WHEEL CLAMPING
FEATURE
(a violinist in the Denver Symphony Orchestra) invented the wheel clamp in the 1950s for and on behalf of the police department there.
It proved to be a generally accepted success in terms of fine money collected and possibly for reducing illegal parking. The vehicle immobiliser was named ‘the Denver Clamp’ in honour of the city and not its inventor who, nevertheless, patented his invention and no doubt collected royalties. It is important to know that Marugg was responding to the call of the city fathers for an answer to the problem of illegal parking – they had asked him to submit his inspirational ideas on parking enforcement. He answered that call brilliantly. He stopped the terrific expenses of towing to the car pound. He also developed a species of immobiliser to stop theft of spare tyres (rubber was in short supply at that time) on the exteriors of vehicles. This was first used in 1944 (WWII was in full swing) and it might have been the direct ancestor of the Denver Clamp.
Some people think this spare tyre device,
Experts in this disappearing technology believe that vehicle immobilisation as parking enforcement and vehicle protection has five functions: ■ To address parking that is not permitted by the property owner or illegal, by immobilising the vehicle and charging a release fee to let the driver use it again
■ To stop a third party from stealing, by the owners immobilising their own vehicles
■ To stop a suspected criminal escaping the long arm of the law
■ To physically prevent a legally suspended driver from using the vehicle
■ To assist a bailiff in the execution of a distress warrant
At this time, we do not know of any other major uses for the wheel clamp. Our research points in the direction of this kind of vehicle enforcement being an American parking enforcement import originally from the City of Denver, where a musician by the name of Frank Marugg
www.britishparking.co.uk
in turn, had an ancestor in the unsavoury form of ‘The Oregon Boot’ used to make escape for prisoners of the state difficult or impossible. We think that the first auto immobiliser appeared on the streets of Denver on January 5, 1955. After a while, Mr Marugg stopped using steel construction and substituted lighter aluminium. The parking enforcement profession in the USA had definitely started and was on the rise. Readers in the USA might want to visit the vast Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, and see a replica of ‘Marugg’s Boot’ (as it is named in the museum’s exhibit listing) on display. This is one of the largest museums in the world and well worth a lengthy tour.
The Boot comes to Blighty The very first use of off-street wheel clamping as a form of parking enforcement started in England in the 1980s. Records are sparse, but we do know that off-street wheel clamping began in earnest in the cities of England and Wales during the early 1990s. The private contractor operatives were, according to reports, all sorts, and included various kinds of fast and loose persons who sailed close to the wind in terms of legality.
Not surprisingly, there were all manner of confrontations and fights. One clamper started a trade association and declared afterwards that he could tell who were the clampers and who were not at the first meeting on account of the broken noses, bruises and tattoos of the wheel clamping fraternity! Local authorities in England and Wales that were anxious to implement parking enforcement used clamps during the 1960s, contrasting with private contractors who introduced the wheel clamp on private land during the early 1990s; a typical release fee at the time was £50. After a while, the original North American design widened by a sort of metastasis to a bewildering range of different models. Of these, one was the London Wheel Clamp, the brainchild of Trevor Whitehouse, who patented his design in 1991. At first he called it ‘The Preston’ after his home town. It was first in use on private land and, after the decriminalising of parking offences, it became a feature on public streets. The 33 boroughs of London were the first to decriminalise parking offences and that brought about the change of name. The range of wheel clamps includes:
■ Chain models (to stop removal of the clamp by deflation of the tyre)
■ Clamps that the operative removes after payment of a fee
■ Self-release of the clamp, after payment by card
■ Clamps where there are sections that rest on the road surface
■ Heavy duty clamps ■ Caravan clamps.
A read through the Amazon website section concerned with vehicle immobilisation articles for sale, among other parking enforcement equipment, indicates the large number of types and names of immobilisers. Among these, the London Wheel Clamp features prominently.
Raising tempers
The wheel clamp was hugely unpopular, especially among the motoring public. This section of the public was – and is – anti- parking enforcement generally. The fact that motorists were deprived of the use of their vehicles until after release, which was in turn after payment, raised tempers. In Scotland, the wheel clamp was made illegal (although recent changes allow for
NOVEMBER 2012 35
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52