A new invention from Santa Monican Ed Walsh is set to change the way that parking and residential permits are displayed on vehicles across the country.
Initially recognizing the need for a hassle-free way of displaying parking permits in Santa Monica, local resident Walsh took to the drawing board in April last year to find a solution to the problem.
“I kept getting parking tickets after my parking permit mirror hanger didn’t hang properly or because my permit kept falling off my dashboard, where it was displayed,” Walsh explained. “Despite having a parking permit, I was getting a $68 fine every month or two, which was just ridiculous, not to mention, expensive.”
Walsh’s situation is a common one in the city, as street parking is often the only option for residents and forgetting to hang or display permits, a frequent occurrence.
“It’s a hazard to drive with a mirror hanger – you’re required to take it off each time you drive,” Walsh explained. “It also didn’t fit my mirror and would just fall off after I parked.”
The option of sticking an adhesive permit directly on the bumper of his car was also not appealing to Walsh.
“I didn’t want to put a sticker on my car,” Walsh said, adding that ruining his car’s paint didn’t seem like a favorable or clever solution.
“One day I saw parking enforcement outside, giving me yet another ticket because my permit had fallen on the floor,” Walsh said. “I raced out and asked ‘If I placed my permit somewhere next to my license plate, would that be okay for you?’”
Replying that indeed, a sticker placed next to the license plate would suffice, Walsh set about designing a prototype to make this possible and approached a friend who owned a fabrication shop in Ventura.
“We came up with a stylish slim aluminum plate that fits nicely behind your license plate. It’s just 3.5 inches longer, to accommodate a parking sticker,” Walsh explained.
With that, Adaplate was born.
Testing Adaplate, complete with parking permit sticker, neither Walsh, nor his five “test-case” friends, have received a parking ticket in the six months since using the system.
“It’s just the perfect solution,” Walsh said, adding that Adaplate can also be used for auto-club membership stickers, sports club logos or simply to personalize a plate, anyway the user sees fit.
“It’s like a modern-day bumper sticker,” Walsh explained. “You can do away with sticking favorite sports teams, political causes or advertising stickers on your rear-window or directly on your car’s paint. Use the Adaplate instead, it’s better for your car and looks great as well.”
Adaplate comes in five standard colors and can be color-customized if required to match your car exactly, for a small extra charge.
Costing just $25, Adaplate is easy to install and only takes a few minutes, according to Walsh.
Walsh said that he is also happy to help with installation if several people want to pick up their Adaplates at a designated time and place.
To order an Adaplate for your vehicle, or for the perfect Holiday gift for someone who has everything, go to adaplate.com.
