Hancock’s courteous substitute for parking tickets

HANCOCK — If you park your car illegally in the City of Hancock, you may find a yellow card under your windshield wiper. At first glance, it may look like a ticket.

The city has started a courtesy card program to serve as a friendly reminder to drivers that their vehicle will need to be parked elsewhere.

“What we’ve started putting out on vehicles is our courtesy card explaining to folks what some of our rules are to do with parking and just educating people that they may have not understood that they’re breaking a rule, or an ordinance, or a law in the city. And it’s just a way of doing it as a courtesy rather than writing a warning ticket or issuing a citation,” said Hancock Police Chief Wayne Butler.

Butler says that the goal is to keep vehicles off the streets during the winter months to allow for proper road maintenance and reduce the number of parking tickets issued by police officers, in addition the courtesy card program also saves motorists from incurring a $25 parking fine along with towing and impound fees.

“If we don’t write a ticket this year for parking on the street, I’m great full because that means we’re out there getting compliance, and what we want is compliance and that is where the street DPW workers can plow and not have to worry about scratching vehicles or having to leave a street half plowed because somebody fell asleep or somebody chose not to move there vehicle. I would love to have a winter where all we have to do is leave a warning card.”

Drivers who are unsure about where to properly park in the winter months are asked to contact the police department with questions as alternative parking options are available.