this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
99 points (95.4% liked)

Fuck Cars

9337 readers
293 users here now

A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!

Rules

1. Be CivilYou may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.

2. No hate speechDon't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.

3. Don't harass peopleDon't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.

4. Stay on topicThis community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.

5. No repostsDo not repost content that has already been posted in this community.

Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.

Posting Guidelines

In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:

Recommended communities:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Booting is on the rise in New York City.

Drivers who don’t pay up for traffic tickets are more likely to have their cars ensnared than they have been at any point since before the pandemic all but shut down enforcement, according to city data.

New Yorkers' vehicles were immobilized 134,945 times in 2023. That’s more than quadruple the number of boots clamped onto wheels throughout the city in 2020, when only 31,379 vehicles were captured by the devices’ metal fangs.

Drivers who fail to pay $350 or more in parking or traffic camera tickets within 100 days of their issuance are subject to booting.

Many booted vehicles get towed away. If their owners don’t retrieve them, the city can sell them at auction.

...

top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 5oap10116@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

How do those stand up to a Sawzall?. I used to cut galvanized steel pipes like butter. Assuming they're not made of something significantly stronger, I figure I can fix that problem in under a minute on a fresh blade.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 weeks ago

to whom do those boots belong and what are the consequences of damaging their property (that they surely know was clamped to your car)?

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I forget where I'd read about it, some enterprising individual disassembled, then reassembled the boot off the vehicle, several times. Might be an urban legend though.

[–] 5oap10116@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Also possibly urban legend, there was some story about a windshield suction cup "boot" or clamshell that you can get off by blasting your defroster on high heat and run a credit card along the seals. They also have GPS tracking on them with a Sim card that had unlimited data, which was then used for free internet.

[–] mearce@programming.dev 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And they're just giving these away? Godbless

[–] 5oap10116@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I'd assume if true, the arms race has progressed past it.

Good. Driving a car on public roads is not a basic human right, it carries with it certain responsibilities and obligations.

[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Isn’t the boot just going to make scarce city parking even less efficient? Isn’t it kind of shooting yourself in the boot to some degree?

[–] DrunkEngineer@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

NYC has never been interested in making parking efficient. The parking meter rates are ridiculously cheap, with many streets not charging anything for parking (or even having time limits). And yes, giving away valuable parking makes driving much more complicated -- but apparently the Governor was in a diner and overheard some voters from NJ complaining about increased costs....

[–] drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

The alternative is that the 350 dollar fine becomes a cost-of-doing-business for those who can afford it unless the fine is changed to be income% based and the violators are ruthlessly hunted through the legal system. NYC definitely can ruthlessly hunt people legally, but I'm not sure it could do it competently. Booting and towing the violators seem a simple and cheap solution by comparison.

[–] akilou@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Bit booting and towing are opposites

[–] drkt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

Many booted vehicles get towed away.

[–] ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Replace with spare tire: 10-15 minutes.

Chopping "revenue generator" off with angle grinder: 10-15 minutes.

Total costs: 20-30 minutes.

[–] fpslem@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

For anyone seriously considering this tactic, they already have your license plate and VIN when they boot your car. If you manage to remove the wheel and destroy the boot, many jurisdictions will come after you for damage to city property and it will cost you a lot more than paying to get the boot off. I had a buddy who found this out the hard way.

[–] ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It was tongue in cheek. I only ever do this with my neighbors ride anyway.

[–] fpslem@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Hey, while we're on the subject, does anyone remember the forum thread that went viral a few years ago of a guy whose HOA booted his car, and he managed to hide the booted car in his garage and the towing company freaked out? He updated the forum posts as the saga developed, and it's a very funny read.

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/epic-hoa-parking-boot-battle.572540/

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

I loved that story but felt it was left unresolved.

[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 weeks ago

I haven't seen that before, it was marvellous, thanks for sharing. What an epic