If the Boot Fits: Public Safety Now Booting Cars
Ada Lambert | November 3, 2022
Students of Warren Wilson College (WWC) have had many difficulties this year with parking on campus. There has been an increase in ticketing this year, which has prompted a lot of frustration within the community.
On top of the excessive amount of tickets, there are updated criteria for what is a parking violation, less student parking on the weekends and little accessibility to open spaces in designated lots (such as Kittredge lot.)
Public Safety has cracked down on parking rules this year, despite the issue of limited parking. Effective this semester, there is a new code of violation for students with more than three unpaid tickets. Unlike previous years when students were given a warning at this point, Public Safety is now enforcing the booting of cars.
For those who are not aware of the term “boot” in reference to cars, a boot is typically a large, metal device that clamps onto one of the wheels of the car with the intent of preventing someone from driving their vehicle.
Director of Public Safety, John Davidson, has yet to personally speak on this issue, but did send an email earlier in the semester notifying the change in parking regulations.
“Effective at the start of the new semester, all vehicles on campus without a parking sticker, or parked where prohibited, will continue to receive citations,” Davidson said. “Once a vehicle reaches the cumulative threshold of 3 issued citations, your vehicle will be booted on the fourth citation. After being booted twice, if you receive another ticket, your vehicle will be towed at the owner's expense.
Further parking violations will receive larger consequences for students and may result in the loss of privilege to bring their car on campus.
“After being towed three times, your vehicle will be banned from campus.” Davidson said. “If you are parked in an area which is not permitted and do not have a parking permit, your license plate and VIN number will be added to our spreadsheet so your tickets will still be tracked.”
Students should reach out to Public Safety directly for any issue with tickets or circumstances around their parking situation. To access the information in this article, you can find the email by searching the name Jonathan Davidson, titled “parking,” sent on Aug. 7, 2022.
For anyone looking to share their experience with being booted or having issues with excessive ticketing, contact elambert.f21@warren-wilson.edu.