Towing for 48 hours, does it actually happen?

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

So I know about the 48 hour rule, but the 311 messages lately were the first I've heard that you can be towed for it.

So I was wondering--does this ACTUALLY happen to people? With no warning? I need to leave my car for 60 hours (plus another 12 hours on a holiday) and I'm okay with the possibility of a ticket, but towing--is something they just hypothetically can do, or has this actually happened to anyone who wasn't using the street as super long-term storage?

Comments

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

A major pet peeve of mine. This law is so fucking asinine, yet the city is allowed to get away with it. Fuck you- I pay excise taxes on my car, I've lived here for 7 years, and it is beyond aggravating that I can't leave my car in front of my lawful residence without worrying that the city will tow it because they're too goddamn lazy to take 5 seconds to run my plate and find out that the car is registered to the house it's parked in front of.

No, instead I have to drive my car out to the hinterlands, park it there, and then take a bus back into the city.

It's as stupid and money-grubbing as those "no overnight parking" regs in surrounding communities. It's just an excuse for the tow companies and the city to rake in money and has ZERO to do with safety or keeping the streets clear of abandoned vehicles.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Have you contacted your alderman and asked him or her to see about changing the law?

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

We- this community- had this debate a number of times over the years- there's not enough support to overturn it. Others have contacted their alderman. I've emailed mine. We've even had Tom Champion poke his head in on it last year. Yet the law still stands.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Sure, when you use your usual icon I can recognize you and remember that you've talked about this here before :)

Sorry for being quick to assume you were just complaining without acting.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

I like to keep people on their toes.....

[cos]

No overnight parking rules have a very valuable purpose: They ensure that all residents who have a car get offstreet parking they can use regularly, and residents who don't want to / can't afford that just don't keep a car (so fewer people have cars), and as an effect of that, on-street parking is plentiful and available during the day for people going to stores, visiting friends, in from a different town, etc.

You can *always* find a parking spot in Brookline, even in places like Coolidge Corner, without much searching.

48 hour rules, on the other hand, I agree are crazy. It should at least be a 1-week rule, and would serve exactly the same purpose but with much less disruption and worry for residents.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

*blink*

you've got to be kidding. brookline is chock-a-block with cars. i wouldn't dream of driving out that way and expecting to find anywhere to park...

[cos]

... and yet. I drive there frequently (my parents live there, one of my best friends lives there, the Coolidge is one of my favorite places, ...) and maybe have to actually search for parking about once a year. I also use Brookline as a source of easy parking when I go to shows at the Paradise, or go to Planned Parenthood, or pretty much anything on Comm Ave - just dive a block or two south into Brookline and there's plenty of free parking available.