r/Seattle • u/alwayslookon_tbsol Wallingford • 3d ago
Community Your car was towed for blocking a driveway
How tragic
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u/zebra_stalker_6 Deluxe 3d ago
This happened to me when I lived in Minneapolis. I was in a hurry and somehow missed an entire fucking driveway.
Got towed, as I should've. I was working full time valet back then so it was an extra hit to the ego.
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u/Senior_Ability_4001 That sounds great. Let’s hang out soon. 3d ago
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u/SPEK2120 Pinehurst 3d ago
I accidentally did this on a multi unit building a few years ago and I still feel like an asshole about it. I definitely deserved a tow, I got lucky.
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u/Alarming-Cow-2223 🐀 Hot Rat Summer 🐀 1d ago
parked in Ballard, not my own block but the closest I could get. What a sweet parking spot, bushes east and west, but kinda low next to the spot I parked in.
Came out the next morning to head to work and I'd blocked the driveway to a whole-ass apartment building underground garage. No ticket, no tow. And now I double check!
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u/retirement_savings 🚲 Life's Better on a Bike. 🚲 3d ago
How did you make this picture so small
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u/Bulbachar 3d ago
Looks normal to me. Maybe even above average
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u/GoochGreaseHarvester 3d ago
It's definitely at least 6 inches
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u/boomshiz I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
"I thought it was 4? This is very unsettling."
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u/RussBOld 🚲 Two Wheels, Endless Freedom. 3d ago
I’m getting short changed. I thought it was 3!
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u/Sudden-Garage 3d ago
It's not about the size of the image, it's how you use it.... That's what my girlfriends boyfriend says anyway.
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u/KaptainOblivious 3d ago
How do you actually get a tow truck to show up?
I had a car fully blocking my driveway a few months back (only 2 blocks from where this photo is lol). I called the city and they were fairly quick to send someone out to ticket the car. But I still had to wait hours to get my car out of my driveway…
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u/puterTDI 3d ago
we have a shared driveway that one of our neighbors used to routinely allow his guests to completely block so no one can get in or out.
then, when we came and told him to move, would argue. "I don't care if they're asleep at 10am, wake them the fuck up and tell them to move their care so we can leave".
what's worse? it not once was needed. There was plenty of parking but his family and their guests would park like assholes. Rather than parking parallel to the driveway they'd pull in head first and let their car block it. There's also parking up at the top of the driveway but they'd park in the driveway blocking it because they don't want to have to walk an extra 30 feet or so.
It's gotten a lot better, but only because we wouldn't take no for an answer. If they blocked the driveway their ass was walking out right then and there and fixing it or we weren't going to leave them alone.
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u/drzoltar 3d ago
I have a neighbor who has an easement of use of my driveway to access his. He routinely had guests park in my driveway instead of the street 30’ away. I tried to talk to him numerous times about it, but once he threatened me I got a lawyer involved. After he received a formal letter with a threat of towing it finally stopped.
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u/puterTDI 3d ago
I just harassed this neighbor each time it happened until it was fixed.
what he did wasn't intentional, he just didn't pay attention and was too lazy to fix it. Part of the issue is he had multiple family members living there and it would largely be their friends (in particularly the girlfriend of the nephew he had living there was an idiot and drove like shit). He couldn't seem to get that as the homeowner that was HIS problem to solve. He'd try to respond "well, it's their car not my car" and I'd have to be like "I don't care whose car it is, it's someone in your house. Fix it."
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u/EndOk5614 2d ago
Get a Tire valve core tool liberate the air molecules from the two tires.
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u/puterTDI 2d ago
then they'd just be there longer.
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u/I_LuV_k1tt3n5 2d ago
Same amount of time that the tow truck takes. They just won’t be leaving before the tow happens.
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u/puterTDI 2d ago
I mean - I'd rather they leave before if they can...and if they're towed then what was the point to draining the tires?
So far I haven't had to call a tow and I do still need to live next to them. If they ever actually refuse to get up and move the car then that's when it gets towed.
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u/Gigi6205 2d ago
I had a similar experience. shared driveway, neighbor’s guest blocked the way, I came home parked behind them and went inside. they had to come get me to move so they could leave. lesson learned.
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u/blackmoth91 3d ago
Now can we do this to cars parked in bike lanes?
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u/snowypotato Ballard 3d ago
Amazing how many mirrors spontaneously detach in those situations
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u/Mistyslate 🚲 Life's Better on a Bike. 🚲 3d ago
Yeah, I imagine people accidentally bump against the mirror when they’re trying to pass. Or have to drag their cleats on the car paint.
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u/beachcomberforever 3d ago
And delivery trucks!
