CurbTxt allows you to send an SMS to people blocking your driveway. | Hacker News Reader

CurbTxt allows you to send an SMS to people blocking your driveway.

blogs.sfweekly.com

5 pointskplo21 comments

Oh and yes, I did make this remark "Usually I just scratch the car up first, then I have it towed. Afterward they usually complain to the towing company about the damages." which I assume is the reason for my comment deletion. Well I actually do this, I have done it a 100 times maybe. Because 3 times a week some guy decides to park in front of my driveway. After a while it gets annoying. And yes, I have put up several warning signs asking people not to.

Vandalism in most states is punishable by large fines and jail time.

Our hope is that CurbTXT will prevent folks from resorting to aggressive (and illegal) behavior.

Regards, Andrew at CurbTXT (info@curbtxt.com)

Luckily I don't live in the states. So the jail time or large fines do not scare me. Your app however tells people it's okay to park in front of people's driveways cause we'll just text them right? Also how are you planning on monetizing this? Are you actually going to make money off the misery of others by telling them it's okay to park wherever they want? Imagine my wife has a seizure, some guy with your sticker parks in front of my driveway and I can't rush her to the hospital in time. Can you AND the driver be held responsible for this in court? Since your app clearly condones illegal parking behavior. The rules are simple, if you park somewhere where you shouldn't you will get towed. Maybe you should make an anti-rape app too? The victim can just text the abuser letting him know of his mistake.

censormuch, I think you're missing a key point. No where does CurbTXT say they promote, excuse or "condone" illegal parking practices. It's simply a communication tool for notifying car owners of ANY issues with their vehicle. You can of course always tow if someone blocks your driveway. By using CurbTXT, you are not granted any immunity from parking violations, but you are allowing people to contact you directly. It is simply giving them a choice in how they make contact. If you are abusing the use of CurbTXT by say perpetually or indiscriminately parking wherever you want, you most likely will be towed, CurbTXT sticker or not.

However, if you happen to have left your lights on, or forgot to rotate your tires when on a hill, any neighbor can help you out with a friendly reminder. Other benefits would allow people to contact you if they noticed your car was being vandalized (by say someone keying your car).

Of course, CurbTXT isn't for everyone. And it doesn't look like it's offered outside of the States anyway, so fret not, you won't need to worry about helping or being helped by neighbors anytime soon.

It seems my previous comment was removed/censored even though I raised a good point about people abusing these stickers to park wherever they want. I did not use any abusive language, I simply stated my opinion. Do you guys have a stake in this ridiculous app or what? My comment was posted under the nickname "jimbotheredneck" which I created quickly to comment as I do not like being tied to a username. I loved this site but seeing this made me realize most comments are probably staged or fake. I shall explain the situation to my friends at 4chan. Maybe then you will respect freedom of speech.

Hi friend,

Actually, looks like it got flagged to oblivion - if you turn on "showdead", you can see things that get enough downvotes to be hidden. I don't have true insight into why it was flagged, but my assumption would be a combination of the keying comments, as well as it being mostly an opinion comment.

Here's a direct link to it, if you want to see if you get any replies: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4573006

Cheers!

Alright well your friendliness and my own stupidity sort of disarmed me. Now I do kinda feel bad about getting all worked up though. You must be a really nice guy to stay calm even though I was ranting like an idiot.

That's a remarkably cool idea. Easy to use (although the article didn't mention how you send an SMS only knowing the plate number).

My only concern would be that it's open to abuse. Say you have a neighbor who hates that you park too close to his driveway (not blocking it mind you) and you get constant harassing texts, not fun.

Using this is begging for stalking. For most women, putting this on their car will mean receiving tons of lewd, hurtful, or hateful texts messages from anonymous people.

What is the incentive to "register" my car? It seems a bit backward. The "F-bomb laced note" is the simpler solution in this case. Straight to the point and no registration required.

Good question tvjunky. By registering your car - you allow your neighbors to contact you immediately regarding issues with your vehicle. So if you were to mistakenly block a neighbors' driveway - they could CurbTXT you to move your car rather than have you towed.

An "F-bomb laced note" wouldn't allow your neighbor to pull out of their driveway.

Registering for CurbTXT also allows your neighbors let you know if you're about to get ticketed for street cleaning, if you've left your lights on by mistake, if someone's smashed your window, etc.

Hope this clears things up, Andrew at CurbTXT (info@curbtxt.com)

Andrew,

    I think you have something here but it still seems a bit cart before the horse. The presumption is that we all want to be excellent to each other. In my experience when people are being rude it's more often a conscious choice rather than an inadvertent mistake. Granted, I don't live in an area where residents have to battle or shuffle around for parking and neighbors will be "neighborly" and register. However, during events with large numbers of people from outside the neighborhood, we often see rude behavior. In these cases there is no opportunity alert the offender of their "mistake". We either must be proactive to guard our parking or start a a tow truck parade to coincide with the event.

We take inappropriate messages very seriously at CurbTXT and have mechanisms in place for immediately blocking the sender and flagging the message for review.

See the FAQ on our website for details: http://curbtxt.com

Appreciate your feedback - and feel free to contact me with any other thoughts or concerns.

Andrew at CurbTXT (info@curbtxt.com)

Thanks refurb!

To send a CurbTXT, just text your message - starting with the plate # (and state abbreviation) to 415.529.5775.

For example: 'CA6EEJ475 left your lights on!'

Here at CurbTXT we take the potential for abuse very seriously. If at anytime a CurbTXT user receives an inappropriate message, they may block the sender permanently by replying with the command '#block'.

Thanks for your feedback - and feel free to contact me directly with any other thoughts or concerns.

Andrew at CurbTXT info@curbtxt.com

Why not just not park in front of people's driveways, rather than signing up for this?

Most people violate parking regulations by mistake - and would prefer to avoid being ticketed or towed.

CurbTXT lets your neighbors contact you regarding any issue with your vehicle - whether it's your fault or not. Like if someone smashed your car window.

Hope this clears things up, Andrew at CurbTXT (info@curbtxt.com)

Most people?

I'd say when I've done it, it's been about 50/50 on the lazy asshole/unknowingly split. Am I particularly bad on this? (It's been rare in general, I've got to add--maybe once every year or two).

Point taken. We're just hoping to keep tickets/tows/nasty notes out of the equation. Even if you've put yourself in this situation.

Cheers, Andrew

In South Korea, it's quite common for people to put their mobile number on a sticker on the windshield or even bumper - exactly for this reason.

Of course, abuse of this trend also exists.

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