Hundreds of Cars Towed in Lafayette Over Mardi Gras -Was Yours?
If you ask anyone who has spent more than a hot minute living in and around Lafayette about what's one issue they'd love to see remedied right now I would hazard to guess a large number would say traffic. You don't have to be on the roadways long to see just how many cars there are trying to get from place to place here in the Hub City.
When you throw in an extra special celebration like Mardi Gras the traffic situation becomes exacerbated. Not only do you have more people driving on the city's streets you have more people looking for a place to park so they can get out of their vehicle and enjoy the festivities.
Many times these out of town guests or people who just don't know any better wind up parking in a spot that looks convenient but is actually off-limits. That's where the tow trucks come into play.
According to Lafayette Police over the Mardi Gras weekend, Friday at 6 pm to Tuesday at Midnight there were 301 vehicles towed in the city. Based on the report, you'd have to surmise that the majority of these situations could have been prevented.
That's because LPD says that 211 of the towed vehicles were parked in private lots without permission. And while that parking spot may have looked good before the parades started it's a pretty safe bet a lot of "fun" was erased by the realization that the ride home was no longer where you left it.
And since you're probably asking, yes, No Parking Signs, were posted at all of the locations from which vehicles were towed. Sometimes you just have to believe that sign and know, that especially on busy traffic days, you will be put on the hook if you park where you don't belong.
As you might imagine somebody has to pay to have a vehicle towed and in this case, it will likely be the owner of the vehicle. The Mardi Gras towing fee was $123.50 and from there the charges just keep adding up.
In addition to that $123.50 fee, there could be storage fees tacked on. Those were running $27.50 a day over Mardi Gras and the is also a motor vehicle report fee of $29.00. So the grand total of that free parking spot actually turned out to be $180. That's if your vehicle was only stored for one day.
Those who are needing to make payments to get their vehicles back should come prepared with cash or a debit or credit card in the vehicle owner's name. You'll also need to provide proof of insurance and you'll be asked to present a valid driver's license.
By the way, we told you that 211 vehicles were towed for being improperly parked. Another 67 vehicles were towed over the Mardi Gras holiday because of crashes in and around the parade route. Also, there were 11 cars towed for impounding and another 12 vehicles recovered for bank repossession.
As if getting your vehicle towed wasn't bad enough, here are a few more annoyances to make your tiny snit just a little larger.
10 Little Things that Grind Our Gears in a Great Big Way