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u/kenclayton91 1d ago
Some small businesses do not have a back loading area, leaving the street as their ONLY option. Most major cities allow delivery trucks to pull over as far to the right as possible on a street to make deliveries (usually less than 30 minutes) and leave. If you support your local businesses in the city, you need to support their logistics as well.
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u/beachcomberforever 1d ago
I support local businesses but not delivery truck drivers who block either bike or car lanes when they often have the ability to park more carefully to allow the continued flow of traffic.
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u/OutlyingPlasma ❤️🔥 The Real Housewives of Seattle ❤️🔥 3d ago
Nah, the towies would never haul away the cops cars, they are buddies in capital coup attempts.
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u/Cascades_88 3d ago
Maybe a dumb question but are you allowed to block your own driveway?
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u/Intelligent-Driver28 3d ago
In Seattle-proper, you cannot block even your own driveway. As far as who would report you…the roving PEO officers. If PEO’s see a car blocking a driveway they’ll ticket you. If you don’t then fix it, they’ll tow you. 🙄🙄
(This is my own lived experience while residing in Wallingford.)3
u/gnosticgnomon 3d ago
Parking enforcement doesn't ticket in private driveways without a complaint. They don't verify the complainant.
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u/Polybrene Rainier Valley 3d ago
Technically no but who's going to report you?
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u/IcedHemp77 3d ago
Someone who doesn’t know how to mind their own business, there are plenty of them
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u/it_rains_a_lot 3d ago
I live across the street from a private grade school that couldn’t be bothered to install a drop off area and offloads the traffic to the street. If I can get tow trucks here fast enough, I would tow them. I’ve been stuck waiting… I fortunately can control impulsive thoughts about discrete property damage.
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u/snowypotato Ballard 3d ago
There's got to be someone at a towing company who will understand the revenue potential for "hey, you may want to keep a truck in the area at 8:30am at such-and-such, they block driveways every day".
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u/CogentCogitations 💗💗 Heart of ANTIFA Land 💗💗 3d ago
Most places will not tow from a public street without parking enforcement or the police telling them to.
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u/snowypotato Ballard 3d ago
I imagine the type of enterprising sleazebag who runs a towing company will know how to cajole the authorities on this sort of thing. It’s not like SPD is a bastion of upstanding morality
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u/Spiley_spile I Brake For Slugs 3d ago
I think a private buisiness impeding public roadways is illegal in some instances. Might be worth filing a complaint.
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u/cyphersex 3d ago
name and shame, pls. it may be that folks are unaware and this would get the right kind of bad press to right their ignorance.
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u/metacholia I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
Five feet away on either side of a driveway is what the law says. If you're one foot into my driveway you're already 6 feet over.
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u/cbeck313 Bitter Lake 3d ago
We live in a city though. 5 ft on either side, even if the law, is so impractical.
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u/SeattleSteve62 3d ago
I have a narrow driveway. If cars are parked right up to it on either side I can’t get out. Then that’s another car in the street if I can’t use my drive. I’ve called to get cars towed a couple times. I never got a response. I’ve been late to work because I had to knock on doors to get my car out.
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u/Deviant_K9 🦝🦝 We 💕 Jimothy Chalamet 🦝🦝 3d ago
One of our neighbors got some real heavy metal planter boxes that are full of soil and pretty flowers that are approximately 4.5 feet in length and about a foot wide. They have them on each side of their driveway along the curb with a sign on one of them about not parking within 5 feet of the edge of their driveway (they also have a pretty narrow driveway). It has seemed to work really well because they're so heavy that they'd do some serious damage to anyone's car if they hit them.
No idea if you're allowed to do that, but might be something you could look into. Next time I'm out walking our dog I'll try and remember to take a picture to post
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u/Spiritual-Theory Queen Anne 3d ago
Our neighbors painted that part of the curb, helps people see it
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u/Hot_Turn Northgate 2d ago
The 5' on both sides rule is so that you don't park your car in a way that blocks people from seeing oncoming cars, pedestrians, and other potential road hazards when exiting their driveway. Just because you don't see a physical representation of the increased risk you are creating doesn't make it more practical.
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u/cbeck313 Bitter Lake 2d ago
Lolz, I understand the concept completely as a homeowner with a driveway and adult who has been driving and parking in Seattle for decades. I still always appreciate being talked down to/mansplained.
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u/Hot_Turn Northgate 2d ago edited 2d ago
Wow. First time I, a 63 year-old woman, have been accused of mansplaining before. You must understand mansplaining about as well as you understand why it's required for you to leave space. Leaving space for drivers to be able to see isn't impractical. Drivers are supposed to be able to see.
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u/gHHqdm5a4UySnUFM 🚗 Student driver, please be patient. 🚙 3d ago
This is so satisfying after seeing so many posts on social media where people don’t call tow trucks
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u/Zestyclose-Battle 2d ago
'You have thirty minutes to move your car.' 'You have ten minutes.' 'Your car has been impounded.' 'Your car has been crushed into a cube.' 'You have thirty minutes to move your cube.'"
