PREDATORY PARKING
Well, it comes down to this, and we all know that the media is always portraying the tower as practicing predatory towing and price gouging. But say its not so, we are the bad guys ?
Who parked the vehicle on the property. Who violated the rights of the property owner by trespassing upon the property. Who in the case of the property owner being a business which is closed for the day, decides that they can use the property any way they want.
Do we have to have fences and gates to keep people off our property. Do we have to have security to keep ONLY customers or tenants on the property.
It looks like that is the direction we are headed, if the motoring public is not going to get smart and learn.
Let me take this a different direction. Lets see how it sounds to everyone.
Instead of people parking at the Wal-Mart to shop, lets have them park in your driveway for 2 or 3 hours. What does that make you feel like. You come home from work and want to go inside and rest and have dinner. BUT someone is in your driveway. You can not use the property that you own, pay taxes on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It does not matter that you are not home for 8 hours during the day, someone has decided that they have the right to park where they want.
I bet you say that its wrong, illegal and want the offending vehicle removed from your property. Sure you do, after all its YOUR PROPERTY and you have the right to control access to it. You also have insurance that covers is someone is injured or property is damaged. It costs you money to provide that level of safety and protection to your investment.
Now what the heck is wrong with the business doing the same thing. But also consider that as a business they have insurance that is more strict than you, as they are also a PUBLIC PLACE. And that insurance covers them when they are closed also.
And of course then there is the usual garbage and trash that is left behind. Never mind that there is a dumpster 20 feet away, ashtray gets dumped on the ground.
Vandalism, oh that never happens at all. Theft and or damage of property. Nope that is a fairy tale. But we all know that it really does happen. And what is done to prevent all of it from happening.
Well offending illegally parked vehicles are removed. And of course we all know what happens next. Claims of damage done to the vehicle. Claims of property missing from inside the vehicle. Or claims of illegal towing of the vehicles.
This all adds to the operating expenses of the towing company. But what about the business that had the vehicle removed. Remember the parking lot might be a convenience store, and have 10 spaces. Now if there are 5 vehicles parked there and the drivers went somewhere else, then there is a monetary loss to the store as people can not get in to park and spend money.
Oh sure there are a few people that will park and go to the store and then next door to the pizza place or the burger place and get something to go. But they are not the ones that park overnight, or for hours on end.
And lets not forget that some of the parking problems are from Apartment complexes. Lots of them have fire lanes where they the apartment receives big fines for vehicles parked in the fire lanes. Never mind that they are there unloading groceries or taking kids inside, if the fire department was to cruise the lot and see the vehicle, tickets would be issued to the apartment complex and to the vehicle owner. Oh yeah the vehicle would be towed.
I have heard all the reasons during my towing career for parking in the fire lane, Emergency flashers on, heck that just takes and says “ LOOK I AM HERE “ to tow trucks and apartment managers.
Now since this subject is also one which is discussed in newspapers, on Television, and by any politician who wants to get press time, you know what happens. Laws get made and some get changed. Police departments go on sting operations to catch towers removing vehicles. Now some companies are a bit careless or get close to edges of the laws. They get caught in this as much as tow companies who follow the letter of the law. And then there are the companies who just go ahead and do what ever to get the vehicle and tow. They are after the money. Plain and simple.
But unfortunately these companies are the ones who generate all the bad press for the industry as a whole. We all know the saying “it takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel”
Now as a tower and freelance writer for magazines, I keep up on news stories on towing and Private Property Impound laws. Some of them are good, some of them are plain stupid. California has so many different laws regarding the subject its hard to keep track of them all, and then throw in the local city regulations. It’s a wonder that any vehicle moves once it finds a parking space.
They have a 1 hour law where the vehicle has to be parked 1 hour before towing except in certain situations . The law is listed below.
22953. (a) Every owner or person in lawful possession of any private property which is held open to the public, or a discernible portion thereof, for parking of vehicles at no fee, shall not tow or remove, or cause the towing or removal, of any vehicle within one hour of the vehicle being parked.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a vehicle may be removed immediately after being illegally parked within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, in a fire lane, or in a parking space or stall legally designated for disabled persons.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to property designated for parking at an apartment complex, or to property designated for parking at a hotel or motel where the parking stalls or spaces are clearly marked for a specific room.
How does that sound to you. it’s a bit confusing and also straight forward. But it’s the law, and you know that laws are always challenged.
But of all the problems with Private Property Impounds, I know that all of us towers have always heard the same thing. I did not see the sign or I did not think it was applicable when the business was closed. Signs are always vandalized by customers who had their vehicles towed. They seem to think that removing the signs will get there car back. “ No signs, not legal tow” but over the years I have always seemed to find the signs in the lot, or in the trash can there.
I worked for one company in Oregon who had some signs in a car rental business next to a bar. Heck we had signs INSIDE THE BUILDING in the windows. Those were never taken down and where visible when you entered the lot, but all the other signs were removed on a frequent basis.
But it was always our fault that the vehicles where towed, it was never the people who drove the vehicle into the lot. We always where “predatory” in our practices. And that sells papers and as such the media will always make us out to be the bad guys.
Lets face it, we have an image being portrayed by the media and its not nice, and the image we have with lawmakers is even worse. But we do a service which is requested and needed and cause lots of the problems ourselves with a few bad apples in the mix causing the most damage to our image.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Well, it comes down to this, and we all know that the media is always portraying the tower as practicing predatory towing and price gouging. But say its not so, we are the bad guys ?
