Every year I come to school, park wherever I want and assume the police will do nothing.
I continued the trend this year despite the signs all over campus stating the University Police Department’s intention to ticket cars violating parking regulations.
Despite this, I figured every year I have been right. I have not gotten a ticket. Every year except this year.
As a sort of gag and social experiment I decided not to purchase a new parking pass for the first two weeks of this semester and see how many parking tickets I could accumulate. Naturally, I figured zero would be the tally.
I was wrong. After two weeks and four parking tickets totaling $120, it was time to give in and buy a new parking pass.
The police mean business this year and at $30 a pop for not having the proper parking sticker these tickets can be costly.
Aside from not having the correct parking sticker, students can also receive tickets for parking in blue zones before 3 p.m. Although not as severe a fine, these $20 dollar tickets can also rack up in cost.
Honestly, these prices are ridiculous.
I appreciate everything UPD does to keep this campus safe, but the cost of these tickets is an issue that needs to be addressed. People shouldn’t be allowed to park wherever they want, but a reducing of the cost of these tickets by half is warranted. At $15 and $10, these citations will still deliver UPD’s message without taking away two potential days worth of food.
This amount of money is made even more excessive considering once a student accrues five tickets the UPD boots that person’s car. And they are enforcing this law too.
Shockingly, other schools in the Dallas Fort Worth area have similar parking regulations. Southern Methodist University charges $25 for parking without a sticker and $30 for parking in zones without the approved sticker. The University of Texas at Arlington charges $20 across the board for parking permit violations. These schools could also benefit from reducing the cost of their parking tickets.
In all fairness, SMU and UTA are much bigger schools then we are. Midwestern State University, a school in our conference, has the right idea. They are charging $10 for parking without a sticker and $20 for parking in a reserved space.
This seems fair.
Our prices are just too high. It is important to enforce parking regulations, but the cost of these tickets are down right irritating and needs to be lowered.
But for now don’t mess with the parking regulations because UPD is definitely out enforcing the fines.