By the time you get down to stories about people having their cars towed away from their own driveways - and yes, this has happened, and people have gone public about it, as you'll read - you've got to figure that putting some fencing around patrol towing would be a political no-brainer.
Took a while, but today that point seems to have arrived at the Oregon Legislature, as House Bill 2578 is moving from committee toward House floor. This will be an ongoing fight; a substantial business group is seeing something of significance here, and they will fight.
What it does, most basically:
Requires owner of parking facility to affix notice on vehicle
prior to contacting tower to remove vehicle.
Requires tower to contact owner of parking facility before
towing motor vehicle from facility.
Requires tower to release motor vehicle free of charge if owner
or operator of vehicle is present at time of tow.
Provides sanctions for applicant for or holder of towing
business certificate who has accepted or provided compensation
based on number of vehicles towed.
Sean Cruz, a former state Senate staffer who has been working on this for years, and helped push through some preliminary regulation. Indications have been that those efforts only dented predatory towing, hence the new. In February he posted his testimony on the new measure (he supports it) and makes some points not often heard. Consider this one:
"Unlike any other commercial activity in Oregon, patrol towing creates a direct burden on local police resources, paid for entirely by the taxpaying general population. This burden begins when the tow driver calls the police to report that he is towing a certain vehicle. Then there is the second call to the police, coming either when the vehicle owner finds her vehicle gone and is reporting it stolen, or when the vehicle owner returns to her vehicle and finds some surly stranger with a tow truck hooking it up. This driver is fully aware that either money changes hands at this moment, or he is wasting his time, about to drive off with an empty wallet. The third burden on police resources comes when at least one officer is called to the scene, and then anything can happen or might have already happened."
And the horror stories continue: (more…)