These girls will free you from the wheel clamp without a problem

It is not new that we can pay a high price for parking illegally, as in many cases not only the parking fine causes headaches and annoyance, but also the fact that a wheel clamp on the car is unsightly because of it. It is not removed until the fine is paid, but – as with many other things – there is a loophole for this, at least in Atlanta in the United States, which is NPR reported.

Two women are causing a huge stir in the Georgia town with the Boot Girls, a formation they created, using completely legal keys to remove wheel clamps. Of course, it’s not free: the duo charges $50, or HUF 17,000 at the current exchange rate, to free someone from a wheel clamp, which is otherwise installed by privately owned parking companies.

Is this legal? Is it necessary at all?

Their initiative is still quite fresh, having been launched in April after one member of the pair was met with a wheel clamp after parking his car in an apartment complex. Then, instead of settling the fine, he decided to turn to his friend for help, who had the key, and this ultimately gave him the inspiration for the business-based release of the motorists who parked without permission, which is very popular on various social media portals – on Instagram and TikTok, in a short time, tens of thousands of followers were built. While it may seem crazy to pay $50 for this, it’s still cheaper than the official road.

#TSRInvestigates: Atlanta’s “Boot Girls” Are The Heroes The City’s Been Waiting For! // https://t.co/8XRIygb6gK pic.twitter.com/BTWI9fkcr5

— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) May 16, 2023

On the other hand, the police have already noticed their action, but – as the Motor1.com spotted – even the authorities are half-way in the dark about how legal their activities are. Formulated in the topic in their Facebook post they write

the law does not prohibit the possession of the keys needed to unlock the wheel clamps, but the regulations have a different opinion regarding their use.

In the legal sense, it can be classified as a crime, including trespassing, theft or property damage. This primarily applies to private businesses that use independent inspection partners to inspect parking lots. At the same time, the Atlanta police stated that they do not want to get involved in the “civil case” until it escalates into a criminal case.

Not everyone agrees with the police’s position: according to the lawyer speaking to NPR, removing the wheel clamp in this way is at most trespassing.

Part 1 Lame ahh 🥷🏾 pic.twitter.com/blJBCHIPUY

— Bootgirlsinbuckhead (@bootgirlsAtl) May 5, 2023

In any case, Boot Girls continues to offer its service, which is used by an average of 40 people per day. In practice, this is against the law within the state, although local governments have the necessary authority to declare it legal. And this market gap can be eliminated in one fell swoop by the bill proposed by the senators – if they are passed – according to which the use of wheel clamps would be banned from next year.

For the time being, there is not even a faint chance that wheel clamps will be retired in Hungary, and in fact, they are being used more and more often. As previously reported by Vezess, three times as many illegal parking were sanctioned with wheel clamps in Budapest last year than the year before.