City Tows 239 Cars For Violating Overnight Winter Parking Ban
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Nearly 240 people had their cars towed overnight, when they parked on one of the city streets where the city's winter parking ban went into effect on Monday.
On 107 miles of arterial streets in Chicago, parking is banned from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., regardless of the weather, between Dec. 1 and April 1.
Department of Streets and Sanitation spokeswoman Molly Poppe said 239 cars were towed on the first night of the ban this year, the exact same number as were towed on the first night last year.
Violators face a $150 towing fee, a $60 parking ticket, and a $20-per-day vehicle storage fee.
For people like April Griffin, a Domino's delivery driver who drives late into the night, a tough job just got a little tougher.
"It's hard down here. The parking is very bad, so I think they need to come up with a system where they don't have to be towed. This is a bad time of year to be chasing your car. It's cold out," Griffin said after retrieving her car from the city's pound in East Garfield Park.
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The overnight parking ban was put into effect after the blizzard of 1979 crippled the city.
The city also bans parking on another 500 miles of streets when at least two inches of snow have fallen, no matter what time or date.
