Paying for parking can always feel like you’re getting scammed. It’s bad enough that you’re forking over cash for your car payment, gas, car insurance, and tolls, but now you’ve got to pay just to place your car somewhere?
What’s worse is that special event parking sometimes culminates in ridiculous surcharges, but one Uber driver may have found a genius “hack” for getting into event parking lots for free: just act like you’re a rideshare driver dropping some fans off at the venue.
@scottyrides You’re welcome 😅 #uber #uberdriver #lifehacks #ubertips ♬ original sound – Scotty Rides
@Scottyrides is an Uber Driver who posts clips of his trips on his TikTok account. In a recent video that went viral, we can see him pull up to an event with two women in the back seat. He tells the parking attendant, who tries to charge him $20 for a spot, “I’m just dropping off.” He then jokes to the passengers that the next time you’re hitting up an event that’s charging for parking, just tell them that you’re an Uber driver dropping off.
Scotty begins the clip with a voice-narrated text overlay that reads: “How to get free parking at sporting events.”
An additional overlay says: “The uber technique for free parking anywhere.”
The Uber driver clarified in the comments section, “By the way, this was just a joke,” and even posted a follow-up video, where he writes in the caption: “People. This was a joke! I should have made that more clear and for that I apologize. If anything I am bringing awareness for stadiums to look out for this, and have better Uber and Lyft drop-off accommodations.”
@scottyrides Reply to @grittool18 ♬ original sound – Scotty Rides
Commenters had a lot to say about Scotty’s parking hack.
Some said that there are stadiums where this won’t work as there are routes designated for taxis and rideshare services to drop folks off and pick them up: “Where is this at? The venues I go to, have designated drop-off areas that don’t lead to any parking spaces.”
According to Scotty, the Honda Center in Anaheim doesn’t have particular lanes/routes for Uber and Lyft drivers.
Others thought that this “hack” is a surefire way to exit the arena and find your car missing: “They will tow your car.”
Another commenter said, “And 30 minutes later the tow truck driver will be coming saying ‘hi I’m just picking up.'”
However, others said that they tried the hack themselves and it worked out perfectly: “I use to do this when I had my Lyft sticker on my car & had the app open.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Scotty for further comment on TikTok.
Source: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/uber-driver-free-parking-hack/