I'm not sure how I feel about Barnacles vs the Boot. The problem with these devices is that you have to account for the lowest common denominator of offender, namely the kind of moron who would try to drive around with one on.
When it comes to the Boot, they just damage their own car and are slow, but the Barnacle makes the person a legitimate hazard on the road since they can't see.
Honestly, I think the better solution would be to find a way to lock their steering, that way it mitigates the amount of stupid they can do. However, I don't know of a way to do that without opening the car.
Edit: For all the people who keep replying with Jim Carrey driving with his head out the window, you are the lowest common denominator I was talking about.
I was heading to the barbershop tomorrowā¦but now Iāll keep the unruly length and be Ace Ventura for Halloween!!
Better go get 2 cans of hairspray and watch the movie another dozen times too - if Iām not back in 5 minutes, just wait longer.
I think my problem with both the boot and the barnacles is that it doesn't treat the root problem, and in fact makes it worse.
A car parked where it shouldn't be parked is now immobilized and will remain in the problem location.
Towing is really the best solution, as it removes the vehicle and punishes the offender with requiring to pay the fine to get their vehicle back. It also doesn't create a hazard on the road when people try to circumvent the immobilizations.
These type of parking enforcement devices aren't supposed to be penalties for "parking in the wrong place". It's an eventual penalty for unpaid parking tickets or other non-moving violations.
At least in my city, if you are parked illegally but not impeding anything, you just get a ticket. If you're parked illegally in a way that impedes, you'll just get towed. If you ignore the tickets, you become bootable, and then you can get a boot the next time the city identifies the vehicle, whether it's legally parked or not.
You can't just park in an ambulance bay blocking necessary traffic and then the city is gonna come and boot your car in place, worsening the problem.
Also, the city next to mine uses the barnacle, and if someone tries to drive with it on, it makes a VERY loud alarm sound and I'm pretty sure notifies the police. So I don't think there's a huge risk of people driving around with them on
Iām pretty sure boots are used on cars that have unpaid parking tickets over a certain amount/timeframe. I see legally parked booted cars all the time.
The last sentence is how you know parking fees are nothing more than revenue generation due to ignorance and not actually protecting or helping anybody.
To be clear.. I'm with you, it's bullshit. I'd argue we've built our cities entirely upside down. If I had my druthers.. there'd simply be no cars in cities. Look at the ideas around 15 minute cities.
As soon as I saw the thing my first thought was āroll a window down and stick my head out till Iām homeā not that Iād do so. But just the first thing to mind
It would be if they towed it to a publicly run impound lot, but thatās never been my experience (with friends and relatives, Ive never been personally towed). It goes to a privately owned lot, then you have to pay $200-300 to get your car back on top of the fine from the city. The tow yards arenāt incentivized to cooperate with you since the longer it sits in their lot the more money you have to pay them to get it back. I went once with a friend and had to wait two hours listening to the dude behind the deskās condescending remarks ādOnT yOu KnOw HoW tO rEaD?!?ā Lot didnāt have signs up. Guy had no affiliation with the city or owners of the lot.
Realistically, the worst thing that can happen if someone parks in the wrong place is their car is destroyed. If theyāre in front of a hydrant, the firemen will break through the windows or push the car out of the way with the truck. Ambulances can do the same thing. Not defending jackasses parking illegally, just trying to put the level of offense into the context of punishment via predatory towing companies.
Yeah but tow companies are almost always private and predatory... (And in many ways I don't blame them for predatory pricing because many people who abandon cars aren't good for the money so they have to shake it out of others to remain profitable. It's when they have contracts with the city and have overly predatory pricing that it's ridiculous.) They're not a great solution either.
The way I've seen boots applied, including to my own car once, where I've lived in North Carolina is they're a way to make you pay your fines. We accept that it's too extreme to tow every car that parks in a 2 hour spot too long or gets in the way of street sweeping. So we give out $30 tickets. After you get a few of those they boot you to make you pay. Same with parking in an apartment lot without a pass.
It prevents the whole thing from getting completely out of hand. If we towed people's cars after a couple tickets they maybe already can't afford now they're really screwed.
My hot take is we already pay for the roads with our taxes. I don't think your car should get towed or booted on a public street we already paid for unless it's completely in the way of a fire hydrant or something and should then be towed. Your unpaid tickets should be applied to your vehicle registration and if you let that ride all year you can pay a pay a big stinky fine then. Same with tolls and camera tickets.