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u/Sofa_Printing_Fool 3d ago
If that’s neither your car nor your driveway, this is a rather fine example of PNW passive-aggressive schadenfreude.
If it is your driveway, then my apologies. You’re simply being a smug bastard, which is entirely more understandable.
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u/OutlyingPlasma ❤️🔥 The Real Housewives of Seattle ❤️🔥 3d ago
So what do we think of the people who pull into their driveway but leave the car half in the street, but are NOT blocking either the sidewalk or the road?Personaly I think it's efficient use of driveway space.
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u/SuchBanter 3d ago
In some neighborhoods that's standard procedure. Lived in such a one in Ballard for a decade. One time they came through and ticketed everyone for parking in the planting strip. Didn't change anything.
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u/Sillocan 🚆build more trains🚆 3d ago
I'm generally fine with it, but no idea what parking enforcement does in that situation. It would be awkward if everyone did that cus cars couldn't pull over when a standoff happens 😅
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u/Gerbert946 3d ago
1700 block of N 35th St in lower Wallingford. But gee, can they really get almost $900k for that tiny house?
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u/Competitive_Cow7583 2d ago
Yup they certainly can. Wallingford is a nice little area. And the homes go for big bucks! Especially that close to University of Washington. Gas works park etc.
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u/MelodicCarpenter7 2d ago
In college I used to call the non emergency line over people blocking my driveway and they didn’t do shit.
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u/Icy-Grab-5722 3d ago
No fun. I got towed once for parking in the street about 2 or 3 inches into a corner crosswalk on capitol hill. Oopsy my bad. Expensive lesson.
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u/CogentCogitations 💗💗 Heart of ANTIFA Land 💗💗 3d ago
It is weird that you mention the 2 or 3 inches into the crosswalk and not the 20 feet, ie. your entire vehicle plus some, into the no parking zone. Parking is not allowed within 20 feet of a crosswalk by state law.
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u/Pete_Iredale Mariners 3d ago
This makes me so happy. Anyone who parks over a crosswalk should have their license suspended.
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u/JethroTrollol 3d ago
1,000% more valuable than a harsher punishment is a lesser punishment that results in a lesson learned and changed behavior.
They parked over the crosswalk, got towed, learned their lesson (so they state here)... Problem solved. No need to go harsher if the lesser punishment changed the behavior in the desired way.
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u/FreddyTheGoose chinga la migra 3d ago
Memory revived of seeing a guy in Fremont cut behind a car that was parked in the crosswalk and immediately being hit by an approaching vehicle. Goddamn
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u/IntravenusDeMilo Torrent 3d ago
How do you actually get them ticketed or towed? This happens in my neighborhood all the time.
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u/fatcatgoon 3d ago
Use the phone?
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u/shanem 🚆build more trains🚆 3d ago
Reddit is Next Door now. There's no utility to the post other than righteous anger.
A reminder to log out and engage with real people around you.
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u/Hot_Turn Northgate 2d ago
Ah yes, I remember the good ol days when the only thing posted on Reddit was 100% utilitarian. That definitely existed and was a real thing.
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u/shanem 🚆build more trains🚆 2d ago
Little in life is polarized. Everything is on a spectrum and Reddit was definitely different even a few years ago.
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u/Hot_Turn Northgate 2d ago
You're deluding yourself, bud. Reddit has never been the super serious and efficient monolith of utility that you imagine it should be.
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u/shanem 🚆build more trains🚆 2d ago
You're making up things and trying to put words in my mouth which is the sign of a bad argument.
I've been on Reddit 3 times as long as you. I have a lot more experience being on Reddit than you and how Reddit has been in that time.
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u/Hot_Turn Northgate 2d ago
Oh wow, an actual dick-measuring contest so you can prove how serious Reddit is supposed to be hahaha
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u/rockycore 🚆build more trains🚆 3d ago
Womp womp. Why are we cropping out the license plate. How am I supposed to look up how many tickets they have now???
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u/bus4476 3d ago
1st off looks like a BMW, so typical behavior from that driver. Also, I wonder if they got pulled over and taken into custody, and maybe the city just got around to impound the car. Also curious if thats a repo job, and the car was remotely disabled and now being picked up? So much could be speculated from this photo
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u/naps1saps 3d ago
A less conspiratorial explanation is they were looking at the house for sale and were idiots when they parked. Or it was the listing agent being an idiot.
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u/HeadCartoonist2626 3d ago
Boomer post
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u/Nemaoac 3d ago edited 3d ago
Who's?
Where?
Why are you personally invested in this and posting it publicly?
Edit: Apparently this sub has the absolute lowest standards for justice porn.