Who parked the vehicle on the property. Who violated the rights of the property owner by trespassing upon the property. Who in the case of the property owner being a business which is closed for the day, decides that they can use the property any way they want.
Do we have to have fences and gates to keep people off our property. Do we have to have security to keep ONLY customers or tenants on the property.
It looks like that is the direction we are headed, if the motoring public is not going to get smart and learn.
Let me take this a different direction. Lets see how it sounds to everyone.
Instead of people parking at the Wal-Mart to shop, lets have them park in your driveway for 2 or 3 hours. What does that make you feel like. You come home from work and want to go inside and rest and have dinner. BUT someone is in your driveway. You can not use the property that you own, pay taxes on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It does not matter that you are not home for 8 hours during the day, someone has decided that they have the right to park where they want.
I bet you say that its wrong, illegal and want the offending vehicle removed from your property. Sure you do, after all its YOUR PROPERTY and you have the right to control access to it. You also have insurance that covers is someone is injured or property is damaged. It costs you money to provide that level of safety and protection to your investment.
Now what the heck is wrong with the business doing the same thing. But also consider that as a business they have insurance that is more strict than you, as they are also a PUBLIC PLACE. And that insurance covers them when they are closed also.
And of course then there is the usual garbage and trash that is left behind. Never mind that there is a dumpster 20 feet away, ashtray gets dumped on the ground.
Vandalism, oh that never happens at all. Theft and or damage of property. Nope that is a fairy tale. But we all know that it really does happen. And what is done to prevent all of it from happening.
Well offending illegally parked vehicles are removed. And of course we all know what happens next. Claims of damage done to the vehicle. Claims of property missing from inside the vehicle. Or claims of illegal towing of the vehicles.
This all adds to the operating expenses of the towing company. But what about the business that had the vehicle removed. Remember the parking lot might be a convenience store, and have 10 spaces. Now if there are 5 vehicles parked there and the drivers went somewhere else, then there is a monetary loss to the store as people can not get in to park and spend money.
Oh sure there are a few people that will park and go to the store and then next door to the pizza place or the burger place and get something to go. But they are not the ones that park overnight, or for hours on end.
And lets not forget that some of the parking problems are from Apartment complexes. Lots of them have fire lanes where they the apartment receives big fines for vehicles parked in the fire lanes. Never mind that they are there unloading groceries or taking kids inside, if the fire department was to cruise the lot and see the vehicle, tickets would be issued to the apartment complex and to the vehicle owner. Oh yeah the vehicle would be towed.
I have heard all the reasons during my towing career for parking in the fire lane, Emergency flashers on, heck that just takes and says “ LOOK I AM HERE “ to tow trucks and apartment managers.
Now since this subject is also one which is discussed in newspapers, on Television, and by any politician who wants to get press time, you know what happens. Laws get made and some get changed. Police departments go on sting operations to catch towers removing vehicles. Now some companies are a bit careless or get close to edges of the laws. They get caught in this as much as tow companies who follow the letter of the law. And then there are the companies who just go ahead and do what ever to get the vehicle and tow. They are after the money. Plain and simple.
But unfortunately these companies are the ones who generate all the bad press for the industry as a whole. We all know the saying “it takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel”
Now as a tower and freelance writer for magazines, I keep up on news stories on towing and Private Property Impound laws. Some of them are good, some of them are plain stupid. California has so many different laws regarding the subject its hard to keep track of them all, and then throw in the local city regulations. It’s a wonder that any vehicle moves once it finds a parking space.
They have a 1 hour law where the vehicle has to be parked 1 hour before towing except in certain situations . The law is listed below.
22953. (a) Every owner or person in lawful possession of any private property which is held open to the public, or a discernible portion thereof, for parking of vehicles at no fee, shall not tow or remove, or cause the towing or removal, of any vehicle within one hour of the vehicle being parked.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a vehicle may be removed immediately after being illegally parked within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, in a fire lane, or in a parking space or stall legally designated for disabled persons.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to property designated for parking at an apartment complex, or to property designated for parking at a hotel or motel where the parking stalls or spaces are clearly marked for a specific room.
How does that sound to you. it’s a bit confusing and also straight forward. But it’s the law, and you know that laws are always challenged.
But of all the problems with Private Property Impounds, I know that all of us towers have always heard the same thing. I did not see the sign or I did not think it was applicable when the business was closed. Signs are always vandalized by customers who had their vehicles towed. They seem to think that removing the signs will get there car back. “ No signs, not legal tow” but over the years I have always seemed to find the signs in the lot, or in the trash can there.
I worked for one company in Oregon who had some signs in a car rental business next to a bar. Heck we had signs INSIDE THE BUILDING in the windows. Those were never taken down and where visible when you entered the lot, but all the other signs were removed on a frequent basis.
But it was always our fault that the vehicles where towed, it was never the people who drove the vehicle into the lot. We always where “predatory” in our practices. And that sells papers and as such the media will always make us out to be the bad guys.
Lets face it, we have an image being portrayed by the media and its not nice, and the image we have with lawmakers is even worse. But we do a service which is requested and needed and cause lots of the problems ourselves with a few bad apples in the mix causing the most damage to our image.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
