A modern wheel clamp placed on a vehicle for a parking violation in Melbourne by the Victorian Sheriff; note the tyre spikes and panel preventing the vehicle being driven or the wheel being removed Wheel clamp as used by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation A wheel clamp attached to a vehicle at Duke University Style of wheel clamp used in the United Kingdom Wheel clamp used in Warsaw

A wheel clamp, also known as wheel boot or Denver boot,^[1][2] is a device that is designed to prevent vehicles from being moved. In its most common form, it consists of a clamp that surrounds a vehicle wheel, designed to prevent removal of both itself and the wheel.

In the United States, these devices became known as a "Denver boot" after the city of Denver, Colorado was the first in the country to employ them, mostly to force the payment of outstanding parking tickets.^[3]

Functions[link]

It has four main functions:

• To crack down on unauthorised or illegal parking, in lieu of towing the offending vehicle; in these cases, police or property owners who place the clamp may charge a high "release fee" to remove it
• For security purposes, such as preventing a car, trailer, or caravan from being driven or towed away by a thief
• To preclude escape of a prosecuted person
• To prevent driving by a suspended driver or moving of a disabled vehicle

Invention[link]

The wheel clamp, originally known as the auto immobiliser, was invented in 1944 and patented in 1958 by Frank Marugg.^[4] Marugg was a pattern maker, a violinist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, and a good friend to many Denver politicians and police department officials. The police department needed a solution to a growing parking enforcement problem. The city used to tow all ticketed cars to the pound, where they were often vandalised. Those who were ticketed sued the city for the damage and the police had to itemise everything in the cars. Dan Stills, a policeman, thought an immobiliser would avoid the expensive towing problem and approached Marugg with an idea on how to immobilise a vehicle.

The Denver police first used the wheel-boot on 5 January 1955 and collected over US$18,000 (US$156,164 in 2012 dollars^[5]) in its first month of use. Although the wheel-boot was first cast in steel, Marugg soon switched to a lighter aluminium-based alloy. Marugg later sold the device to parking lot owners, hotels and ski resorts, as well as a Jumbo version for farm equipment and larger vehicles. The Smithsonian Institution now has a copy of Marugg's boot on display in Washington, D.C.^[6][7]

The most infamous wheel clamp in the UK is the 'London Wheel Clamp'. The designer, Trevor Whitehouse and patent owner of device number GB2251416A filed the patent in 1991. He originally called the device the 'Preston' based on his home town in Lancashire. Primarily used on private land its notoriety of use grew once it was introduced on to the highways under the Road Traffic Regulations Act of 1991. (Commonly known as the de-criminalising of the yellow lines act.) The first areas in the country to be decriminalised were the 33 London Boroughs during 1993/94, hence the name change.

Controversy[link]

Wheel-clamping is notoriously unpopular with unauthorised parkers. Whereas a traffic warden or police officer has jurisdiction over public roads, in many countries, the law allows landowners to wheel clamp vehicles parking on their property without permission.

One British man became so annoyed at having his car clamped, that he removed the clamp with an angle grinder. He subsequently received publicity as a self-styled "superhero" called “Angle-Grinder Man”, offering to remove clamps for free with his angle grinder.^[8]

Other motorists have taken the action of cutting the clamps off with bolt cutters or even clamping their own cars beforehand so that property owners will be unable to clamp an already-clamped vehicle and may think that another owner has clamped it. However, the practice of removing clamps is usually only done for those that were installed by firms and other citizens; the removal of clamps installed by authorities (chiefly the police) is an offence.^{[citation needed]}

Legal issues[link]

Several vehicles wheel-clamped at University of North Texas, Denton, Texas

In Scotland, wheel-clamping on private land is illegal. It was banned by the case of Black v Carmichael 1992 SCCR 709, when wheel-clamping was found to constitute extortion and theft.

In England and Wales, wheel-clampers operating on private land must be individually licensed by the Security Industry Authority. Operating in such circumstances without a valid licence, or in breach of its conditions (which include displaying ID at all times), is a criminal offence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. The Protection of Freedoms Bill 2011 seeks to make wheel-clamping on private land illegal.

Despite it being illegal for private operators to immobilise vehicles with these types of devices in Washington State, the practice continues.^[9][10]

In Republic of Ireland, private clamping is illegal under Section 113 the Road Traffic Act 1961^[11] as amended by the Road Traffic Act (Amendment) 1984^{[12][original research?]}. However, it is still extremely common as the arcane language of these provision is beyond many.

See also[link]

• Predatory towing

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wheel clamp

• KRQE News 13 Online – 'Boot Dispute Settled With Bolt Cutters'
• BBC News Online – 'Superhero' takes on clampers
• Reporting Vehicle Immobilisers – in case you were illegally clamped or given no receipt, you can report a vehicle immobiliser to the SIA (Security Industry Authority).
• SIA Conditions of License for wheel-clampers acting on private land
• KTTV: "Fox 11 Investigates: 'Getting the Boot'"