Letters: What will it take for humans to be better?

What will it take for humans to be better?

Stop coddling the people who decide to visit the Tahoe Basin for snow sledding. The parking ticket amount is no deterrent.

The article, “Illegal parking, unsafe behaviors, and trash are issues on Lake Tahoe highways”, mentions that this behavior “…has become an annual situation since COVID”.

So why is law enforcement still putting up with it? Signs of “No Parking” obviously go ignored. These are going to be the same people who return in summer to illegally park on roads to go to a beach and leave their trash.

Stop wasting officers' time by just writing tickets, and tow the vehicles. The fact that Officer Loehr said, “she's seen people be deliberate with their parking and trash behaviors right in front of officers,” is a clear indicator that tickets don’t work.

Tickets don’t work to deter in winter and they don’t work to deter in summer. What will work is seeing law enforcement along with several tow trucks lined up waiting to tow vehicles that park illegally. When people see vehicles being ticketed and towed with officers and tow trucks lined up, then they will think twice. Would most people want to get towed by parking illegally while sledding with kids?

Is it fair to keep asking volunteers to clean up their trash because a ticket is the price they pay to sled or go to a beach?

Is there not a tow company out there that wouldn’t want guaranteed tows of 100 vehicles? I’m sure a contract could be made between law enforcement and a tow company.

Stop this rude behavior and set a precedent now before summer when there will be three times the amount of illegal parking and the trash that goes with it.

The lake doesn’t deserve another year of 8500+ pounds of trash because people are selfish and don’t care.

- A. Stephens