Much like the word "genocide," almost any experience having to do with the word "booted" is sure to be a negative one. Getting booted from your job is obviously terrible and getting booted from a bar certainly won't get you in better standing with the cutie you were trying to talk to. For any car owner, the worst form of getting booted is when they find a conspicuous lock hugging one of their car's wheels. However, if these entrepreneurs have their way, this practice could be rendered to the history books.

Initially, jamming a wheel seems like one of the most practical ways to prevent a driver with piles of unpaid tickets from escaping responsibility, but a new company is attempting to change this by taking advantage of another clever workaround: blocking the driver's line of sight. Aptly named Barnacle, the driving impediment in question is little more than a large block of yellow plastic suctioned to the windshield of a car, making it impossible for a driver to see what's in front of the car. Unlike a boot, the Barnacle only weighs 20 pounds, making it easier for parking enforcement officers to apply it. After placing it on the windshield, the enforcer simply activates a built-in pump that sucks the device to the glass.

Removal is also easy. Once drivers call and pay all of their tickets, parking enforcement can give the now-broke lawbreaker a code that unlocks the Barnacle, after which drivers have 24 hours to return it to authorities. A built in GPS makes sure that the car in question isn't driven away with the Barnacle attached and that the device isn't stolen after removal. Attempting to take off the annoying yellow plastic using unorthodox methods may as well be futile since a security ring prevents prying devices from getting underneath. The only illegal way to get it off would be to remove the windshield, which, depending on the number of parking tickets a driver has, may be the least expensive option.

Be on the lookout for these as Barnacle gives them to local police departments for trial runs. Make sure to pay those tickets (or avoid them altogether) because nothing is worse than having your day suck by finding an annoying piece of plastic sucked to your car.