A question re: tire chalking

[tsm]

Yep, the 3 hour Kroger parking comment is quite accurate, but maybe next time I’ll go with her, remain in the car and see if anyone approaches. Us retired guys can do that, you know!

 

[armalitesheepdog]

Along those lines

Court Rules a Common Parking Enforcement Technique Is Unreasonable Search

Marking a parked car's tire using chalk to track its time in a parking space could henceforth require a warrant.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[Cameramonkey]

Yep, the 3 hour Kroger parking comment is quite accurate, but maybe next time I’ll go with her, remain in the car and see if anyone approaches. Us retired guys can do that, you know!

Unless you have limo tint, they'll not even get close to you because they'll likely see you in the car.

Instead park within view of the car several rows away.

 

[hopper68]

Yep, the 3 hour Kroger parking comment is quite accurate, but maybe next time I’ll go with her, remain in the car and see if anyone approaches.

People often do not see a person sitting in a parked vehicle until that person asks them what the @#%$ they think they are doing.

 

[xwing]

Parking lots limited to the business that runs them come to mind. A grocery store might be checking to see how many people park in their lot but walk to other, nearby businesses to shop as well. Parking for three hours at Kroger wouldn't necessarily mean that's what was happening but could be considered circumstantial evidence of something of the sort

That's an awful lot of work for them with a very small potential reward. While it is possible, it's highly unlikely.

 

[Cameramonkey]

That's an awful lot of work for them with a very small potential reward. While it is possible, it's highly unlikely.

There is big money it tow contracts.

I remember one tow company really got their pee pees slapped a while back in Broad Ripple. They had multiple trucks hooking up cars in BR as fast as they could. Then they got greedy and realized that it was like an hour round trip to their yard. And that was really eating into their revenue.

So they had a grand idea. They started dropping cars in the Walmart lot a mile or two north on Keystone. Thats a FAST turnaround. They'd hook as many cars as they could, and then at the end of the night would leisurely tow them from the walmart lot to their yard.

It worked. Until one victim was catching a ride home and happened to look over and saw what he thought was his car in the walmart lot. His friends drove him over to it and sure enough, the keys worked. It was his car. So he stole it back from the tow company.

I think they got sued. And it made it to one of the news stations who did a big story on it.

 

[Creedmoor]

Haven’t been able to figure this out yet. Wife is driving her new car but so far, has only parked it in store or mall parking lots that don’t have dedicated or timed/restrictive parking. However, today I noticed two yellow chalk marks on the right front tire and one on the left front that weren’t there several days ago (I checked tire pressures a couple days ago and would have noticed them). My conundrum is, why would someone be marking her tires if she’s only parking in lots like Kroger’s, Walgreens, Fresh Market or shopping centers for a few hours and only using general use unrestricted parking spots? I’m not coming up with any ideas on this one!

****ing Decepticons...

 

[littletommy]

Kroger doesn’t even have enough people to go out and wrangle the carts back into the store, I can’t imagine they would have time to go out and chalk tires.

The suspicious side of me wonders if maybe this isn’t some criminal BS, like marking a vehicle to indicate a lone female driver? I dunno, lots of mopes looking to bother people.

 

[littletommy]

There is big money it tow contracts.

I remember one tow company really got their pee pees slapped a while back in Broad Ripple. They had multiple trucks hooking up cars in BR as fast as they could. Then they got greedy and realized that it was like an hour round trip to their yard. And that was really eating into their revenue.

So they had a grand idea. They started dropping cars in the Walmart lot a mile or two north on Keystone. Thats a FAST turnaround. They'd hook as many cars as they could, and then at the end of the night would leisurely tow them from the walmart lot to their yard.

It worked. Until one victim was catching a ride home and happened to look over and saw what he thought was his car in the walmart lot. His friends drove him over to it and sure enough, the keys worked. It was his car. So he stole it back from the tow company.

I think they got sued. And it made it to one of the news stations who did a big story on it.

There was a towing company in simpsonville kentucky last year that got in way over their heads.

People were parking in an overflow lot across from the cattleman’s roadhouse, and the manager of the nearby movie theater was having them towed, problem was, the movie theater didn’t own the overflow lot!

Several tow companies declined to remove the vehicles, but one slimy one did, probably blinded by dollar signs. The towing company was actually charged with numerous counts of auto theft, and the theater got multiple civil suits.

 

[Shadow01]

I thought I read about a court case where a judge ruled that chalking a tire was vandalism and the city was found liable. It opened them up for several hundred lawsuits.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Kroger doesn’t even have enough people to go out and wrangle the carts back into the store, I can’t imagine they would have time to go out and chalk tires.

They dont.
Step 1. Contract with towing company.
Step 2. Tow company puts up signs.
Step 3. TOW COMPANY reps patrol the lot looking for cars to tow make money off of.

And the REALLY slimy ones drive around with LPRs on the trunk deck like cops do tied into the stolen/delinquent database, looking for repos and stolen cars to snag.

So its not Kroger. Its the towing company that would be taking the time to mark. If they dont mark, they dont tow. If they dont tow they dont make money.




I was ALMOST towed once. I was legit parked doing work for my company in my POV. It was labeled as a private lot. It was a still under construction student apartment building. (private) But they already had the contract and signs up. I was told by the owner not to worry about it. They werent supposed to be active yet during the week. Only Friday evening through sunday night.

I came out to get a tool and my car was gone. A lady said "He JUST pulled out and went down that alley."

I ran around the corner and flagged him down. When I explained I was a contractor that had permission, he offered to take my car back and was apologetic.

I told him it was fine to drop it right there and I could drive it back. It was easier for us both. As he dropped it we chatted and he said he saw the car seat and took his time hooking me up hoping I would come out so he could stop. He hated the thought of stranding some mom with a young kid.

From that point forward I have ridden around with a laminated "contractor" sign to slip onto my dash with the company logo and my cell number for just this occasion tucked between my seat and the drivers console.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Probably marked as a target for sex trafficking. I keep putting chalk on my tires but no one has shown up.

 

[JettaKnight]

I thought I read about a court case where a judge ruled that chalking a tire was vandalism and the city was found liable. It opened them up for several hundred lawsuits.

Not vandalism, but it was ruled illegal.

I think some enforcement now marks a box around tires.