Car Lockout in Reading, PA

Locked out on a snow emergency route

Once the Mayor declares a snow emergency, parked cars have to come off the city's snow emergency routes. Those routes include Penn, Franklin, Walnut, Washington and 5th streets, North 13th Street, and Lancaster, Perkiomen and Schuylkill avenues. A car left on one is ticketed and towed at the owner's expense. The city lets residents move their cars to any Reading Parking Authority lot or garage, such as the ones at 8th and Penn or 4th and Cherry.

A car you cannot get into is a car you cannot move. If you are locked out on one of these routes during a declared emergency, put that at the top of your request, with the block you are on.

Parking in a dense city

The city's 2024–2028 Consolidated Plan describes Reading as very dense, with limited parking. A locked car may be at the curb some distance from home, in a surface lot, or on an upper level of a garage. Street names alone may not be enough; the side of the street, the nearest house number or the garage level and row all help pin it down.

If someone is inside

Never leave a child or a pet in a locked car. If one is locked inside, call 911 before anything else. A closed car can become dangerously hot in summer, and in winter the person waiting outside should find somewhere heated rather than stand beside the car.

What to send

• The street and nearest cross street, or the lot or garage, level and row.
• Whether a snow emergency is in effect and the car is on a route.
• The year, make and model, and whether the keys are visible inside.
• Whether a person or animal is in the car, after you have called 911.

If the keys are lost rather than locked inside, the service to ask about is car key replacement. The car lockout page covers the service across the state.