2,811 parking tickets issued this fall
By Shelby Clayton-
Staff Writer
The Tarleton Police Department has already issued 2,811 tickets this semester. The best way to avoid getting ticketed is to know the things that you can get tickets for.
Most of the ways to get tickets are obvious: parking in a handicap space (which is a $500 fine), parking in a reserved space, parking in a place that’s not an actual parking space and permit misuse, which can be anything from parking in the wrong lot or a sticker on a car that isn’t registered to it. If you have received a parking ticket recently, it may be in your best interests to look into something like texas approved defensive driving schools, if you are looking to get your ticket dismissed and will also help you understand the idea of safe driving, as this is a priority for any driver on the road.
Some violations are less well known, like pulling through or backing into a slanted space.
(Photo by Cameron Cook)
In the last school year, 8,488 tickets were issued. In the spring, 4,295 tickets were written and 4,193 tickets were written in the fall.
In the spring, the most parking violations were given out for parking in reserved spaces. This was also the most ticketed offense last fall. With faculty and staff now having gated parking, it has cut down the number of students parking in reserved parking.
“We had a lot of complaints from faculty/staff. ‘Someone’s in my reserved spot,’ which is their particular spot, and now with gated lots it has cut that down,” said Tarleton Chief of Police Matt Welch.
The newly implemented response to these violations is that cars parked in reserved spots now get towed. Twelve cars have already been towed this school year. When the police department was looking for a towing company, similar to https://towingless.com/, they chose the cheapest one, $150 per tow.
Since this change has been made, the new most common parking violation is people parking in non-designed spaces. This is when drivers park where there is no space, like in a bike lane.
The least common violations for the past three semesters have been permit misuse and parking in a handicap spot without a permit.
In the current school year, 52 people have appealed their tickets. Of these appeals, 15 were denied, 21 have been upheld and 16 are pending. Last spring, 78 appeals were made, and 96 were made in the fall. All tickets must be paid or appealed within 10 days of receiving the ticket.
All money from parking tickets goes towards various scholarships. This fall, $66,370 has been collected from parking fines. Last school year, $262,045 were collected in parking fines.
Since the school year has started, there have been concerns raised from both students and parents about residential parking.
“We looked at where we had space and where we didn’t have space, and outside of Bosque there was a lot that was half purple and half red. We made it all red, which added 115 spaces,” said Welch
They did this, because the purple lot beside the stadium is never full. There also have been complaints from the neighbors about people parking on the streets. The lot on Lillian Street is also being used as commuter parking, and crosswalks have been put in to make it easier for students to cross the street.
“With the rebuild of Traditions and the two by the Rec Center, we’re bringing more students to campus, so we have to start finding places for people to park,” said Welch.
For more information on parking and traffic violations, visit the police department’s website at http://www.tarleton.edu/parking/generalrules.html.