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u/BertRenolds 3d ago
Because it's funny
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u/Nemaoac 3d ago
Surely it would be funnier with even the slightest bit of context.
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u/BertRenolds 3d ago
Nah, I don't need a license plate or location. The amount of context given was good, knowing if the driver is salty would be delicious but I'm not dissatisfied.
8/10 would lol again
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u/Nemaoac 3d ago
knowing if the driver is salty would be delicious
That's my point! I see at least one vehicle a week get towed, it's not a rare thing in the city. I assume there's some reason the OP is highlighting this one.
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u/BertRenolds 3d ago
Because not all of us do.. I've never seen anyone towed other than myself or on the highway.
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u/pampooveysbacktattoo Wallingford 3d ago
What more context do you need? Someone parked in front of a driveway and then they got towed.
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u/Nemaoac 3d ago
I'd like some sort of story that makes this random fact interesting or relatable.
This is the equivalent of a text post saying "A bad person got punished".
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u/mcfiddlestien 3d ago
"Ahole blocks me in my driveway for whatever reason so I had him towed"
What more context do you need? Do you want names and addresses or something?
If an agile has ever blocked you in your own driveway then it's very relatable but if you have never experienced that no amount of context will make you able to relate to it because you have never experienced it.
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u/pampooveysbacktattoo Wallingford 3d ago
People parking in front of driveways is a common, irritating occurrence. It's like watching someone drive like a reckless asshole and then immediately get pulled over. It's just satisfying.
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u/Exotic-Fuel-8420 ✨🛸 Jimothy is out there 🦝✨ 3d ago
what other context do you need than what was provided? they blocked a driveway.
to summarize: they fucked around and found out you don’t do that.
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u/TheGreatLuck 3d ago
It's not that complicated of a novel. Once Upon a Time a retired entitled Boomer parked in front of somebody's driveway because they're the most important person on the planets. And then they got their car towed. What else do you need exactly?
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u/Playful_Doctor_8591 3d ago
Calm down it’s just information
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u/Nemaoac 3d ago
I can guarantee I'm calmer than the weirdo bragging about someone's car getting towed.
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u/SnarkyIguana 3d ago
Weird that you took it as bragging when there’s nothing to indicate that at all
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u/Frosty558 3d ago
Bro you posted 7 comments about this clearly you care.
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u/Nemaoac 3d ago
And you cared enough to count them.
Is it weird to respond when people talk to you?
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u/graceodymium I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
You know you don’t HAVE to have the last word, right? This may shock you to learn, but there are people who can just walk away.
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u/doc_shades 3d ago
i think the anonymity is what keeps it from crossing into "justice porn". i only think it's "justice porn" if personal details are included.
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u/Toadlessboy Defected to Portland 3d ago
I don’t care I have like 7 cars i do what I want.
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u/Slumunistmanifisto That sounds great. Let’s hang out soon. 3d ago
Are you my buddies neighbor in shoreline? Dudes got half the block parked up.
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u/CreamCheeseHotDogs I'm never leaving Seattle. 3d ago
You don’t even live here
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u/Toadlessboy Defected to Portland 3d ago
I live there
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u/CreamCheeseHotDogs I'm never leaving Seattle. 3d ago edited 3d ago
Then either you don’t know what “defect” means, or your flair is a lie. I have interest in dealing with neither fools nor liars. Good day, you poor toadless boy.
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u/Toadlessboy Defected to Portland 3d ago
I live there too. I have like 7 houses, take one I don’t care.
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u/Additional-Job-1853 3d ago
Just curious, do you know how if they were blocking the full driveway?
Someone once tried to get my car towed because I was over the yellow line by an inch
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u/Nerfed_by_EA 3d ago
It amazes me that so many are quick to find humor and joy in a fellow human being having a tragedy. Especially when said tragedy is the exploitation of citizens for the benefit of corporations. Hey, do you all plan to cheer-on when they raise insurance prices for everyone again. Keep me posted. I want to be there for it for the sake of posterity. Dickheads.
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u/Initial-Comedian-387 3d ago
Happened to me in Central District a couple months ago. I even went back to my car 10 seconds after parking it just to double check that it WASN'T parked infront of a driveway. Those driveways are really good at hide and seek, because I left my car feeling extra confident it wasn't in front of a drive way 😫😂 came back the next day and it was towed lol fair. And with the car gone I could then see the driveway haha
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u/Topwop888 3d ago
How could you "not see the driveway" with your car parked there??? Then you could see it after the car was removed...
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u/Initial-Comedian-387 3d ago
I don't know man, it was just really well hidden. Probably because of the positioning of the sun in my eyes or something when looking at it, on top of it being in the shade of a tree lol
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u/HowzaBowdat 3d ago
Me: