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'The Barnacle': The device that sucks the life out of driving could come to Noblesville

Indianapolis Star - 9/20/2021

Repeat parking scofflaws in Noblesville may soon find themselves in a sticky situation.

Real sticky.

The city plans to use the latest parking enforcement device to lock cars and prevent drivers with outstanding tickets from operating them.

But it's not the boot.

It's the Barnacle.

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The Barnacle doesn't exactly lock a car into place like the boot, or wheel clamp, but it does make it nearly impossible to drive.

The big yellow kits that look like large open suitcases are placed across the front windshield, impeding a driver's view, and held in place by two big suction cups.

The advantage over the boot is that the driver can remove the Barnacle by paying remotely and using a code pad on the device to release it. The driver then leaves the Barnacle in a drop box.

The system saves motorists time and parking officers effort compared to the boot, in which a worker must be sent out to remove it, sometimes hours later.

Noblesville plans to switch from the boot to Barnacle if a proposed parking ordinance is passed by the City Council on Sept. 28.

Noblesville parking plan: The Barnacle is just one piece. Learn more here.

The company says there are several other advantages; cars could be towed with the Barnacle, they don't damage the wheel and workers don't have to bend over in traffic attaching it, as they do a boot.

The Barnacle company began in 2016 with pilot programs in two cites and now is used by several cities and universities, according to its website.

Reading, Pennsylvania, was among the first cities to use Barnacles and Parking Authority Executive Director Nathan Matz said it has been effective.

"It reduces our expenses and man-hours," Matz said. "I think it also acts as a deterrent because it's so visible. There's sort of a shame factor of having it on the car," Matz said.

That embarrassment often encourages other drivers to pay their outstanding tickets.

"We've had several cases in which someone saw another car with the Barnacle and called us to pay their own bills," Matz said.

The authority uses the Barnacle between 30 and 40 times a day. It also uses the boot, but less often. The Barnacle can't be placed on a windshield that is cracked or used on motorcycles.

"It would destroy a windshield if it were cracked," he said.

The devices aren't foolproof: college students in Oklahoma removed a barnacle by turning on the car defroster for 15 minutes.

But GPS alarms alerts traffic authorities if they are tampered with.

"We've intercepted a lot of drivers even before they drove off," Matz said.

Officers also tracked down a man who had driven away with the Barnacle still on the windshield. He stuck his head outside the driver's-side window to see as he drove the car to his garage to hide it.

But an alarm on the car had activated and authorities could hear it sounding from the street.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.

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