As a student at Ohio State for the past five years, I can honestly say one of the biggest problems students face is parking. Everywhere you look there is a combination of letters, colors, and numbers to signal where you cannot park, more often than where you can park.
But these passes and zones are not the enemy of the students – it is the enforcers. That’s right, the modern-day land sharks who prowl the campus area day and night in search of that one vehicle whose front bumper extends one-thousandth of an inch outside a designated parking area. Ask any student what the most familiar vehicle they see around campus is, and the reply will not be a police car or a medic, but the tow truck.
Now I understand that there are situations where a tow truck is needed and should be used. Residents in off-campus houses and apartments have assigned parking spaces and passes; it should be their responsibility to contact the tow companies if someone unauthorized is using their parking spaces. But that is not what happens. These tow trucks drive from lot to lot looking for any car and any reason to tow it. They afford the students and residents no common courtesy.
Please allow me to share some personal experiences that I or some friends have had. In one instance, a friend of mine was returning home from his family’s birthday party. He had a large amount of gifts and, unfortunately, had no pass for his apartment. He pulled into his lot, flipped on the flashers and simply wanted to unload the car before attempting to find a parking space on the street.
A tow truck nearby waited until he had walked up the steps with the first load of gifts before flying into the lot and hooking up the car. After a payment of $70, the car was dropped.
In another instance, a friend was picking up his girlfriend to take her out to dinner. No offense to the ladies, but of course she was not ready, and he had to wait about 10 minutes. When she was finally done, they walked outside to find his car had been towed out of his girlfriend’s parking space. He was out the full $120 because the tow truck got it all the way back to the yard.
Should these cars have been towed? Absolutely not. And these are just two instances. Other situations present similar hazards of being towed, including having any family member or friend visiting.
These tow companies are out to do one thing, make a quick and not-so honest buck. Their very existence is to screw the student population out of what little money it has. Whatever the reason, the situation with tow trucks on campus has become ridiculous.
That is why I would ask all off-campus students to go to their landlords and ask them to address these problems. The best solution would be to stipulate that the tow companies only be allowed to tow a vehicle after the person to whom the lane is assigned makes a complaint about an unauthorized user.
Rich Bayersenior in molecular genetics and criminology
