You know if you park your car wrong in some countries, there might be an ax in your back window. If you park your car in Boston after saving a spot, you might have your tires smashed in.
Fuckin’ Boston. After the blizzard last weekend, and after the travel bans were lifted, residents had the unglamorous task of shoveling their cars out from under two feet of snow. Digging your car out from that is one of the least glamorous things in the world. And many drivers thought that their hard work suddenly earned them the rights to save dug-out parking spaces with lawn chairs, cones, whatever.
So when people moved those objects and parked in shoveled parking spaces, people were pissed. So pissed, in fact, that cars were getting vandalized. According to their news release on Feb. 14, Boston Police responded to several incidents where people were slashing tires, smashing windows, even throwing a sawhorse at a guy’s car.
One example of police responding to an incident:
On arrival, the victim told officers that on Monday, February 11, 2013, he moved a chair from a parking space and then parked his car in the empty spot. When he returned to his car the next day, he discovered two flat/slashed tires on his car.
It’s crazy law enforcement has to be troubled by incidents like this. Aren’t there people who are blocking fire hydrants or triple parked somewhere in the South End.
According to BostInno, it’s actually legal for residents to save parking spaces for up to 48 hours after a snow emergency has ended, but I still can’t understand why you should be allowed to save a spot like that in the first place. Everyone’s digging their car out to go places, so there shold be lots of cleared spots everywhere. They don’t even let you save seats in a second-grade reading circle, so why should grown-ups get to? And besides, if you want a reserved spot, rent one.
What do you guys think? Is it a free market for street parking after a storm or should you get to throw a sawhorse at someone who steals your space?
Photo: Rick Stockwood