening day ! they are going to have a field day ! And the thought behind that is " well that's what they get ,they should had read the sign ,it says no standing . where did it say towing ?

We all know most of those folks coming down are from the burbs and not city savy . I guess I want to be a good ambassador for Detroit and want visitors to have as pleasant as a visit as possible , it's challenging enough getting folks to visit the city , without cars being broken into [[park ave), and that whole shady parking / towing situation.

To end my"rant", well not really a rant LOL ;-) I guess my point is make it Clear to visitors that if you park on here [[farmer) or wherever , you will be towed plan and simple .
Ok I'm done ! :-) ... or am I ??? yeah I'm done :-)
have a great one folks !

Occurrence · March-23-12, 12:22 PM

I too have always thought in order for them to tow your car there must be signs that say it's a tow-away zone. I guess not anymore. They might as well just start towing cars with expired meters. What's to stop them?

**Zacha341** · March-23-12, 02:15 PM

Here's the deal for why some cars are getting booted/ towed: Initially if you had three or more UNPAID tickets you came into boot/ tow status. Now 'notifications' from the city er' legal department [[sic) are being sent out that if you have ANY unpaid tickets you get the boot/ tow combo.

Additionally, you will NOT be able to renew your license via the Secretary of State!

If you're parked in a 'no standing' zone etc. of if your meter expires the meter folks 'run' your plate to see if they get a 'hit' regarding unpaid tickets. They then notify the boot/ tow folks to come take your car to the city pound were the daily storage fees start immediately, including the boot and tow charge.

Good times... like a double root canal! Avoid tickets at all cost. Pay them quickly before they double in the amount or pay even more long run!

Originally Posted by Occurrence

I too have always thought in order for them to tow your car there must be signs that say it's a tow-away zone. I guess not anymore. They might as well just start towing cars with expired meters. What's to stop them?

**Zacha341** · March-23-12, 02:22 PM

Yeah, we call it the 'boot van'! It has the city seal on it and when they pop one wheel with a boot they run the whole row of cars nearby and boot others if they have an unpaid ticket, rather the meter is un-expired or not. Then the tow truck comes and I've never seen a tow truck hitch a car so fast. It was like 5 minutes - zip!! Car gone! I saw it happen up near WSU campus. Lovely...

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

They don't just check your license when your meter expires. They check your license when they come by and have a boot available. You might still have time on the meter but if you have ancient parking tickets, you'll get booted. It's a lot of fun ... trust me.

**downtownguy** · March-23-12, 02:50 PM

^^Building goodwill for our city, one towed car at a time. How ridiculous!

Occurrence · March-23-12, 03:57 PM

Looks like I have to avoid downtown and downtown businesses. Since I got that legal notice in the mail from the city for a ticket I never got, I might get towed and booted. Great business motto the city must go by.........

**Detroitej72** · March-23-12, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by softailrider

The heavy-handed parking situation with metermaids chasing people around happens to be a big detraction to all that.

They have a pretty heavy-handed parking enforcement in Royal Oak too, and that doesn't seem to keep people away.

**Zacha341** · March-23-12, 04:22 PM

Perhaps go down to the admin office on 10th and Howard [[Municipal Parking Bureau). Back in the day when my kids ran up parking tickets on my car I had to go down there and dispute a few things I DID NOT GET. They were ok about it. Never call... you just get a dismissive 'crank' on the phone...

Originally Posted by Occurrence

Looks like I have to avoid downtown and downtown businesses. Since I got that legal notice in the mail from the city for a ticket I never got, I might get towed and booted. Great business motto the city must go by.........

**wolverine** · March-23-12, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by webband1

Looking on Google Street View, the signs on Farmer behind the Y say "No Standing".... I see cars parked there every time I go to work out... Does no standing = no parking? Why the different vocabulary?

"standing" has more significance in busier places. For example, there's a Loading, no standing sign in front of my apartment. The spaces are intended for loading for our building residents. But sometimes a guy will just sit in his car in that space while his wife runs into one of the stores.

