Nevada grandmother faces fines for giving rides to Burning Man attendees

Susie Holland offered a ride to a Burner on their way to Burning Man, the annual summer art event in the Black Rock Desert.

The 61-year-old Reno resident and grandmother ended up with potentially thousands of dollars in fines after she was caught in a sting by the Nevada Transportation Authority.

“When I pulled in … they just swooped up on me in three undercover Ford Explorers,” Holland told the Reno Gazette Journal, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. “They were coming at me so fast, so hard and so intensely, I was like, what is happening right now?”

How did this all start?

Holland got the idea to offer rides when she picked up a friend and a few other Burners who were stuck last year at Burning Man in the gluey mud.

Holland had a blast listening as they all recounted their Burner experiences on the ride home. She got to experience the burn without actually having to go.

“I've never been, probably will never go. It's not my kind of thing,” Holland said. “But we were talking and (they) suggested I do it the following year, like just give rides.”

Several weeks ago, she posted an ad on Craigslist, just to help some Burners out and make an extra buck.

And then she got an inquiry. Someone asked how much. Holland had no idea what the going rate was, so she just said $65 per person. The Burner offered $500, as long as Holland would come back to pick them up. Then, she didn’t hear from them again for weeks. 

“You know how you get that thing in your stomach? Something seemed a little off,” Holland said.

So on Saturday, Holland started to do some research. She had Burners heading off the next day, and they confirmed that giving rides was normal. Drivers couldn’t go into the Burning Man gates unless they had a permit, but she was reassured it was fine to drop them at the gate.

“I thought I was doing due diligence. I even Googled it,” Holland said. “The NTA never appeared in any of that research.

“I didn’t know anybody that realized that they even existed.” 

Holland set a meeting spot at the Grand Sierra Resort’s back parking lot at 6:30 a.m. Monday to pick up her Burners.

But the Burners were actually undercover NTA agents.

“I couldn't figure out what was happening,” Holland said with a shocked laugh. “I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I’m 61 years old, you know. I’ve never been in a situation like that.”

When the black Fords pulled up on her, she was confused, so she tried to turn her car around but was blocked. When she kept trying to go forward, they laid their car horns on at her and she was overwhelmed.

She stepped out of the car and the three NTA agents -- “tall, bald-headed dudes with big badges on their chest” -- started to search her car.

More:Woman who died on first day of Burning Man identified

As they searched her car in the middle of the parking lot, one of the agents told her that her Subaru was one of the cleanest cars he’d ever seen. 

“I'm looking at him with my mouth open, and I'm like, ‘You don't say,’” Holland said.

They told Holland she was facing up to $10,000 per violation. She was under the impression that she was looking at $30,000 in fines for supposed violations of Nevada laws including that a person must obtain a certificate for driving and that it's illegal to advertise services that require a certificate.

Her car was impounded. In order to get it out, she was scheduled for an NTA council hearing.

Holland contacted John Routsis, a Burning Man lawyer, who said he’d help her when he got back from the burn. This meant she was alone for the hearing, not able to obtain a lawyer in time.

Holland said Routsis, who’s been helping the Burning Man community for 13 years, had never heard of a similar situation.

“No one knew that it was illegal to give rides to Burning Man,” Holland said.

What does the Nevada Transportation Authority say?

Teri Williams, spokesperson for the NTA, told the RGJ that they could not disclose the number of people who were hit with the sting, how long the sting was on for, or when it started.

Williams said it's illegal for paid transportation drivers to operate without the appropriate licensing or insurance.

“As a law enforcement agency, the NTA’s mission is to protect the traveling public which requires that the agency regulate certificated and permitted providers as well as take proactive measures to identify and deter unlicensed activity,” Williams said via email.

“Ultimately, people that engage in commerce of any kind must be knowledgeable about what is required to operate legally . . . the onus falls on the individual to be informed and in compliance,” Williams wrote.

How common is it to give rides?

The short answer: Very common.

There’s an entire Facebook group dedicated to ridesharing for Burning Man. Most are inviting people to hop in their cars already on their way to Burning Man, but it’s not uncommon to find people looking to give rides for money.

Holland said that when she went to pick up her car at City Auto Towing on Tuesday morning, the woman at the counter told her 18 cars had been towed that morning for the sting. 

City Auto Towing declined to comment to the RGJ.

“I need to be accountable for not knowing. And that's my problem, I accept that,” Holland said. “But the way that it was handled was phenomenal. They could have just like given you a slap on the hand, let you know that this is not OK. They didn’t need to impound your car and charge you thousands of dollars. It’s beyond me."

However, by law, the NTA isn’t allowed to just give a warning. They are required to cite an individual and impound their car for noncompliance, even on a first offense, according to Williams. 

When someone is taken to the NTA, a hearing officer decides what the punishment is based on factors like a first-time offense, or other hardships.

Williams said that the NTA enforcement is aimed at keeping drivers and passengers safe.

“The NTA takes its public safety mission seriously,” Williams wrote. “The potential harm to either the driver or the passenger could be life-altering.” 

Holland paid $1,000 in cash to the NTA to release her vehicle, since they suspended many fees as it was her first offense. She then paid $500 to the impound lot to get her car out.

According to Holland, while they were searching her car, the NTA agents said she could've been charged with up to $10,000 for three different fines, totaling at $30,000. However the NTA told her that her fees will be reduced, so now she’ll sit at home waiting for the final bill to come in a few months.

“Clearly I’m just a grandma giving rides to the burn,” Holland said. “But they know what they're doing. We just weren't (aware). No one was aware of it.”

Jaedyn Young covers local government for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Her wages are 100% funded by donations and grants; if you’d like to see more stories like this one, please consider donating here. Send your story ideas and feedback to Jaedyn at jyoung@rgj.com.