The perils of proofreading while driving

Just moved into a lovely neighborhood with an unfortunately ugly sign. We have a beautiful stream, hundreds of trees and lots of grass. We also have a missing apostrophe and an unclear sentence. The Volkswagen Beetle-sized sign warns drivers not to park on the road that runs through the neighborhood. It ends with the following sentence:

Violators will be towed at owners expense.

I'm not sure what the sign's author means by "violators." To me, this means that the people violating the rule will be towed. Ouch! That sounds rather unpleasant and should act as quite a deterrent. But that can't be what the author means. Not unless the owners of this place are prone to violence. More likely, they're prone to typos. We're talking about the cars being towed. So why say "violators"? Why not say "violators' vehicles"? It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? I guess the author was in a hurry and had no time to hire a proofreader.

On to the missing apostrophe.

"Owners" is the plural form of "owner." It means more than one owner. So if someone parks in the wrong place, violators will be towed.

But who will pay for said towing? I'm not sure. I think it should be "owners' expense." The "s" followed by the apostrophe indicates possession by several owners. I did not use "owner's," which is singular, because "violators" implies that more than one owner is paying. One violator usually means one owner. Although one car could be owned by two or more people, one person probably does not own every car illegally parked on a road. I'm sure it could happen, but I don't anticipate it.

Apostrophes not only indicate possession, they also let readers know when a letter or letters have been removed. For instance, the apostrophe in "doesn't" replaces an "o." Don't use apostrophes to indicate plurals. As with any punctuation mark, when you see yourself using one, take a moment and ask yourself why. If you don't know, check your trusty grammar/punctuation guide. Here are a few good ones:

• Media Writer's Handbook: A Guide to Common Editing and Writing Problems, by George T. Arnold. The book includes chapters on the basics and loads of writing tips.
• Associated Press Stylebook, edited by Darrell Christian, Sally Jacobsen and David Minthorn. Includes a 41-page punctuation guide.
• Working with Words: A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors, by Brian S. Brooks, James L. Pinson and Jean Gaddy Wilson. Includes chapters on the basics, style, mechanics and writing.