Huntsville police chief on mission to stop 'outrageous' vehicle towing fees (alabama)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 10:50:54 PST

Huntsville police chief on mission to stop 'outrageous' vehicle towing fees

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville Police Chief Mark Hudson is determined to stop what he calls "outrageous" fees charged by some wrecker services on the city's next-in-line tow roster.

At its meeting Thursday, the City Council is expected to consider a police department proposal to set $150 as the maximum rate for a basic tow of a disabled car, SUV or pickup truck.

Companies on the next-in-line roster would also have to provide the first 24 hours of vehicle storage free and could not charge extra for oil dry, a material that soaks up oil, antifreeze and other engine fluids.

"All we're trying to do," Hudson said Thursday, "is establish a fee schedule that is fair for our citizens and still allows the wrecker companies to make a decent profit."

Police use the next-in-line roster any time the driver of a disabled vehicle does not...

Detroits Big Tow (Michigan) From 2005

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:39:31 PST

Detroit’s big tow By News Hits staff

While Detroit is focused on the upcoming Kilpatrick vs. Hendrixshowdown and the ongoing budget wrangling, problems with the city’s towing contracts are slipping under the radar for most Detroiters.
A report released Monday by Auditor General Joe Harris says a city contractor will rake in an extra million over the next decade by charging the city too much rent on the police evidence impound lot and hitting vehicle owners with excess impound fees.
Monday’s audit, the fifth of eight reports on city towing contracts, covers vehicles towed by police to process for evidence.

The purpose of the audit was to determine if the 2001 lease for the police evidence lot was properly obtained, if the price was fair, if lease-required improvements were being made, if the management contract for the lot had been properly awarded and if the owners of the vehicles were charged appropriate fees.
Harris and his team say the police...

Auto pound looking like a lemon (Rochester, New York)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:33:16 PST

Operating the city auto pound, including the expense of towing vehicles there, will lose the city an estimated $334,500 this budget year.

That is after recouping storage fees and other charges as well as revenue from auto auctions....

Charges follow city towing contactor (Hawaii

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 10:34:54 PST

Charges trail city towing contractor

An investigation and complaints fail to prevent contract renewals

By Rob Perez

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 12, 2010

George F. Lee / Glee@staradvertiser.com

Wrecker Bill Sends Shock Waves (alabama)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 18:05:15 PST

This is something which is news here in town.

Seems that people are getting upset about tow trucks and prices.

Read it and see what you think

http://www.rickeystokesnews.com/article.php/wrecker-bill-sends-shock-waves-14890

Wrecker Bill Sends Shock Waves

Rickey Stokes

Viewed: 4061

Posted by: Blake McCallister
Date: Dec 08 2010 9:03 AM

HOUSTON COUNTY: This past Saturday a man from Florida was traveling to work in Dothan. He had taken some medication and sleep medicine.

With only two hours of sleep, he took the drive from Fountain Florida to work in Dothan. He side swipped a semi in Cottondale. Complaints to the Houston County Sheriff Department caused deputies to look out for him. He was...

Crash Tax Approved By City Council (Sacramento California)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:21:46 PST

Crash Tax Approved By City Council

Bill To Forward To Full Council

POSTED: 11:20 pm PDT July 20, 2010
UPDATED: 11:34 pm PDT July 20, 2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento City Council committee on Tuesday approved a so-called crash tax for the city.

The law would impose a fee on drivers who don't live in the city, but get into a car accident that requires emergency response within city limits.

Non-residents would be charged from $435 for routine crashes to more than $2,000 for crashes with hazardous material clean up and helicopter transport.

The bill will now be forwarded on to the...

Towing company sues state, Carson City. (Nevada)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:19:57 PST

Cal-Neva Transport and Tow has filed a federal suit against the Nevada Attorney General's office and Carson City, charging a conspiracy to put the company out of business.

Tianna Clore, representing Cal-Neva owner Daiana Azbilcueta, said the problems began after Azbilcueta told authorities she thought Progressive Casualty Insurance company was issuing false identification cards to illegal aliens.

"She is very upset with everything she was put through just for happening to come across something she believed was illegal," said Clore.

Cal-Neva had earlier filed with the city to be one of the tow companies used by the sheriff's office and other city agencies in 2004. The suit accuses Undersheriff Steve Albertsen, Chief Deputy Steve Schuette and Kevin McCoy of Carson's code enforcement of preventing the company from getting city...

