If you read the general internet it's all mobbed up guys stealing cars from law-abiding single mothers for no reason at all but then again if I believed the general public about parking violation enforcement here in germany I'd come to the conclusion they're the new jews.

So how bad is that whole privatized towing / enforcement thing, really? Is there an actual problem beyond "it's a private company" or is it mostly carbrain tears?

  • VILenin [he/him]
    ·
    7 months ago

    Destroying public transportation, forcing workers who don’t have the luxury of burning 2 hours looking for a spot to use cars and find street parking, and empowering private entities to profit off parking regulations is bad, actually

    They aren’t heroes crusading against carbrains, they’re glorified mall cops who would sell their own mother for an extra cent. Likewise, the city isn’t interested in curbing parking violations as doing so would deprive them of their revenue.

    I know a barber who has to park illegally 9 times out of 10 because “sorry I’m late by an hour, I was looking for a spot” would cost them their job. It doesn’t matter if you fine them a billion dollars, they aren’t doing it for shits and giggles, they still have to come to work every day. The only solution is public transit.

    And besides, I’d wager a majority of tows in American cities are not on behalf of the municipal government but of private lots for those who can’t afford to pay their extortion rates. They’re like landlords but for your car.

    Parking enforcement in the USA isn’t about addressing problems (which it really can’t anyway, most poor drivers just learn the patrol patterns, and for the rich that’s just the price you pay to park there), it’s a business like any other. See the latest “barnacle” enforcement device NYC is using (they rent the bazinga gadget for thousands per month from a private company).