The thing about towing is that the cops then have to pay the towing company and I think these days a lot of the impound lots are also privately run too (at least in the states). So they're trying to cut corners by deploying stuff like these barnacles or boots to keep from having to pay someone else to tow and impound your car so the cops get all the fine money...so they can buy stuff like military surplus vehicles and grenade launchers they really shouldn't be having.
Boot and Barnacle forces them to pay the city all the accrued fines before getting their car back. A third party impound lot doesnāt act as a collection agency, it just forces the driver to pay the impound fees, but not the accumulated fines.
And like the other comments already explained, these are only used when a vehicle is identified as having multiple unpaid tickets.
They do eventually tow these vehicles once the city considers them abandoned.
Alot easier to turn the heater on and use a credit card to break the seal, itll then pull straight off.
Ive had to do this twice now. A private security company bought these and its actually illegal for them to use, just no one has done anything about it yet.
If memory serves, they have a cellular modem in them to trigger the unlock, so they have (or used to have, maybe) a sim card in them. A sim card that has a high data cap.
There maybe stories on these internets, of folks poping out the sim and using it for free data. Not that I'm recommending anything.
Sort of like the office building in my town, that was never locked, and had a regular phone with long-distance access in the elevator? (yes, this was a loooong time ago)
See youāre thinking logically. āI canāt drive well if I canāt see so itās more optimal to find a way to improve my visionā
There are legit dumbasses who will think āI can drive weāll drive with this thing onā and will try. Youāre right, logically nobody should try to, but there are people who do not apply logic
In those situations I suspect alcohol may be involved. I guarantee you if I had encountered these in my 20's I would have shouted to my drinking buddy to lean out the window and guide me. "Aw come on! We stick to the side streets and we'll be fine."
alternatively, just turn on your windshield heater to full blast. After about 15 or so minutes, you should be able to lift the edge of the suction cup with a credit card.
Jeep drivers must love this. Fold that windshield forward and deal with it later. Heck, you could keep parking with it in place in prime parking spots, just by folding the windshield back up.
Id just drill a hole through the windshield under each suction cup. Battery operated drill with a bit costs much less than the accrued price of the tickets. Bonus points for not damaging city property.
But then you have to pay to replace your windshield, which aren't cheap. Even if you have glass coverage on your insurance its going to make your rates go up... still cheaper to pay the fine
Easier to just turn your windshield heater on and let the air within the suction cup expand a bit. After around 15 or so minutes, after it's sufficiently heated up, just use a credit card or something to lift the edge of the suction cup to remove it.
What a stupid comment. If you kick out your windshield with a barnacle attached to it, then insurance is going to know that you likely vandalised your own vehicle.
you got to watch hi speed with out qindow my brother built a 65 mustang and when he got it running it was about 6 mile trip from farm shop to the big garage he said he about 80 and when come off the hill the car wheelied i guess the air catching the roof lifted the nose up
I live in Massachusetts. EVERY year, after a snowstorm you'll see some moron driving down the road with a tiny circle of snow removed from the driver side of the windshield..
I've read that all someone has to do is run their defrosters and slide a tool under it to remove it. I also learned that some collage student, removed one and even took the SD out and enjoyed free wireless connection for a while.
There's not much room in the police impound lots around here so they just take your license plates and you can't get them back without paying what you owe. Sure, you can still drive your car, but you're going to get pulled over by the very first cop that sees you and then your vehicle will be impounded then. Since there's very little room in the lots and you were already given an opportunity to pay your due without escalating the situation, the impound fee is is very high.
It's actually not that difficult to drive with your head out the window. I've moved my car around with sun shield in the windows. Just hang out the window with the seat all the way up and tilted back some.
Its not a good solution either way. In sao paulo they just tow the car so traffic can continue, charge it on the owner and i bet he will regret it a lot more
What happened to tickets? Donāt these people have to renew their licenses or pay for registration etc? There has to be a way to collect on these. Wage garnishments?
Notice on driver side window that air has been removed from all tires. Device placed over all tires that will slash tires if driven or attempted to be removed. DMV has been contacted that can not renew registration unless fine paid. Number of police given so can be sent to inflate tires and device once fine paid or ticket is signed off on.