Resident calls for vote on towing ordinance (Perkins Illinois)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:41:07 PST

Resident calls for vote on towing ordinance

By Ed McMenamin
Pekin Daily Times
Tue Jul 28, 2009, 05:00 PM CDT

PEKIN, Ill. -
The city's controversial towing ordinance continued to be a matter of discussion before the Pekin City Council at Monday night's meeting, when resident Jim Mangan requested that the ordinance be included as a referendum item on the February 2010 election ballot and that the council then follow the will of the voters.
"The Pekin Police Department has always had all the laws necessary to stop vehicles they suspected of all the violations they are stopping them for now," he said responding to comments from past meetings. "The only thing this ordinance changed was automatically increasing city revenues by fining over $500 for the alleged charge. Stating or believing that not having this ordinance guts the police department's abilities to do their jobs is absolutely false."
Called...

New York, Quick clearance program tower protection bill

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sat, 23 May 2009 08:23:38 PST

Hold Harmless Legislation In NY
On April 29, 2009, NYS Senator Martin Dilan, of Brooklyn, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, introduced a bill that seeks to shield towers and others from civil liability for damaging a vehicle or its contents while performing a "quick clearance" procedure.
The bill seeks to redress a problem that has been caused by these procedures. Vehicles and their contents are often destroyed when towers are ordered to push an overturned tractor-trailer to the side of a highway so that traffic lanes can be re-opened. Among the reasons given for sacrificing these vehicles and their cargo is the fact that secondary accidents may occur while roadways are blocked and the incidental damage to a local economy as a result of traffic delays.
Towers are vulnerable to lawsuits seeking to recoup losses because they are the ones who do the actual clearance. In most instances, they are also the only persons at an accident scene...

Escondido California eyeing taking over impounding of vehicles.

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:34:18 PST

ESCONDIDO ---- Lured by the prospect of boosting city revenues more than $2 million a year, four out of five Escondido City Council members said Monday that the city should consider taking over the impounding and towing of cars from four private companies now handling that task.

Officials said Escondido would be the first city in San Diego County to take over towing and impounding. Long Beach and several other California cities have generated significant revenue by making such a move.

Supporters of the proposal said the extra money would help reduce the number of employee layoffs and cuts in city services needed to close $22 million in budget deficits projected over the next four years.

Critics warned that the revenue estimates might be too optimistic, making it risky for the city to spend a few million dollars in "start-up" costs establishing an impound lot and buying tow trucks.

Another concern raised was ongoing lawsuits...

Cicero loses court case to towing company (Illinois)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:24:59 PST

Cicero loses court case to towing company

April 25, 2009 2:38 PM | 1 Comment

Cicero will have to pay out $2.2 million after a jury sided with its former towing company that lost a contract to a politically connected outfit more than three years ago.

Ram Recovery Inc. said Cicero leaders improperly terminated its towing contract eight months before it was set to expire. The company also alleged Cicero Town President Larry Dominick and past town officials ordered Ram to release thousands of towed vehicles...

Hook or Crook (Part 1) Panama City Florida

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:59:32 PST

Hook or Crook: Part One

If you've ever received an expensive towing ticket, and questioned it, you may have had good reason. It appears some local wrecker services have been overcharging customers.
News Channel Seven's Kristina Hamilton spent the last month digging through company invoices.
Now she has the results in Part One of her special series "Hook or Crook?"
You probably know how much it costs you to get your car's oil changed…and you probably know how much it costs to rotate your tires.
But what about when you have to get your car towed?
It's not an everyday occurrence ---so when you use the service you may be vulnerable to being ripped off.
George Gainer's not only a Bay County Commissioner, but he's the owner of a local car dealership.
He says too many high receipts from wrecker companies...

City Tow Truck Drivers Laid Off (OHIO)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:11:37 PST

City Tow Truck Drivers Laid Off

Seven of nine tow truck drivers with Columbus police have been laid off. Could their pink slips impact public safety?

By Denise Yost
Managing Editor, nbc4i.com
Published: February 13, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio-City budget cuts continued Friday with another round of layoffs.

Seven of nine tow truck drivers with...

Chattanooga: City Council passes new towing ordinance (TN)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:35:32 PST

The Chattanooga City Council tonight unanimously passed a new ordinance aimed at clearing away large-scale interstate wrecks within 90 minutes and opening the clean-up to more companies.

Under the new "Traffic Incident Management Service" ordinance, police officers who arrive on the scenes of accidents would be able to say whether an accident is severe enough to be a "life-safety situation." If that's the case, then only large trucks known as rotators can do the job.

