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Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

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Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#121

Post by calvinmorrison »

mindslight wrote: post #87
gshulegaard wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone relatively new to Philly, I am not at all surprised by the need for relocation towing. In the immediate Philadelphia metro area, but outside center city parking is extremely sparse. It's not uncommon for me to help squeeze neighbors into barely large enough parallel parking spots (by waving them in) at midnight. Some of these folks live more than 6 blocks away and purportedly were looking for parking after…

Was this comment written by GPT-3, or is it just contrarian for contrarianism's sake? Posted signs stating parking restrictions is the standard way of communicating parking restrictions, temporary or permanent. The notice window doesn't even have to be that long, although it's nice for it to be so that people can plan ahead. For example, in Boston it is illegal to stay parked in the same spot for more than 72 hours,…

This makes me incurably angry as longtime resident of South Philly. You sound like your head is in the clouds to a local. Why? Because our city operates roughly above the 3rd world level.

Nobody puts signs up

Nobody gives notice

Nobody gives a good God dammed.

Park where you can, hope your car is there tomorrow, hope there isn't a gas leak, road collapse or towed randomly

Its so absurd we had a TV show called Parking Wars.

I was courtesy towed last week. I spend a year backing down a narrow (one car width) alley because we had a pothole the size of Alaska. I pushed an abandoned car onto broad street during rush hour to get it towed after 6 months. I had my car towed because of a local celebrity funeral. All my tires were slashed during the BLM riots. My friends car was flipped at the Phillies parade, anothwrs at the eagles rally. I've gotten hit with a baseball bat for asking someone to move their car.

Welcome to hell

Edit: did I mention our parking "authority" is extremely predatory, run as a nepotism program for local Republicans, siphons money from the city and has been routinely found to be absolutely kafkaesque. So bad they actually had their own petty court removed for being a essentially kangaroo court?

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#122

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

kube-system wrote: post #79
DiggyJohnson wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the driver is otherwise complying and saying “this is my vehicle, wtf are you doing?” then: no, I strongly disagree.

Thieves don't usually say "you caught me!" when confronted by police. They frequently claim they own the stolen items.

So what? If the person is non violent and cooperative why use cuffs?

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#123

Post by lazide »

soulofmischief wrote: post #120
lolinder wrote: post #30

> That’s the Philly euphemism for what is formally known as “relocation towing” — when the police department, Philadelphia Parking Authority, or a private towing company moves vehicles from legal parking spots for special events, construction or emergencies. I can see needing to move a vehicle in an emergency, but for special events and construction this shouldn't be needed in most cases. The city knows months in adv…

This happened to me last year on my own property in my own parking space, and my landlord refused to tell me for weeks and weeks who towed my car, and then refused to pay the fee. I want to sue (towing fees became larger than what I put into the car) but I have no idea how to proceed? I don't have a family to depend on for this kind of advice. The market has been so insane since that I still haven't purchased a new c…

If less than 20k, small claims court is usually your best avenue. Try to document as much as you can.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#124

Post by mindslight »

calvinmorrison wrote: post #121
mindslight wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was this comment written by GPT-3, or is it just contrarian for contrarianism's sake? Posted signs stating parking restrictions is the standard way of communicating parking restrictions, temporary or permanent. The notice window doesn't even have to be that long, although it's nice for it to be so that people can plan ahead. For example, in Boston it is illegal to stay parked in the same spot for more than 72 hours,…

This makes me incurably angry as longtime resident of South Philly. You sound like your head is in the clouds to a local. Why? Because our city operates roughly above the 3rd world level. Nobody puts signs up Nobody gives notice Nobody gives a good God dammed. Park where you can, hope your car is there tomorrow, hope there isn't a gas leak, road collapse or towed randomly Its so absurd we had a TV show called Parking…

I don't know why my comment would make you angry. I'm not saying "everything is fine", rather pointing out how it works in other cities, as an example of some sanity to push for. The comment I was responding to was full of handwavey reasons why any sort of change would be too complicated, essentially justifying the status quo. I would think that if you wanted reform, that is the type of thing what would make you angry.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#125

Post by Zircom »

soulofmischief wrote: post #120
lolinder wrote: post #30

> That’s the Philly euphemism for what is formally known as “relocation towing” — when the police department, Philadelphia Parking Authority, or a private towing company moves vehicles from legal parking spots for special events, construction or emergencies. I can see needing to move a vehicle in an emergency, but for special events and construction this shouldn't be needed in most cases. The city knows months in adv…

This happened to me last year on my own property in my own parking space, and my landlord refused to tell me for weeks and weeks who towed my car, and then refused to pay the fee. I want to sue (towing fees became larger than what I put into the car) but I have no idea how to proceed? I don't have a family to depend on for this kind of advice. The market has been so insane since that I still haven't purchased a new c…

