New parking policy replaces towing

New 'boot' policy will eliminate towing fees, daily holding fees.

The old Parking Services towing policy has gotten the boot in favor of a plan designed to be more student-friendly.

The Ball State University Department of Public Safety has purchased 24 "boots" to immobilize the cars of drivers who have accumulated any combination of five tickets and fines totaling $50, said the department's director, Gene Burton.

Dean of Students Randy Hyman said the boot will eliminate the $35 towing fee and $10 daily holding fee imposed by Nye's Wrecker Service.

"We believe this is a much more considerate policy for people who would normally have to retrieve their cars from Nye's," Hyman said.

The driver in violation will have eight hours to pay off the accumulated fines along with a $20 fee to unlock the boot.

"Typically people who have left a car on campus would go back to their vehicle well within an eight-hour span," Hyman said. "If it is not resolved at that point, the car will be towed."

According to Burton, 350 to 400 people are on the Department of Public Safety's towing list. When a Parking Services employee finds a car belonging to someone on the list, he will call an officer to boot the car. The officer will then be able to return to work immediately. Under the current policy ,officers sometimes must wait an hour with the car before it is removed.

The policy will not go into effect until the department has received them and engraved them with "Ball State University Police."

The boots have not yet arrived, and university officials are unsure when this will occur.

Jeff Nye, owner of Nye's Wrecker Service, 2911 E. Jackson St., said he was unsure how the new policy will affect his business. But he did say he expected a decrease in the number of calls coming from the university.

"I'm sure the number of cars with fines that we tow will be cut in half," Nye said.

According to Nye, his towing company averages two or three tows a day from the university.

He said he expects that students who are ticketed during class will have the boot removed before his services are needed. Nye also said he expects many students who leave their cars in residence-hall parking lots during weekends will not have the boot removed in time and will eventually have to be towed.


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