Each day, as the OU Police Department tows vehicles from university parking lots, bewildered students can be seen walking up and down rows of cars searching for their automobiles.

With little available parking at OU, students with cars face a common problem: towing.

A vehicle can be towed if it has accumulated more than three unpaid parking tickets, or is parked in a no-parking zone, according to the OU Commuter Student Motor Vehicle Regulations.

In addition, parking in an area without a specific permit for that area or in designated lots on the day of athletic events is not permitted. Moreover, the vehicle will be towed if it is not registered with the university, or if the vehicle's owner has failed to pay previous fines.

When registering vehicles with the university, students must sign a contract stating they understand the parking regulations.

But, despite this, many students say they are unaware of the rules and consequently have been towed often.

Sophomore Jessica Wright parked for less than 30 minutes in a West Green parking lot, and even though she had a permit, it was not valid in the lot where she was parked.

"Because I wasn't in my designated lot my car was gone," she said. "I didn't realize that I was paying for 24-hour East Green parking and couldn't park my car anywhere else on campus."

Junior Chris Whittenburg's car was towed while it was parked in front of his residence hall. "I parked there to empty something heavy that I had bought. I came back downstairs to move my car after a little while, and somebody had taken my car."

Whittenburg later found out a university vehicle needed to park in the space.

Junior Terry Connors, who usually parks legally in the garage under her residence hall, acquired three tickets during the course of several months and did not pay them.

"I hadn't given them a second thought," she said.

But during Spring Quarter Connors' car was towed.

"It took me over two hours to relocate it. I thought it had been stolen," she said.

Once students discover their cars have been towed, they can call the OUPD for the car's location. Students must pay all ticket fines to the OUPD and the towing fee to the towing company before they can get their cars back.