Call your state bar association and get a referral for a local attorney, a lot of state bar associations offer 30 minute consultations for >$50, and at the very least give you advise on how to proceed. A lot of times a demand letter sent from a lawyer is enough to get them to release the car and waive whatever bogus fees they're charging, and if not off to small claims court, where again they can advise you how to proceed or even handle it themselves if you'd like.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#126

Post by mindslight »

maxfurman wrote: post #112
mindslight wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was this comment written by GPT-3, or is it just contrarian for contrarianism's sake? Posted signs stating parking restrictions is the standard way of communicating parking restrictions, temporary or permanent. The notice window doesn't even have to be that long, although it's nice for it to be so that people can plan ahead. For example, in Boston it is illegal to stay parked in the same spot for more than 72 hours,…

In Philly, residents can get permits to park near their home for an unlimited time. So you could leave for a week's vacation and have your car "courtesy towed" from right outside your house by the time you got back even with 72 hours notice.

The applications for those permits seem like an opportune time to collect an email/phone to send neighborhood notices to, and layout out expectations for the minimum time for those notices. I'm all for better ways of contacting vehicle owners. Posted notices are just a good first pass to contrast with the current insanity.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#127

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

sokoloff wrote: post #26
jonas21 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but they could have verified that the registered owner and person driving the car were the same person. However, since it was in a different state, perhaps the registration database wasn't available - only the stolen vehicle database was.

The article says she was handcuffed (detained); it does not say she was arrested (which would be absurd).

The cuffs are also absurd. Here is a article not behind a paywall/forced login screen

https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/crime/a-philly-police-c...

So they even approached her at gun point. And the initial tow and police report was due to police stupidity.

Now I don’t want to profile people, but she looks like a regular person and she reports her height as 4ft 11. At what point did the police feel threatened enough to draw weapons?

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#128

Post by lostlogin »

gruez wrote: post #71
lostlogin wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is amazing how much public land is taken over for the parking of private vehicles.

It's public land used for the purposes of facilitating transportation using private vehicles. If you think about it that way there really isn't anything different between what you described and using public land to provide thoroughfares for private vehicles.

> It's public land used for the purposes of facilitating transportation using private vehicles. If you think about it that way there really isn't anything different between what you described and using public land to provide thoroughfares for private vehicles.

Parked cars are hindering transport for cars and bikes. My street has cars parked on both sides and at times there is only space for travel in one direction. So two thirds of the road width is dedicated to parking and it’s not facilitating transport.

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#129

Post by calvinmorrison »

mindslight wrote: post #124
calvinmorrison wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This makes me incurably angry as longtime resident of South Philly. You sound like your head is in the clouds to a local. Why? Because our city operates roughly above the 3rd world level. Nobody puts signs up Nobody gives notice Nobody gives a good God dammed. Park where you can, hope your car is there tomorrow, hope there isn't a gas leak, road collapse or towed randomly Its so absurd we had a TV show called Parking…

I don't know why my comment would make you angry. I'm not saying "everything is fine", rather pointing out how it works in other cities, as an example of some sanity to push for. The comment I was responding to was full of handwavey reasons why any sort of change would be too complicated, essentially justifying the status quo. I would think that if you wanted reform, that is the type of thing what would make you angr…

It makes me angry in the same way a kid from Kentucky may say "why don't the Palestinians and Jews just get along ".

There's a whole history with parking here.

Yes, if our city was even one iota of a normal place we would expect these things. Instead we drop our pants and bend over because, well actually I don't know why we do, Stockholm syndrome?

Re: Philly pays $30K to two 'courtesy' tow victims, but class-action suit continues

#130

Post by lazide »

eyelidlessness wrote: post #116
sokoloff wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been detained, pushed down onto the trunk of the cruiser, handcuffed behind my back, patted down, put in the back, backup called, investigated, and released on the scene. The cop had a fairly reasonable reason to do what they did that turned out to be based on a false premise [I "matched the description" but wasn't the guy], I complied, and 15-20 minutes of my life was wasted. Was it awesome? Nope. Do I get that…

Please stop and ask yourself if you’re engaging in a harmful way, or if you could be more considerate about how other people experience police confrontations. My anxiety is through the roof from this interaction. I’m reliving physical and psychological trauma I don’t often revisit, including being bludgeoned while trying to get people to safety away from police and having guns drawn on me for asking about the safety…

Why is their experience of less trauma less valid than your experience of more trauma?

Both seem valid to me. The world doesn’t owe you foam padding at every turn.

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