Hila Ben-Baruch couldn’t believe it.

The Israeli student came back to where she parked her car on a Tel Aviv street and it was gone. Not only that, the space where her car was parked was now a handicapped space–but it wasn’t one when she originally parked.

Ben-Baruch tracked her car down. It turns out it was ticketed and towed. The fine was nearly $300.

Now she was really mad.

But Ms. Ben-Baruch is one smart cookie. She got a hold of the surveillance video from the building across the street. When she watched it she saw city workers putting down painted street markings essentially painting her car into a handicapped parking space, erecting the signs and then having her car towed off.

To there credit, when presented with the video evidence, the city rescinded all charges and publicly apologized according to the Jerusalem Post.

In response to the incident, the municipality stated, “This was a severe mistake and a case of incompetence that the city of Tel Aviv does not accept – We apologize for the distress caused by the incident and we are examining the case so that such incidents do not happen again in the future.

“The contractor who arrived at the scene marked it as a handicapped spot, but, contrary to procedure did not notify the city inspection department.”

Since the incident, the young woman’s Facebook post of the video has gone viral and is racking up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.

Here’s the full story from the Jerusalem Post, “WATCH: TA marks space handicapped and tows car.”

Thanks to everyone who pointed this out to me, including Mike Kessler, Kevin Flynn and Steve Rhodes over at The Beachwood Reporter.

The “Lincoln Park Pirates” may be at it again according to CBS 2 News.

Recently, a woman who parked her vehicle in a lot near Halsted and Grand, came back to find it was gone–towed by Lincoln Towing.

The problem is, the woman had a sticker that allowed her to park there.

The property owner, the only person allowed to call the towing company to have a vehicle removed from the lot had not done so. He called the company, told them they had screwed up and demanded they return the vehicle.

Lincoln told him to pound sand.

Ultimately, the car owner paid the $200 to get her car back.

But now she wants justice and has hired an attorney to file a lawsuit.

Now, in an odd coincidence, after the lawsuit was filed, the tow company is eager to refund the woman’s $200.

Here’s CBS 2′s full story, “Woman Sues Towing Company For Wrongly Seizing Her Car.”

Just for fun, here’s a video of the Steve Goodman song that made Lincoln Towing famous.

That’s the gist of an article on the front page of Tuesday’s Chicago Tribune.

The Trib’s research finds that the city towed and relocated over 17,000 vehicles in the past year. Many times the city needs to tow street parked vehicles that are where some sort of construction or utility work needs to be done. Most of the time cars were relocated to adjacent streets within a few blocks but sometimes farther away.

Signs are usually posted a day or two in advance of the construction project or other event, but often drivers don’t move their cars in time, or in the event of an emergency, vehicles may need to be removed without warning.

While having a car relocated is a pain in the butt, there’s normally no ticket or fee when this happens, unlike being towed to one of Chicago’s infamous auto pounds which will cost a driver $160 to free their vehicle.

It’s no surprise to seasoned drivers that the vast majority of the relocated vehicles were towed in the North side of the city where congestion is worst.

The story spotlights several drivers, who after returning to where they last parked their vehicle, found their car had disappeared. The main issue, according to the story, was when the car owners called 311 to see if their car had been towed or report it stolen, the city didn’t have the car listed in their records.

Some assumed it stolen and began filing police reports and insurance claims. Others stopped looking or asking about their vehicle. In each case, the vehicle did ultimately turn up but the communication process between city and car owner is slow, ponderous and largely ineffective according to the Tribune.

While the Trib story does point out serious weaknesses in this process, there are many resources available to drivers to locate their vehicles.

Of course there’s 311 and checking with the Chicago Police Department. But the city also offers an online database to search for your vehicle.

Here’s the full story, “Where did city put your car and why?”

And for everything you needed to know about being towed by the city, here’s The Expired Meter’s treatise on the subject, “Parking Ticket 101: Tow Tips.”

I know because I just checked.

But something has happened that would make you think the Devil and his minions were breaking out the ice skates.

Phillips Towing just refunded that group of ladies CBS 2 reported about who all had their cars towed from a parking lot next to Lincoln Park cafe.

It seems that the CBS story piqued the interest of the Illinois Commerce Commission, who checked out the signs Phillips posted at the lot and, surprise, surprise, determined they were not posted properly.

Phillips had to cough up $200 each for 10 “improperly” towed vehicles for a total of $2000. Ouch!

Lincoln Park Ladies 10, Philliips Towing 0.

Read the CBS 2 account, “Refunds Ordered For Moms Towed From Improperly Marked Lot.”

Seems there is a new spot in town that all the young mommies enjoy bringing their offspring.

Turns out, the parking lot they’ve been using to park their Audis, Mercedes, Saabs, and BMWs, is not to supposed to be parked in.

It seems that since the building next door to the cafe got torn down in June, all the moms began parking there–at least until last week when close to 20 of the mom’s cars got towed by Phillips Towing Company.

All the moms and the cafe owner say the towing company didn’t post the signs correctly. They were not at the entrance and exits to the parking lot like they were legally supposed to be.

The moms got the message and the cafe owner is warning others not to park there.

A hard lesson at $200 a pop.

One of the fundamental rules of parking is simply, if it seems to good to be true–than it probably is.

Check out the story and the full video of “Moms Furious After Towing Company Leaves Them Out In The Cold.”

Thanks to. Mr. You Know Who You Are for the tip.

At least that’s what SpotHero founder Mark Lawrence thinks.

That’s why, on the eve of Chicago’s Winter Overnight Parking Ban, Lawrence is offering any unfortunate drivers who get towed on the first night of the ban free parking at one of the hundreds of  spots they list for any event, time and place over the next year,

Lawrence feels its a way for his company to lessen the pain of being towed.