The towing ordinance now states that only rotators are allowed to handle any types of large wrecks on the interstate, such as tractor-trailer turnovers. Under the new ordinance, smaller trucks could do the work if the officers at the scene say so.

Councilman Jack Benson, chairman of the council's Legal and Legislative Committee, said the council will have to tweak the ordinance as operators become aware of problems that arise.

For complete details, see...

Tow Truck Trouble, Chattanooga Tennessee

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:12:27 PST

Tow Truck Trouble

August 5, 2008 - 6:46PM

A battle between Chattanooga tow truck companies is brewing, and the outcome could have a major impact on how long you sit on the freeway whenever a big truck crashes.

The smaller companies say the city is funneling the big jobs to just two companies, but today some national experts weighed in.

Just two towing companies in Chattanooga have large enough equipment to clear tractor-trailer crashes within an hour and a half.the rest have smaller, less capable trucks that take up to 12-hours to clear the freeways.

The city council has to decide which equipment is better for people stuck in traffic jams.

...

Tow firm and City have old ties (St Louis)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:53:06 PST

Tow firm and city have old ties
By Todd C. Frankel, Joe Mahr and Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/27/2008

St. Louis - When a son of the family that held a lucrative towing contract with police got married last year, Chief Joe Mokwa was there.

He was among hundreds of guests invited to the Kirby-Bialczak wedding at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, north of downtown.

The wedding, along with a lavish reception of ice sculptures and Godiva chocolate at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton, stands in sharp contrast to the Bialczak family's business, based just a few blocks from the church: a massive towing and vehicle storage operation.

Police-impounded vehicles are spread over acres of broken asphalt. Razor wire-topped fences ring the lots. Guards in elevated towers stand watch. It looks like a prison yard for cars. To get out, it's cash only.
The operation is at the center of a scandal rocking St. Louis police, already...

Move to block illegal towing ( Baltimore Maryland)

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:43:57 PST

City Council seeks tougher limits on 'predatory' practices

By Lynn Anderson | Sun reporter

July 27, 2008

City Council members are trying to stop renegade towing companies that they say arrive at accident scenes and take advantage of motorists who don't know that only a handful of towing firms are licensed to handle such incidents.

These "predatory towers," as critics refer to them, monitor police scanners and sometimes arrive at the scene of a fender-bender even before the officers do. They ask motorists if they can tow their disabled vehicles and then charge insurance companies hundreds of dollars more than the licensed towers, whose fees are capped....

Tow Truck Driver Doug Yates Arrested At I-75 Crash in Tennessee

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:59:58 PST

Tow Truck Driver Yates Arrested At I-75 Crash
posted March 7, 2008

East Ridge Police arrested tow truck owner Doug Yates at the scene of a multi-vehicle crash on I-75 on Friday morning when they said he became unruly during a dispute over who was to haul away two tangle 18-wheelers.

Yates was charged with disorderly conduct.

He was released being taken to the Hamilton County Jail.

Police said Yates came to the scene and began arguing about who had the right to tow the tractor-trailers in the wreck that blocked I-75 North at the Welcome Center.

Police said Yates refused to leave after being told several times.

One person was hurt in the 8:15 a.m. crash that shut down all the northbound lanes of the freeway for several hours.

East Ridge officials said the city uses three different district wrecker companies in a rotation for vehicle removal and allows any other local wrecker service to respond to vehicle...

Decatur (Alabama) police ready to seize vehicles.

feeds@yuku.com (ibflat2) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:46:23 PST

Decatur police ready to seize vehicles
City begins enforcement of impound ordinance Friday

A-1 Towing and Recovery owner Jim Clemons is concerned about the impound ordinance, which will rely on wrecker services operating in Decatur.
By Evan Belanger
Staff Writer
Let it be known: If you get caught driving without a license in Decatur, you will lose your car - at least temporarily.
Beginning on Friday, Decatur police will enforce the city's new impound ordinance.
Passed by a unanimous City Council on Dec. 3, the ordinance allows police to impound any vehicle operated by an unlicensed motorist.
Once a vehicle is impounded, the owner must pay a minimum of $100 to get the vehicle back. Depending on storage and other fees, it could cost $350 or more.
Before retrieving vehicles, owners must also show they have liability insurance and that either they or someone with them can legally drive the vehicle home.
Proposed by...

Tow Trucks posted @ I10 Bridge reduce delays by 41%

feeds@yuku.com (HvywreckerW900) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:11:30 PST

Looks to me as this program is having a positive impact on the area.

Jr

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/13551527.html

Police rotation towing news