Someone keeps parking these stupid scooters in my driveway. Am I allowed to throw them out/move them/run them over? It makes it hard to leave my house
Submitted by Hotsawce t3_11dbeng in pittsburgh
I would start by putting up a “Private Driveway: No Parking or Trespassing” sign before escalating for the well-meaning idiots who are just returning them to where they found them in a self-perpetuating cycle. I don’t see any reason you couldn’t add “all vehicles (cars, scooters, bikes) will be towed at user’s expense” even if you can’t actually enforce it.
More importantly: request geofencing that can actually be enforced. And in the meantime report each violation via 311 if you aren’t already doing so.
I asked a few questions about impounding these if you find them on your own private lot. You can definitely impound them and charge a storage fee as long as you follow state law found here:
Towing operation and storage: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/li/uconsCheck.cfm?yr=2012&sessInd=0&act=110
Private parking lot: https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/067/chapter212/s212.115.html
Your local municipality may have additional policies for impounding.
The key is you need to have visible signage, clearly marked private parking spaces, and have a policy for storing and releasing vehicles.
It seems that unless people are leaving these in the area designated a parking lot where the signage is posted that it may be hard to impound these the same way you would a motor vehicle.
Is it legal to impound these until the company pays for their release? I find these on private property all the time and I'm considering doing this if I find them on my own property.
It is no different from when someone leaves any other item of value on your property. It's not yours and there is a legal procedure for dealing with it. If you try to do so in a manner that is not legal then that puts you in far greater legal jeopardy than the person who left it on your property.
How does impounding work in PA? Is a scooter considered a motor vehicle? Do you need a towing permit? I've been towed before and laws seems to be very skewed towards the impound.
I'll go out on a limb and say that big parts of the reason tow companies can operate the way that they do is that they have the budgets to lobby politicians and retain better lawyers than most of the people they're towing. Not to presume too much about OP's situation, but I doubt they're willing to pay enough in legal fees to fight off Spin's corporate lawyers over a minor inconvenience getting out of the driveway.
This is such an extreme overreaction lol
Just report them and put a sign up that says “please don’t park scooters here because then I can’t exit my driveway without moving them”.
Well if you find several of these in your private spot every morning what other option is there? Calling the company 5 times a week is not practical.
“Well meaning idiots” they are inconsiderate dickheads like the rest of the assholes that leave these things everywhere and the private company using public space in anyway they want. These scooters suck and are constantly in the way of individuals that need full access to sidewalks and ADA ramps. This is one of the least egregious instances of this but these provide very little public good.
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