Wednesday, december 9, 1981
daily nebraskan
page 7
Park where you should so the car won't vanish
By Tricia Waters
A student returns to the commuter
parking lot to find that his car is gone. Ik
instantly thinks that someone took it.
Then he thinks of the backlog of parking
tickets he received from UNL police over
the last few months. Possibly the car was
towed. The student stops at UNL police to
check on his car's location.
Sgt. Mylo Bushing in the parking
division of UNL police said many people
are very upset when they come into the
police station after their cars are towed.
But once they learn the reason for towing,
many of them calm down and accept the
situation, he said.
Cars can be towed if they arc parked
illegally: on grass, a sidewalk, in a reserved
stall, fire lane or other places. If the car
owner owes at least $20 in unpaid parking
tickets or has three outstanding tickets, he
can be towed, Buslung said.
To recover towed cars from Lincoln
land Towing, 410 W. P St., the person must
pay $20. If it was towed for unpaid tickets,
lie must first stop at UNL police and pay
the tickets before Lincolnland will release
the car.
Bushing said police try to avoid towing
a car for unpaid tickets by placing wheel
locks on it. Those cost $5 for police to re
move, compared to the $20 towing fee.
Towed 155 in November
Last month, Lincolnland towed 155
cars from campus for illegal parking or un
paid tickets. Lincolnland tows many cars
during the football season, Bushing said.
Bushing said some people complain to
UNL police that they weren't contacted
before their cars were towed.
When a car is towed out of a residence
hall parking lot, the UNL police will try to
notify the owner by phone, leaving a
message if he can't be reached, Buslung
said. That way, the student who doesn't
use his car often will be aware that it was
removed from the lot and can get it back
before Lincolnland storage fees accumu
late, he said. The fees are about $2 a day,
he said .
Police can also trace an owner of a car
towed from a staff lot by calling the
campus number the staff worker listed on
his permit card, he said. But police can't
trace the owner of a car parked in other
areas on campus when it's towed because
they have no way of knowing where the
person would be, Bushing said.
"If there was an easy way to do it, we
would," he said. Bushing said the officers
don't have time to trace owners of cars.
Police don't notify
Lincoln police also don't notify car
owners before their vehicles arc towed be
cause they don't have time to locate them,
said Lt. Lylc Roberts.
He said police used to make every
attempt to find the owner of a car blocking
a driveway before it was towed. But that
policy angered impatient people wanting to
get out of or into their driveways, Roberts
said. Sometimes the towing company
would arrive at the same time as the car
owner, and the tower wasted his time re
sponding to the call, he said.
Drivers can have their cars towed for
one Lincoln police parking ticket that has
been unpaid for 15 working days and gone
to warrant. Roberts said the municipal
court sends several notices of unpaid
tickets.
Attorney Shelley Stahl at Student Legal
Services agreed that many students become
frustrated after their cars are towed,
especially when the towing company re
quires cash or a credit card payment.
Stahl has received a couple complaints
from people whose cars were towed or had
wheel locks placed on them. She said in
vestigation of the complaints found that
police had been acting within their regulat
ions. One question students should ask if
they have a complaint is whether police
followed their own regulations, she said.
A student could say that towing is
taking someone's property without due
process, an infringement on the Fifth
Amendment, she said. But police say a per
son has plenty of notice for towing because
of unpaid tickets when reminders are sent
out, she said. Plus, people who buy parking
stickers get a regulation booklet that in
cludes the police's towing policy.
"A lot of people who get towed have a
slug of tickets and they know it's coming,"
Stahl said.
Charged with theft
Stahl said she warns people not to re
move wheel locks from their cars and stow
them somewhere. Then, police could
charge them with theft of university
property.
She said the best way to handle a tow
ing complaint is to appeal to the Parking
Advisory Committee, or possibly take it to
civil court.
To keep from getting towed, Bushing
suggested that people pay attention to
signs when they park and check with police
to make sure they don't have outstanding
tickets. Sometimes people take parking
tickets off car windshields, and people
won't know they had one until they get a
notice. Reminders usually go out within
five days.
Bushing said people can avoid towing by
taking responsibility for their car's
location.
"If they bring a car on campus they're
responsible for that vehicle, and respon
sible for parking it right," Bushing said.
Donate Blood
American Red Cross ljpi
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C. Wayne Martin, a UNL
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The study, which is being
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