Rice offers waiver form for towing

You’re running late for a meeting on campus. You pull into a full parking lot and find good fortune — an open space right by the building entrance! Too bad you didn’t notice the “no parking” sign.

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Rice University Police Department (RUPD) can tow vehicles parked in “no parking” areas as well as in spaces on campus reserved for people with disabilities, in fire lanes, in assigned or reserved spaces and in lots for which a vehicle does not have the proper permit.

Texas towing laws require RUPD to tow vehicles to an off-campus, licensed storage yard. Vehicles are towed by private wrecker services, and all associated towing and storage fees are the responsibility of the vehicle’s owner or operator. However, RUPD can tow the vehicle to an alternate campus location — but only if the vehicle owner has agreed to the alternate site by signing a waiver.

Members of the Rice community who have a valid campus parking permit can sign and submit an agreement that, in the event that RUPD must relocate a vehicle, will permit the vehicle to remain on campus.

The agreement can be found at http://parking.rice.edu/towingagreement. A net ID and password are required to login. The document can be signed and submitted electronically or it can be printed, signed and submitted to the Rice Parking Registration Office located in the Central Garage beneath McNair Hall.

Rice’s Parking Regulations are available online at http://parking.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Parking/Registration/Rates_and_Information/Parking%20regulations%20w-%20pic.pdf.