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Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

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Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#271

Post by kube-system »

uncletaco wrote: post #214
jlarocco wrote: post #203

Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong? An alternative headline could be something like, "Entitled College Kids Learn How To Keep Parking Like Assholes Without Paying Fines." And it's a pyrhic victory anyway, because chances are now the cars will get one of the metal tire boots put on, or get towed. Both of which are more expensive and a bigger hassle for everybody.

Yeah, but further down in the article it mentioned that students illegally parked junkyard cards to get booted so that all the boots would be in use when the cops found someone's actual vehicle they wouldn't have any boots left.

It seems easier just to remove the boot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrL5tqFczPE

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#272

Post by sojournerc »

nickysielicki wrote: post #262
Jamwinner wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative, tire boots, are equally asinine and more likely to damage the car. These seem fractionally better up to the point where they are hacked. Unessarily connected devices are a liability beyond measure, and it floors me that nobody seems to notice.

This is a stupid question, but something I’ve always wondered about is how tow trucks disengage the clutch and/or the parking brake... am I to understand that they simply don’t? So if I park my manual transmission car in reverse and with the parking brake on, they’re just going to literally drag my car to their lot or destroy my gearbox? How is this not a bigger issue?

Depends on the car and where it's drive wheels are. Also I think tow drivers are authorized to use a tool to break in to the car (non destructively) to put it in neutral if necessary.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#273

Post by tclancy »

nickysielicki wrote: post #262
Jamwinner wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The alternative, tire boots, are equally asinine and more likely to damage the car. These seem fractionally better up to the point where they are hacked. Unessarily connected devices are a liability beyond measure, and it floors me that nobody seems to notice.

This is a stupid question, but something I’ve always wondered about is how tow trucks disengage the clutch and/or the parking brake... am I to understand that they simply don’t? So if I park my manual transmission car in reverse and with the parking brake on, they’re just going to literally drag my car to their lot or destroy my gearbox? How is this not a bigger issue?

Thy pick it up by the end that actually does the driving. Not sure what happens with full four wheel drive locked. Use a full-size wrecker I suppose.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#274

Post by [deleted] »

hanniabu wrote: post #242
jlarocco wrote: post #203

Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong? An alternative headline could be something like, "Entitled College Kids Learn How To Keep Parking Like Assholes Without Paying Fines." And it's a pyrhic victory anyway, because chances are now the cars will get one of the metal tire boots put on, or get towed. Both of which are more expensive and a bigger hassle for everybody.

The issue I have is cases like at my school where they basically had entrapment. At the start of every year there'd be like 2-3 months where it's a free for all and students could park wherever. The certainty was nowhere near adequate parking and not everywhere that people parked was readily obvious to be illegal. Some spots had the yellow on the curb worn away 90%, others were things like too close to a corner or hy…

[deleted]

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#275

Post by ToFundorNot »

hanniabu wrote: post #230
javiramos wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other day I went to a concert and parked my car at a parking lot. When the concert ended, of course there were masses of people trying to exit the parking lot. There were only 2 cashiers to pay the parking ticket — no automated machines. So we waited over an hour to pay our ticket. Time that we ended up paying with our ticket (per hour parking). The cashier didn’t want to refund us for the waiting time. If the la…

While I agree that's a hassle, I don't think this should result in a refund. It's like ordering dinner, eating it, and then wanting a refund for the meal because you waited a long time for the meal.

Incidentally, if you go to a restaurant, and you waited a long time for your meal (that is longer than their required service time) most restaurants will comp your bill, or at least give you free bottle/desert for the inconvenience. For reference, I've worked in half a dozen restaurants over as many years, and they all did this.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#276

Post by cortesoft »

as300 wrote: post #240
takk309 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really depends on the state. In Montana, for example, it is a legal requirement that parking is funded separate from the rest of the school. This means that no tuition can pay for new lots or enforcement. Fees gathered from normal parking rates and fines are used only to maintain and/or improve the parking.

This seems like a really convenient way for schools to pass the buck on to their students, while administrative bureaucrats continue to rake salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

This is ludicrous that you think administrative salaries are huge factors in the cost of education.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#277

Post by jimktrains2 »

hanniabu wrote: post #242
jlarocco wrote: post #203

Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong? An alternative headline could be something like, "Entitled College Kids Learn How To Keep Parking Like Assholes Without Paying Fines." And it's a pyrhic victory anyway, because chances are now the cars will get one of the metal tire boots put on, or get towed. Both of which are more expensive and a bigger hassle for everybody.

The issue I have is cases like at my school where they basically had entrapment. At the start of every year there'd be like 2-3 months where it's a free for all and students could park wherever. The certainty was nowhere near adequate parking and not everywhere that people parked was readily obvious to be illegal. Some spots had the yellow on the curb worn away 90%, others were things like too close to a corner or hy…

That's not entrapment.

Entrapment is the state coercing someone to do something they would not do under normal circumstances. It sounds to me as if these people are illegally parking under normal circumstances. The rules about curbs, hydrants, driveways, &c are well known and common enough between every state that there is no excuse that they weren't aware this was illegal.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#278

Post by acdha »

bdcravens wrote: post #121
acdha wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should the campus subsidize the car-owning students? If those students want exclusive use of a public space why not let them pay market rates for it?

When I was in University, there were a ton of services available to me that I never used, yet I was charged various generic fees.

Sure - this is always a balancing act but given how expensive cars are to own and the students who can’t use them, I would generally favor increasing transit and sidewalks, etc. rather than subsidizing parking since that benefits everyone.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#279

Post by paultopia »

quaquaqua1 wrote: post #197
emptybits wrote: post #183

I spent a decade in the parking technology space. (Co-founder PayByPhone -- don't hate me, I genuinely tried to make things more civilized and convenient, I swear!). Anyways, I miss hearing about hilarious and genius hacks and escalations like this. The brilliance deployed to work around parking regulations is amazing. Not condoning, but here's a (naive?) though experiment if the Barnacle shows up in use again... Par…

The problem is not paying for the parking I use. That is an easy problem to solve, as long as the price is "reasonable". The problem I have with parking authorities is fraud. When the meter employee gives me a ticket for a different meter, or when the parking ticket fine is $200 instead of say $30, or when the restrictions are absurd/vague ("You can park here for 2 hours m-f except holidays except 9-11 except in gree…

Hear hear! My favorite idiotic parking ticket story: back in grad school (at Stanford, so valley people watch out!), I got a $75 parking ticket once at 3am, in a lot for which my car had a valid permit (in student housing)... because I hadn't changed the DMV registration sticker. Mind you, my registration was renewed, I just hadn't put the new sticker on the plate.

Also, it was pouring with rain that night. So they seriously had someone at 3 am, in the pouring rain, shining a flashlight at the license plates of every legally parked car with a valid permit just to try to find an excuse to get people.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#280

Post by jimktrains2 »

sojournerc wrote: post #272
nickysielicki wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a stupid question, but something I’ve always wondered about is how tow trucks disengage the clutch and/or the parking brake... am I to understand that they simply don’t? So if I park my manual transmission car in reverse and with the parking brake on, they’re just going to literally drag my car to their lot or destroy my gearbox? How is this not a bigger issue?

Depends on the car and where it's drive wheels are. Also I think tow drivers are authorized to use a tool to break in to the car (non destructively) to put it in neutral if necessary.

Aside: if you ever notice a teeny tiny panel that has a dimple or hole to open it with by the shifter, that's the release for the interlock that prevents changing gears without the keys. That's how you get in neutral when the owner isn't present.
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