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City Tows 175 Cars On First Day Of Winter Overnight Parking Ban

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Scores of drivers had to get a ride to the city pound Thursday morning, after their cars were towed overnight on the first day of the city's winter overnight parking ban.

The Department of Streets and Sanitation said 175 cars were towed off more than 100 miles of major arterial streets, where parking is banned from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. between Dec. 1 and April 1, even if there is no snow on the ground.

Last year, 201 cars were towed on the first night of the ban.

The city said the ban exists to make sure Chicago's most critical streets are fully open to plows overnight in case it starts snowing.

Getting your car back from the pound if you violate the winter parking ban will cost you at least $230 – a $60 parking ticket, a $150 towing fee, and a $20 per day storage fee. If your car has been towed, you can find out which pound it was taken to by calling 311, or checking the city's website.

The city also has a separate snow-related parking ban on another 500 miles of main streets, which can go into effect whenever there are at least two inches of snow on the ground, no matter the time or date.

Officials said the snow-related ban is rarely activated, even when there is that much snow. Cars parked on those streets when there that much snow often are relocated to a side street, without being given a ticket, to make room for plows on main streets.

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