On Sunday March 9th, we decided to visit the Discovery Centre in Halifax to see the dinosaur exhibit, our kids were so excited. We found a parking spot, that had a pay booth, I did not notice any signage, because normal visitors that are not familiar with Halifax, would not be looking for it if they naturally assume to pay at a pay booth. 

Buried in small white text, so easily missed against the backdrop of a sunny day, was a notice stating that the pay booth was restricted to the street only, something I only noticed after the fact upon our return when the man who unjustly booted our vehicle pointed to it along with all the signs that were behind us attached to parking spots we were not in, with print so small I would have not been able to read from where I was. We were at the Discovery Centre for only forty minutes, which means companies such as these wait for innocent mistakes such as these to prey on, there was another family parked next to us who had also suffered the same fate, equally as confused as we were. This experience was not only distressing but also unfair. In our current economic crisis, we need to encourage guests to come and support local businesses as much as possible, so that businesses have a means to keep going. No one has extra money to spend on penalties over innocent human error. I have since contacted the Mayor and their office had sent me the bylaws, but everything can change, nothing is just so that remains as is if people demand change.

It's time to change the rules for booting vehicles in public and private parking lots. Today's vehicle owners face tremendous and often unclear parking restrictions, leading to unexpected and unfair penalties, much like our experience that day. We must advocate for updated bylaws that inhibit the rampant use of car boots, providing clearly marked and understandable parking regulations instead.

Let's raise our voices to abolish predatory wheel booting in parking lots across our cities and demand better clearly marked larger text signage, if monetary penalties is a punishment to be anticipated. Consider our story. Consider the stories of countless others who have been caught unawares like us, if you google One Shot Parking, you'll see these stories resurfacing. It's time for a change. Please, sign this petition to halt the unfair use of car boots in all parking lots. I am doing this for all of the people who could very easily wind up in this situation and have no means to pay the penalty to get out.