‘Parking Wars’ drivers deserve to get booted

We critique the driver over it: You parked too far away. You missed a prime spot.

We gnash our teeth about it: You want me to pay $30 to park in an unpaved garbage-strewn lot guarded by a bunch of uniformed seniors?

We squabble over it: Let's just park in the garage. But valet is so convenient.

It even dictates what we do: I don't want to go to the Rebels game; parking will be impossible.

"Parking is underappreciated," said Andrew Dunn, producer of a television show based on parking. "It's a controversy in every city. People feel entitled to parking without paying. It's like free air. You need to balance the needs of the customer with being too penalizing."

"Everybody can relate to parking issues," said co-producer Dan Flaherty.

Which brings us to the enforcers of parking.

Personally, I'm not a big fan. I admittedly collected a handful of parking tickets downtown covering a trial. My car was "booted," which I probably deserved. The insanely sticky 11-by-8-inch bright-orange sticker the enforcer placed on the driver's side window?

Fine, perhaps I would have overlooked the bright-orange device on the driver's side tire.

The equally large sticker on the passenger-side window was a little overboard; typically one doesn't enter on the passenger side and crawl into the driver's seat.

Why not plaster another notice on the trunk in case that's how one enters a car?

Hoping to commiserate with fellow parking enforcement detester, I dropped in on an International Parking Institute presentation put on by the producers of "Parking Wars," an A&E reality show in which cameraman Dunn follows parking enforcement officers in Philadelphia and Detroit.

Institute members, who are parking professionals, were braced for an attack on their industry. So was I. Instead it was one big bonding fest.

Dunn explained that we could easily avoid tickets in, for example, loading zones if we take 15 seconds to observe the times posted on signs.

Parking professionals in an affirming chorus: Mmmm hmmm.

"There are people who hate our guts," Marlene, a Philadelphia meter maid, confides in one segment. "Believe me, they hate us."

Mmmm hmmm.

Then something weird happened and the underappreciation argument started to take hold.

Footage from "Parking Wars" shows an officer ticketing a pickup parked on a sidewalk. Along comes a blind man with a walking stick headed directly for the truck. Fortunately the parking enforcer is still present and guides him around the truck.

Out comes the enraged truck owner.

"I'm just trying to make a living and now they're taking money out of my pocket," he hollers in the direction of Dunn. "It's crazy."

Whoa, hey now, isn't it crazy to think you can park your truck on a sidewalk?

Dunn explained that his two young children were nearly knocked to the ground by a bicyclist who whizzed between a car illegally parked at a bus stop and the bus, which had to stop in the street because of the illegally parked car.

Dunn's point was parking enforcers maintain the safety of our streets.

Strange premise for a television show, but it somehow changes the way one thinks about how parking affects how transportation works or doesn't work. A double-parked vehicle can cause an instant jam when vehicles were moving along just fine.

"Hey, it's important not to park where you're not supposed to park," Dunn said. "We're proud we're able to do these sorts of things; we're excited about changing people's attitudes. You are entitled to be angry if your car is booted or towed, but it's not the end of the world. The citizens always had a choice to make; that's the point."

Right, pay your parking tickets.

"Change" might be a strong word when it comes to attitude, but it might alter your thinking.

After the presentation, Dunn was asked about overzealous parking enforcement officers who unnecessarily Super Glue notices all over cars. What about the parking enforcers who allow UPS drivers to set up camp in an emergency vehicle zone, yet excitedly pull out a ticket book if a regular Joe pulls up to the curb to pick up grandma?

"Everyone knows there are great employees and not so good employees," Dunn said, adding that had he encountered that behavior it would have ended up on tape. "This isn't an exposé on human resource issues."

Dunn seems to squeeze the positive out of everything parking related. He noted that private property owners are booting cars in Las Vegas. It happens in the Bonanza Gifts Shop on the Strip and in the strip mall across from the Hard Rock Hotel.

Those owners can be held liable if something bad happens in the lot. Plus it costs several thousand dollars to maintain a single space. So, if the parkers are not shopping at your business, why should they be able to park there, Dunn asked.

Old attitude: Well, duh, it's convenient, it's free and it's not valet. That's why. Altered attitude: It's convenient, it's free and it's not valet, but I suppose it's my fault if my car is towed or booted.

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at 702-387-2904, or send an e-mail to roadwarrior@reviewjournal
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