NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In Nashville, you will often find boots on bachelorettes. But there's nothing worse than coming back to a parking lot after an event and seeing boots on your car's wheels.
Now, State Rep. Jake McCalmon (R-Franklin) and State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) want to give that often-dreaded practice the boot.
"Towing a vehicle out of your driveway is a lot more effective than putting a boot on it," argued Rep. McCalmon during a House Government Operations committee hearing Monday.
Democrats seem hesitant to make the change.
"If I want to make sure you don’t come back, the boot might do the trick," said State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis.
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons says he's heard from property managers at apartment complexes who still see the benefits. He attempted to put an amendment on the bill that would carve out an exception to the booting ban for apartment complexes.
"We have a lot of tourists coming into our neighborhoods and a lot of tourists in the area," said Clemmons. "They’ve found that the most effective tool that they have is booting."
Technically, state lawmakers also voted last year to end car booting, but the measure gave cities the option to regulate it themselves. They had no takers.
"Not a single municipality in this state decided to do it," McCalmon told NewsChannel 5 in an interview.
So this year, his bill aims to end the practice once and for all.
"Booting is very unpopular with our constituency in this state," said McCalmon.
Other elements of the bill
The proposal also requires parking lots to have signs warning drivers if they use license plate readers. It also establishes an online portal for individuals to be able to find which lot has their car after it has been towed. Several states already use this technology.
"Vehicle’s towed, gets brought to the tow yard, tow company inputs that information that will notify either the private owner’s vehicle that hey, if they’re looking for their car, it’s at Joe’s Tow Shop in Smyrna," said McCalmon.
The bill has other "clean up" elements, which include allowing local police departments to hire local towing companies to help them remove unclaimed vehicles from businesses. It also preserves the right for private landowners to tow unauthorized vehicles without any waiting period.
The bill also requires vehicle owners to know about extended storage and other fees.
The full Senate is expected to pass the measure Monday afternoon. In the House, it still has two more committee spots before it reaches the House floor.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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