A MAYOR has called for extreme consequences for car owners who leave their vehicles in city car parks.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced that the city is cracking down on abandoned vehicles piling up in the city’s neighborhoods during his State of the City address on Wednesday.
“You can’t store your cars on lawns like this,” Duggan said.
“You can’t store your commercial vehicles in our neighborhood.”
Starting April 18, the city of Detroit began removing vehicles considered abandoned or stored on lawns.
Last year, the city was forced to impound more than 14,000 vehicles and has already destroyed 4,500 by 2024.
The new operation will increase efforts to get rid of these cars and will be carried out by local police.
“It’s to combat the plague,” said Capt. Jason Adams.
“Old and inoperable vehicles on the roads contribute to blight and it’s really a quality of life issue that we want to address.”
Once the cars are taken into custody, they will be sold or scrapped if the owner refuses to cooperate.
“I’m glad we’re serving the citizens the way they want to be served,” said Police Chief Johnny Thomas.
“We’re giving them their neighborhoods back, and I think that’s our main responsibility.”
CAR CEMETERY
Detroit isn’t the only place in the United States facing a problem with abandoned cars.
In 2018, residents of the Wakefield neighborhood in the Bronx were dealing with an onslaught of junk vehicles that were never removed from the area, CBS News reported.
It is said that community members reported the problem but did not receive any help from municipal authorities.
“It’s terrible,” expressed Wakefield resident Michelle Balfon.
“It’s extremely distracting, especially when it’s in front of your house.”
Balfon is a long-time resident and says the problem has been going on for years.
“I called 311 several times,” she said.
“They practically do nothing.”
The abandoned vehicles are unflattering, making the area look unattractive, but that’s not the biggest problem.
WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR ABANDONED CARS IN DETROIT?
Abandoned vehicles in Detroit are said to obstruct snow removal and make community tasks much more difficult, and even create fire hazards. To prevent this, Detroit has made clear definitions of what is considered an “abandoned vehicle.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story