Editing Wheel clamp (section)

{{Short description|Device designed to prevent motor vehicles from being moved}}
{{Redirect|Clamping|other meanings of the word|Clamp (disambiguation){{!}}Clamp}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Wheel clamped BMW5Series, Little Collins St, Melb, 19.10.2011, jjron crop.jpg|thumb|right|A modern wheel clamp placed on a [[BMW 5 Series (E60)|BMW E60 5 Series]] for a [[parking violation]] in [[Melbourne]] by the Victorian Sheriff; note the tire spikes and panel preventing the vehicle being driven or the wheel being removed]]
[[File:Denver boot.jpg|thumb|right|Wheel clamp as used by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation]]

A '''wheel clamp''', also known as '''wheel boot''', '''parking boot''', or '''Denver boot''',<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9AdsevXMHhMC&q=Denver+Boot+is+a+clamp+fixed+to+a+wheel&pg=PA255 |publisher=Kogan Page |location=London|page=255 |title=The Transport Manager's and Operator's Handbook 2006 |first=David |last=Lowe|year=2005 |isbn=0-7494-4488-6 |access-date=21 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://merriam-webstercollegiate.com/dictionary/denver%20boot |work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |title=Denver boot |access-date=21 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821194428/http://merriam-webstercollegiate.com/dictionary/denver%20boot |archive-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> is a device that is designed to prevent motor vehicles from being moved. In its most common form, it consists of a clamp that surrounds a vehicle wheel, designed to prevent removal of both itself and the wheel.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.29938144|title=The Denver Boot Comes to Trin|last=Hatch|first=Bill|work=[[The Trinity Tripod]]|location=[[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Connecticut|CT]]|access-date=12 November 2022|jstor=community.29938144}}</ref>

In the United States, the device became known as a "Denver boot" after the city of [[Denver]], Colorado, which was the first place in the country to employ them, mostly to force the payment of outstanding [[traffic ticket|parking ticket]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/originofeveryday0000acto |url-access=registration |quote=origin of Denver Boot. |publisher=Sterling Publishing |page=[https://archive.org/details/originofeveryday0000acto/page/309 309] |year=2006 |title=Origin of Everyday Things |first1=Johnny |last1=Acton |first2=Tania |last2=Adams |first3=Matt |last3=Packer | isbn=978-1-4027-4302-3 |access-date=21 March 2011}}</ref>

While primarily associated with law enforcement and parking violations, a variety of wheel clamps are now available to consumers as theft deterrent devices for personal use as an alternative to the [[steering-wheel lock]].