The problem with a paper note
The classic move is a note on the dash: "Broke down, tow coming, please don't ticket." It's better than nothing. But paper can't prove when it was written — a note that says "back tomorrow" reads the same on day one and day ten. It fades, slides off the dash, and gives a parking officer, a tow driver, or an annoyed neighbor no way to check whether the story is still true. So they stop believing it, and the tow happens anyway.
What a scanner sees instead
Anyone who scans the QR sticker on the glass — neighbor, officer, tow operator — sees that banner, the exact activation time, and a message box that reaches you instantly and anonymously. "If you're towing or ticketing this vehicle, telling them here reaches them immediately" is right on the page. There's also a printable glovebox placard with the same QR code, for face-up on the dash.
Honest by design
A notice only works if the person reading it has a reason to trust it. So ClipTap's emergency mode is deliberately honest about time:
- The activation time is always shown — you can't pretend the breakdown was this morning when it was last week.
- The notice visibly ages. After 48 hours it's flagged as stale on the scan page.
- It expires at 7 days — the Illinois abandoned-vehicle threshold — so the notice can't be used to shield a car that genuinely has been left for dead.
A record that can back you up
Every activation, scan, and message on a vehicle tag is appended to a hash-chained log, and the chain heads are anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain via OpenTimestamps. That makes the record tamper-evident — not unchangeable, but any alteration is detectable, and the timestamps can be verified against a clock nobody at ClipTap controls. If the car gets towed or ticketed anyway and you end up disputing it, you can export the proof and show exactly when the notice went up, who scanned it, and what was said. That's evidence you simply cannot reconstruct from a paper note.
Common questions
How long can a car legally sit before it's "abandoned"?
Varies by state and city; seven days on a public way is a common line — Illinois uses it. Cities move faster on cars that look abandoned: flats, ticket piles, missing plates. Appearance plus time is what triggers action, which is exactly what a live notice counters.
Will this stop a tow?
No promise can — a fire lane is a fire lane. What it does is remove the "nobody knows whose car this is" reason for towing, give whoever's deciding a one-tap way to warn you first, and leave a verifiable record of your side if you dispute the outcome.
What does "tamper-evident" mean here?
Changes to the log can't be hidden, and timestamps are independently verifiable. It's not "tamper-proof" — no honest system claims that — but any edit after the fact becomes detectable, which is what a dispute needs.
Do I need the sticker on the car before the breakdown?
The QR sticker has to be on the glass for people to scan, so yes — set the tag up when things are fine, and emergency mode is one tap when they're not. The printable placard fills the gap from the glovebox.