After Paying Parking Ticket By Phone, Drivers Can Remove New Boot Themselves

These days of cruelty are coming to an end

In what will surely be a blow to the city's sledgehammer-for-hire businesses, a new series of high tech immobilizing wheel boots will be applied to parking violators' cars that will allow them to remove the device themselves once they pay their fine, The Post reports.

Although the new boots are part of a pilot project, drivers across town who thought they could just swing in next to a hydrant to hop in their favorite deli for just one goddamn second will soon see a notice on their windshield telling them to call a toll-free number. After they give their credit or debit card number, they'll get a code to remove the device. Thus no towing will be necessary for vehicles who owe more than $350 in fines (Zimbabwe we're looking in your direction.) It's unclear whether or not the plan will allow for motorists to pay in cash, thus releasing them of a physical record of a day they'd rather forget.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on May 24, 2011 9:45 AM

Comments [rss]

van_vlissingen

So the perp pays a fee, and it unlocks. What happens to the boot? Will It just lie there in the middle of the street?

Spirit of 76

Uh, it's been answered above. You have to take it back to them. Try reading sometime. Think about it. You just gave the cops your credit card number to unlock it. Unless you cancel your card immediately, what's to keep them from adding more fines to your card? And if you do report the card stolen or something, it's probably going to hurt your credit score when this declined charge shows up on your credit history. Not to mention you'd better hope NYPD never sees your car again.

Guest

You can buy your own "Denver Boot" on-line. I think I'll get one to put on all the police cars the NYPD uses to block everything.

Guest

P.S. They are actually quite easy to remove without special equipment. Just try letting the air out of your tires. In a lot off cases that's all it takes.

ktinnyc

Here's another suggestion, don't get/pay your tickets.

Guest

Never got one KT. Just giving info to others.

Spirit of 76

NYC is really behind the times. Other cities have had these for years.

ohgodkillmenow

Here's you serve these peoples asses right back to them:

Start an online database mapping the serial number (or whatever unique identifier is used) on the boot to the unlock code. Sure, it's possible the codes will be rotated, but that's most likely a manual process, and everybody knows how thorough civil service employees are. Once there's an iPhone/Android app, you'll have access to unlock your boot as soon as it's on.

Spirit of 76

You're so busy patting yourself on the back for being clever that you're not thinking it all the way through. Even assuming they're as stupid as you think, the cops do make records of which boot they place on which car, if only to make sure they're giving the right release code to the right driver. If the boot is removed by whatever method, the next time they see your car, it won't get booted. It will get an instant trip to the impound and you'll have to pay a lot of fines to get it out, fines that you wouldn't have had to pay if you hadn't tampered with the boot. If you leave the boot on the street and it disappears, guess who'll have to pay the full replacement cost along with the fines.

randomtransplant

If you think about it, the boots will have to be idiot proof enough that people can type in the wrong code - maybe a random key generator would work?

Kate

And then what happens to the boot? It just sits there in the street?

ohgodkillmenow

Obviously the City has to order more of them. Better check who the manufacturer is and their connections to the cesspool running the city...

Kate

Oh wait, I actually read the article (grimace)

"They will give a credit- or debit-card number in exchange for a code to
unlock the boot, which they will have to drop off at a designated
location -- or face more fines."