Not everyone can afford the hefty costs associated with a towed car. In San Francisco, special events, construction, and other circumstances can cause parking anomalies on city streets. Last weekend, that led to 33 cars being towed. Normally, the government tows up to 150 cars each day.

But one County supervisor is hoping to cut down on the number of tows by using a bit of technology. By creating an information database, Supervisor David Chiu is hoping to enable text messages or emails to reach out to people in danger of a tow, enabling them to move their car before having to pay to recover it.

The system would cost the county revenues, not only through a decrease of impound fees but the cost of operating the system. But there’s an advantage: it helps people.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Edwin Dobb parked his car near Coit Tower Saturday night, and when he came back to fetch it the next day, it was gone. His was one of 33 vehicles towed over the weekend to clear the curbside spaces for the Sunday Streets road-closure event in North Beach and Chinatown.

The week before, 97 cars were towed in the Western Addition when Sunday Streets was held there, said Paul Rose, spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees parking enforcement in the city.

Normally, 150 to 160 cars are towed citywide every day, Rose said.

Read the full article here.