“Because we’ve been towed ourselves and getting towed  sucks, it’s our way of giving back because we understand the pain and aggravation,” explains Lawrence. “It’s so we can make parking in Chicago a little better.”

In fact, getting your car towed is one of the myriad of city parking challenges that inspired him and his partner Jeremy Smith to start SpotHero, a website that helps local drivers locate and reserve parking spots in advance and often at discounted rates.

Drivers can book reserved parking at lots, garages and even privately held spaces all over the city for motorists traditional parking needs but also for all  sorts of events including downtown theater events,  Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawk games.

But is Lawrence worried that typically over 200 cars could be towed away by city tow trucks tonight?

“Nahh,” said Lawrence. “We’ll figure out a way to take care of everyone who contacts us.”

SpotHero will give any drivers towed tonight a credit for free parking in any of their listed spaces any date or time within the next 12 months.

Towed motorists can just email a copy of their tow receipt from the auto pound with their contact information to: mark@spothero.com.

Oops!

Someone wrote the wrong dates on some temporary tow signs in Edgewater and then…altered them later. In the meantime, some drivers got towed due to the confusion according to the Edgeville Buzz.

The signs originally were dated 11-12 to 11-18, but as you can see from the photograph, were altered.

Here’s Edgeville Buzz’s full story, “Cars towed from Winthrop Avenue due to incorrect signage.”

CTA Blue Line tracks offer lots of parking for Wicker Park residents

Cars have parked beneath the CTA Blue Line elevated tracks along Milwaukee Avenue in the Wicker Park neighborhood without hindrance for as long as anyone can remember.

But that neighborhood tradition was abruptly stopped the last week of August when tow signs discreetly appeared hung just below the tracks, and a few fliers promoting under-L parking found their way onto vehicle windshields and many drivers got surprised when they came back to find their car had mysteriously disappeared.

Even though the property underneath CTA elevated train tracks is private property, and drivers parking beneath the tracks have always risked being towed, in this area of the city, no parking/no trespassing restrictions were never enforced–until now.

That’s because Central Parking System (CPS) planned to expand the CTA’s under ‘L parking program along this two block stretch of the Blue Line the beginning of September. Looking to find ways to generate new revenue, a few years ago the CTA contracted CPS to manage their regular parking lots and spearhead the under ‘L parking program.

Since then, 39 different under ‘L parking zones have popped up around the city including the South Loop, Lakeview, River North, Lincoln Park and now Wicker Park, the program’s 40th area. According to CPS officials, there are 20 more proposed under ‘L parking spots just waiting for aldermanic approval.

For $75 a month, drivers can legally park beneath the ‘L tracks between Wood and Damen without fear of being towed. For $2.50 per day, if you live or work in this neighborhood it’s an inexpensive alternative to having to feed the meters.

But the expansion hit a snag the first few days of September, when just a few days after limited publicity and new signs restricting parking were posted, tow trucks began preying on the many drivers who didn’t hear the news and who had habitually parked under the tracks.

But the hue and cry from tow victims, many of them business owners along that strip of Milwaukee Ave., was heard by Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Adam Burke.

“People were not happy,” says Burke. “It was ridiculous it occurred the way it did. Anyone in the area should have been informed. It’s been 100 years people have been parking under there–it’s an entrenched habit. It was a surprise to everyone.”

Even though this type of program has to be approved by the local alderman, First Ward Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno’s office was blindsided by the situation.

“We didn’t know–it was totally poor communication,” said Matt Bailey, Press Secretary for Ald. Moreno who explained the alderman had signed off on the plan months ago but their office had not heard a word about the program since then. “We were frustrated by the lack of communication. Hopefully things will be good going forward. You can’t inform people by towing their cars. We’re not cool with that.”

After getting 8-12 complaints, Burke reached out to CPS to ask for some changes and help to make the roll out of this new parking program to minimize the number of towed vehicles and angry residents and business owners.

According to Burke, CPS Portfolio Manager Ivan Matic responded very quickly and positively to the suggestions from the Chamber and the Alderman Moreno’s office.

“We wanted to work with the community so we agreed to push it back (the first day of the program and enforcement),” said Matic. “We are fliering vehicles and informing business owners and installing banners under the ‘L tracks.”

“Without any problem they agreed to postpone enforcement until October 1st, go door to door to every business along Milwaukee Ave., and inform residents with fliers,” says Burke.

Matic says there will be approximately 40 spaces available along this stretch of the Blue Line and so far, 15 people are on a waiting list to participate in the program. In fact, some of the towed drivers signed up for the parking plan after CPS agreed to refund their tow fees.

According to Matic, most areas of the city support under ‘L parking because CPS helps clean and maintain these areas under the tracks for their parking patrons.

“There are areas of the city that really enjoyed it,” said Matic. “We’re going to start cleaning it (under the Blue Line in Wicker Park) and afterwards it looks more professional.”

For more information on the CTA’s Under ‘L Parking Program, you can call Central Parking System at 773-714-9262 or check out their website CTAParking.com.

The games start at 7:05 PM, but parking restrictions on residential streets are in effect as of 5 PM.

Don’t even think about parking on any side street in Lakeview without a proper residential parking permit or legit RPP guest pass.

Otherwise, it’s a ticket and a tow for you.

Just avoid driving in Lakeview the next two days.

First pitch is at 7:05 PM, but parking restrictions begins at 5 PM.

If you don’t have a proper residential parking permit or RPP guest pass and parked on a side street in Lakeview–you’re going to be ticketed and possibly towed.

We say…stay the heck out of Lakeview if you’re driving.