Seattle man fences ride share car in parking lot, demands company pick it up

SEATTLE -- A property owner in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood has decided he's had enough of ride-share companies conducting business wherever their vehicles stop.

Dan Smith took matters into his own hands, essentially blocking access to a ride-share car after it was parked in his driveway; now he wants the ride-share company to get it out themselves.

Reclaiming the car might be a difficult task though, since Smith decided to build a small fence around the car.

Smith's property is a duplex where he said the car was parked in his lot May 17.  He said he tried to do the right thing.

He told KCPQ he called Car2Go to get it moved but didn't get a response.

He said he also got the runaround when he tried getting the car towed by the police or tow companies. Nobody was willing to move it, he said. So he figured he'd build a fence.

“I was very worried about the liability. I didn’t want them inviting people onto the property because what if somebody drives into the house? What if somebody gets hurt? I had no idea what that liability nightmare I’d be in for, so I only wanted the car to be moved under a controlled situation,” Smith said.

According to Smith, the lack of response forced him to go from being a good neighbor to a businessman. He is asking Car2Go to not only move the car, but to also pay for nuisance fees, storage fees and fees to put the work into building a fence.

“I don’t think ride-share companies should be allowed to pull in your property then rent their car off your property. I think if they’re on your property, they should shut their car down right away, and have a dedicated crew come leave with it,” Smith said. “I think what bothers me at this point is that they’re threatening that I stole the car,  and they’re acting like I’m holding the car hostage, when they drove their car on my property and they ignored me. They’re playing the victim.”

KCPQ News has reached out to Car2Go’s parent company 'ShareNow' for a response, but none has been received.