Meanwhile, here I come with a ton of groceries in my car and someone is just sitting there in our loading space. I then have to dial our building security to get them to leave. If they argue, there's always a cop nearby and they'll write up a ticket. That rarely happens. Usually people will leave when asked with the excuse "I didn't see the sign". Right....you just didn't want to pay the $3.50/hour meter.

**Zacha341** · March-23-12, 07:50 PM

Well there will a bevy of cars at the city auction! I had a car towed about 20 years ago from stupid illegal parking downtown. I had to get it out the pound fast as the fees were adding up. I got things together within 24 hours thankfully.

Originally Posted by downtownguy

^^Building goodwill for our city, one towed car at a time. How ridiculous!

**Jimaz** · March-23-12, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

... I had a car towed about 20 years ago from stupid illegal parking ten years ago downtown....

Whoah. Meter maids can see ten years into the future? Now that's scary.

**Zacha341** · March-23-12, 08:40 PM

ROTFL!! TYPO! It was twenty [[20) years ago! --

--

Originally Posted by Jimaz

Whoah. Meter maids can see ten years into the future? Now that's scary.

**Jimaz** · March-23-12, 08:40 PM

The Firesign Theatre - Toad Away

**softailrider** · March-23-12, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

They have a pretty heavy-handed parking enforcement in Royal Oak too, and that doesn't seem to keep people away.

You've got to be joking, they're enforcement is no where near as stringent as Detroit's is.

**Zacha341** · March-23-12, 08:51 PM

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/01/...ense-problems/

LANSING [[AP) - It soon could be tougher and more expensive for Michigan motorists who pile up unpaid parking tickets to get their driver’s licenses renewed.

3 Unpaid Parking Tickets, No Driver's License

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...se-20120215-ms

Nobody wants a parking ticket, especially now. Governor Snyder recently signed legislation requiring the Secretary of State to not issue a driver's license or allow you to renew if you have three or more unpaid parking tickets.

**wolverine** · March-24-12, 11:48 AM

You guys don't know how harsh parking enforcement is until it becomes privatized and the company is in it for profits. More tickets, more money. They've raised rates in parts of the city that within the first year, meters broke because they were overfilled with money.

**softailrider** · March-24-12, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by wolverine

You guys don't know how harsh parking enforcement is until it becomes privatized and the company is in it for profits. More tickets, more money. They've raised rates in parts of the city that within the first year, meters broke because they were overfilled with money.

More tickets, more money - but is that for the greater good? I think it isn't. Why make Detroit a foreboding place with power hungry meter maids and rouge towing companies scaring the hell out of people, why not try and make it a more welcoming place to visitors. a place where people want to come to shop, dine and socialize.

**wolverine** · March-25-12, 01:40 PM

Originally Posted by softailrider

More tickets, more money - but is that for the greater good? I think it isn't. Why make Detroit a foreboding place with power hungry meter maids and rouge towing companies scaring the hell out of people, why not try and make it a more welcoming place to visitors. a place where people want to come to shop, dine and socialize.

I can fix that. Switch to pay boxes that accept coins, bills, and credit cards. You then receive a sticker. It says that you are allowed to park in your space until [EXACT TIME]

Supplement with better parking signage, make it very clear where you can and cannot park.

Since the parking payment and ticketing system is electronic, it is capable of automatically sending notices and reminders to your home to pay these tickets. So no more of those situations discovering years down the road that you had outstanding fines.

As far as attitude and enforcement, there's nothing I can suggest about that. There's a personality to many members on this board that I certainly hope doesn't reflect the city. People here seem to demand a break when it comes to laws and enforcement they don't like, yet complain that the authorities don't do enough, or are enforcing all the wrong laws.

Well, I applaud that at least something is being done. If you don't like it, then don't come downtown. I'm sure there's plenty of other folks that will be extra careful looking at signage and be diligent paying the meter. I've been parking on downtown streets for 6 years whenever I'm visiting. I've never received a ticket. So I cannot understand why they system is so difficult for locals to understand.