What are people doing on Friday and Saturday nights downtown? Perhaps visiting the many bars and clubs and consuming alcohol. The police do a nice job of blocking off Orange Ave. after midnight so that street traffic is limited only to pedestrians. Where are these pedestrians walking? Some of them will venture into their high-rise apartments, but most will stumble back to a car parked in a paid lot or garage. They will get in and drive home, drunk, and perhaps kill themselves or others, or be pulled over for DUI. If these individuals take a cab home (the safe and logical alternative to driving drunk), their car will be towed away from that parking lot or garage as they will likely be unable to claim the vehicle before the cut-off time.

Does this make any sense? What kind of measures have been taken between the city, parking companies, and law enforcement, to essentially encourage citizens to visit Downtown, get drunk, and then face the decision to either take a cab home and leave their cars to be towed, or drive drunk... putting the lives of themselves and others at risk and possibly getting a DUI (costing the offender thousands of dollars and filling the pockets of the local government).

There has to be a better alternative. Why can't these parking lots and garages that charge individuals $5, $10, even $15 offer a safe alternative to drunk driving? Most parking lots and garages are often completely full on a given night, especially during event nights.

Do your part as a citizen of this city and sign this petition as a step forward towards safer nights out.