We tow from a couple meter lots, as those of you who have been loyal followers of me know.
One major problem we've always had as that frequently, as hated and abused as the parking meter is by the public at large, they'd succumb to vandalism/attempted vandalism/stupidity and jam/break.
(It says QUARTERS ONLY on the faceplate people! Stop trying to feed them dimes/pennies, putting one in and then turning the handle is a good way to bollocks up the works inside!)
Anyway, when a meter went down, invariably everyone would come running to park at the broken one since the law/rules say you can't ticket/tow someone at a broken meter because you can't prove they didn't TRY to pay it, or that it didn't break after they paid it.
Proper procedure for busted meters was to alert the building maintenance man who'd go out and fix/unjam the meter. That worked great, provided it was a weekday afternoon.
But, due to Murphy's Law most meter vandalism takes place at night, a Friday night, meaning the meter would be out of service for up to 3 days while every Tom Dick and Harry was using it and benefiting from free ill-gotten parking
So, after a brainstorming session, management here and there got together and invested in a solution. We had some custom bags made for the meters. They're tightly-woven synthetic plastic bags with built-in metal eyelets at the bottom. You put them over top the meter, pull them down, and then run a padlock through the eye. These babies are waterproof, so they'll take weather. Tightly-woven, so they can't be stretched/pulled off and done in international-orange hue so you can't claim you didn't see them.
Also, printed right on the front of the bag are the words
NO PARKING AT THIS METER
VIOLATORS TOWED IMMEDIATELY
FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD TOWING XXX-XXXX
Now, when we notice a meter go down, we can simply bag it, and maintenance (who has the only other key to the locks) can get to it at their leisure and anyone who tries to use it can be legally towed for disregarding a "no parking" sign.
I was giddy like a kid on Christmas morning when they came in the big FEDEX box. Got my first chance to use them the other night when I noticed a downed meter.
Not more than 5 minutes after covering it, locking it, and going about my way, we got a phone call back at the garage.
"Hi, yeah, uh, I'm down here at *meter parking lot* and there's like, this strange orangy-bag over the meter that says I can't park here or I"ll be towed. Uh, I was just wondering what the deal with it is?"
I give up.....
I know I said it before, but this time I mean it!
If anyone wants this old cardboard box containing the tiny broken bits of my former faith in humanity, I'll take your best offer now. You may be able to salvage a few of em' for parts..... and if not, well, I dunno, maybe your cat will like playin' with em.
One major problem we've always had as that frequently, as hated and abused as the parking meter is by the public at large, they'd succumb to vandalism/attempted vandalism/stupidity and jam/break.
(It says QUARTERS ONLY on the faceplate people! Stop trying to feed them dimes/pennies, putting one in and then turning the handle is a good way to bollocks up the works inside!)
Anyway, when a meter went down, invariably everyone would come running to park at the broken one since the law/rules say you can't ticket/tow someone at a broken meter because you can't prove they didn't TRY to pay it, or that it didn't break after they paid it.
Proper procedure for busted meters was to alert the building maintenance man who'd go out and fix/unjam the meter. That worked great, provided it was a weekday afternoon.
But, due to Murphy's Law most meter vandalism takes place at night, a Friday night, meaning the meter would be out of service for up to 3 days while every Tom Dick and Harry was using it and benefiting from free ill-gotten parking
So, after a brainstorming session, management here and there got together and invested in a solution. We had some custom bags made for the meters. They're tightly-woven synthetic plastic bags with built-in metal eyelets at the bottom. You put them over top the meter, pull them down, and then run a padlock through the eye. These babies are waterproof, so they'll take weather. Tightly-woven, so they can't be stretched/pulled off and done in international-orange hue so you can't claim you didn't see them.
Also, printed right on the front of the bag are the words
NO PARKING AT THIS METER
VIOLATORS TOWED IMMEDIATELY
FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD TOWING XXX-XXXX
Now, when we notice a meter go down, we can simply bag it, and maintenance (who has the only other key to the locks) can get to it at their leisure and anyone who tries to use it can be legally towed for disregarding a "no parking" sign.
I was giddy like a kid on Christmas morning when they came in the big FEDEX box. Got my first chance to use them the other night when I noticed a downed meter.
Not more than 5 minutes after covering it, locking it, and going about my way, we got a phone call back at the garage.
"Hi, yeah, uh, I'm down here at *meter parking lot* and there's like, this strange orangy-bag over the meter that says I can't park here or I"ll be towed. Uh, I was just wondering what the deal with it is?"
I give up.....
I know I said it before, but this time I mean it!
If anyone wants this old cardboard box containing the tiny broken bits of my former faith in humanity, I'll take your best offer now. You may be able to salvage a few of em' for parts..... and if not, well, I dunno, maybe your cat will like playin' with em.
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