Undergraduate Laura Driver will stand trial after accruing 500 parking tickets so far in the 2022-23 academic year, according to Karen Patton, the University of New Mexico’s Parking and Transportation Service public information officer.
The citation’s payment amount is so large that Driver’s Opportunity Scholarship has been used in its entity to cover it.
Driver is to stand trial for the $12,500 in parking citations in front of the Associated Students at the University of New Mexico Supreme Court, according to Damien Morales, UNM’s Parking and Transportation president.
“We excel at making the lives of students a living hell, but we’ve never seen anything like this,” Morales wrote in an email to the Daily Lobo. “Almost makes us feel bad. Almost.”
Driver’s trial has divided the UNM community between anti-PATS and very anti-PATS advocates, according to a UNM press release.
Driver said she never intended to cause such a commotion, and it was an honest mistake on her part.
“It was all so silly of me. I naively thought that after paying thousands in all my tickets last year to attend this godforsaken institution I could park anywhere I needed to," Driver said. “I was blind.”
Patton said that Robinson was a product of an extremist student cult advocating for students to have unnecessary privileges such as ample parking space or improved communication about threats to student safety on campus while living in the dorms.
“It’s insulting that we even need to have this conversation. If you want to park in our limited parking spaces, just pay an extra $500. It’s simple,” Patton said.
Annya Loya is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @annyaloya
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