I thought about device that just cuts the stems but some older models can be replaced so better to just cut the tire.
Thatās what I was wondering. Near me a drunk driver sideswiped a pole and it took his entire front right wheel off and he got away because he only drove straight or made left turns so he wouldnāt drag on the ground.
Both barnacles and boots are hazardous if a moron proceeds to move the car with one attached. What happened to just slapping a ticket on the window and sending them to collections and/or issuing bench warrants after enough accumulate? Or even just towing the vehicle
If only there was a sort of vehicle that could just come and kind of, I dunno, collect the offenders vehicle. Then they could keep that vehicle in a sort of secured storage area untill the owner came to pay whatever fees and fines associated with the vehicle.
Theyre surprisingly easy to safely remove if you know how they work.
They and boots, when used by municipalities, show that its about the money more than the act. "You cant park here. To make sure you pay me for the transgression, im going to make it so you cant leave." If they really really shouldnt be parked them, have them removed.
The barnacles are incredibly easy to remove without damaging your windshield. If I remember correctly you need to turn the window defrost on hi and max temp, then after 15-20 minutes you can take a credit card and pop it under the seal.
Not that I would condone of such activities of course,,, but hypothetically speaking.
A lawful person will accept they are in the wrong and go about getting it removed, boot or barnacle. However there are many people that are just fine not taking the lawful route and endangering others just because they have been inconvenienced regardless of anything else.
The whole idea of either is fucking stupid. Just issue a ticket like they used to back in the day and be done with it. The idea that a car is parked where it's not supposed to be so you lock it in that spot so it can't be moved is fucking idiotic.
I don't understand the point of any means of immobilizing an illegally parked car. If it's illegal to park there, then there's probably a reason a car shouldn't be parked there, right? How is keeping the car parked there any kind of a solution?
The cops have the plates, and thence the driver's address. Why don't they go do shit there instead of prolonging the problem?
Where i live if there is a illegally parked car they will get a ticket, and depending on the situation they will have their car towed to the impound lot, that gets expensive real fast.
You misunderstand, my position of what would make a more effective and safer vehicle restraint is not an endorsement of the policy to begin with.
Frankly, the roads would be safest (and most efficient) if no one had to drive, which could be achieved through mass automation, but guess what? We just reinvented public transit with extra steps and an entrance fee. I would sincerely rather we just invest in public transit.
If the system is going to enforce traffic violations by attempting to restrain the vehicle, I would prefer if they do it in a safer manner.
I can tell already. Removing steering will only force them to run full throttle into whatever car is parked in front or behind. The lowest common denominator is making their attempt to go places no matter what.
Wouldn't the better solution just be to take down their license plate number and fine them? What is the point of trying to make the vehicle inoperable?
Boots can be removed way more easily than you think. Also even if you did drive with a boot it also is gonna ruin the road as well.
I can see idiots driving with one of these on and a friend just sticking their head out the window giving directions or having a back up cam installed for the front window with a monitor on the dash.
I honestly don't understand the use of immobilization devices as a punishment for parking violations at all. If someone's parked somewhere illegally, making it so they can't move their car feels like the last thing you'd want to do.
For the boot, depends on the vehicle. My truck was booted and just drove off. It spun with the tire but didn't harm anything until it just came apart a few miles later
I'm sure it won't be long until governments cotton onto this and start to petition manufactures for the ability to remotely lock out cars that have been stolen, are caught speeding, fleeing the scene, parked illegally, have outstanding finance, etc.
I was just wondering "I wonder if I could drive home with my head out the window and then try to remove it at home". I wouldn't really do that... but it is the first thought that came to my mind.
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u/-non-existance- 6d ago edited 5d ago
I'm not sure how I feel about Barnacles vs the Boot. The problem with these devices is that you have to account for the lowest common denominator of offender, namely the kind of moron who would try to drive around with one on.
When it comes to the Boot, they just damage their own car and are slow, but the Barnacle makes the person a legitimate hazard on the road since they can't see.
Honestly, I think the better solution would be to find a way to lock their steering, that way it mitigates the amount of stupid they can do. However, I don't know of a way to do that without opening the car.
Edit: For all the people who keep replying with Jim Carrey driving with his head out the window, you are the lowest common denominator I was talking about.