If you read the general internet it's all mobbed up guys stealing cars from law-abiding single mothers for no reason at all but then again if I believed the general public about parking violation enforcement here in germany I'd come to the conclusion they're the new jews.
So how bad is that whole privatized towing / enforcement thing, really? Is there an actual problem beyond "it's a private company" or is it mostly carbrain tears?
It's as bad as you've heard. They're pretty much cops without badges (some even carry guns) in how they target people who may or may not be able to afford the hundreds of dollars it would cost in order to get your car back from them. And that's if you can figure out a way to get to their base of operations if your only car was towed.
Yeah, usually hundreds of dollars a day cash only and the cops just let them hold your vehicle (Even if it was towed after an accident).
Your choices are lawyer up or pay and both are really expensive. I think it was about $400 for one day after I got t-boned and the cops called in a predatory lot.
I've also seen them intentionally trash cars. Like towing a RWD on the back tires with the parking brake engaged.
I don't mean this in an antagonizing way but the issue at it's core described here seems to be parking enforcement, aye? You wouldn't think of it any better if it was done by some department for no profit or whatever?
If it was done for no profit, but people's cars were still getting towed to out of the way places, it would still be a problem. Also if there was no profit motive than I don't think the predatory tow industry would exist.
Destroying public transportation, forcing workers who don’t have the luxury of burning 2 hours looking for a spot to use cars and find street parking, and empowering private entities to profit off parking regulations is bad, actually
They aren’t heroes crusading against carbrains, they’re glorified mall cops who would sell their own mother for an extra cent. Likewise, the city isn’t interested in curbing parking violations as doing so would deprive them of their revenue.
I know a barber who has to park illegally 9 times out of 10 because “sorry I’m late by an hour, I was looking for a spot” would cost them their job. It doesn’t matter if you fine them a billion dollars, they aren’t doing it for shits and giggles, they still have to come to work every day. The only solution is public transit.
And besides, I’d wager a majority of tows in American cities are not on behalf of the municipal government but of private lots for those who can’t afford to pay their extortion rates. They’re like landlords but for your car.
Parking enforcement in the USA isn’t about addressing problems (which it really can’t anyway, most poor drivers just learn the patrol patterns, and for the rich that’s just the price you pay to park there), it’s a business like any other. See the latest “barnacle” enforcement device NYC is using (they rent the bazinga gadget for thousands per month from a private company).
Haven't seen anyone else mention that if you can't pay within a certain time period, in many places the tow company can just sell your car and keep the profits. They don't have to pay you for the car they sold.
They're fucking evil, and I'm enraged that gunmen choose to shoot up schools when tow companies are right there
It very much depends on the city, and even the area of the city. The tow companies in my town are a menace and in a just world the owners would be executed, in a normal world where state and federal law actually apply equally they would’ve been arrested a long long time ago for stealing fucking cars.
They’ve been caught several times towing legally parked cars. They’ve towed from lots they’re not authorized to tow from. They’ve been caught colluding with apartment complexes mark parking sections badly so people will be towable. At least once they got in trouble for towing a car with the owner inside.
One time my friend went to a cafe, parked in the lot that clearly said “parking for cafe and x other businesses only,” and did homework for about an hour. Goes outside, car’s gone. Finds out which company towed her car, tells them they towed a legally parked car, they go “Nuh uh.” Contacts them again, they sent her a security camera video of some random woman walking on the sidewalk next to the cafe and say “This is you leaving! Money now.” The only way she managed to get her car back without paying was by getting her cop uncle to go with her to the tow yard and threaten them.
They are the scum of the earth, and it’s one of the few businesses where the lowest level workers are just as soulless and slimey as the owners. They’re sharks who prey mostly on people who can afford to have their car towed the least - You never see them towing a fancy sports car. I have no sympathy for tow company workers, I sincerely hope you get shot by a pissed off victim.
Note, this only applies to roam towing companies. There is also one tow company and owner-operators who do on-demand tows and jobs for things like AAA, those guys are quite nice and none of this applies to them. Sometimes a car needs to be towed somewhere.
At the very least tow company owners should be held liable to normal laws. “Accidentally” towing the wrong car is called theft and it’s a felony that gets a normal person put in prison.
they actually do fucking suck. All they do is drive around and ruin working people's day for their own pay-out, holding their cars hostage and charging arbitrary fines that cannot be contested. They hold your shit ransom. It's detestable.
Yep, it's not like wealthy people have to deal with this, they have the money to get a place with a garage. This is another one of those things where it costs money to be poor.
Would you feel differently about this if it was like a municipal thing? I.e. it's either run as a non profit or it's just whatever department is in charge of traffic violations that orders them to do whatever?
i've heard of tow truck companies and places with restricted parking (like apartment complexes) in texas doing the "we took it upon ourselves to tow your car because we thought it was parked incorrectly. you owe us $1500 for the tow and storage please and thank you" stories. that exact thing happened to a friend in california who didn't drive every day, so they didn't know their car had been towed from the apt complex, racking up storage fees, for several days.
there's also an issue of police responding to auto accidents and calling in tows for the damaged vehicles. typically, the tower uses special rates for police-initiated-tows that cost the drivers exorbitant rates. most of the tow truck drivers i've interacted with are simply workers, putting in long hours at a dangerous job, helping stressed people deal with a major financial burden. there are surely owner-operated tows out there looking eagerly for a juicy opportunity to ruin someone's day. i think some states have laws that prohibit towers from spontaneously offering their services to discourage "that's a nice car you got there. would be a shame if something happened and you needed a tow" situations, and the tow request must be initiated by the driver.
think that's everything i know about the tow truck industry
I had both my car and my wife's car towed in a single night from a private apt complex parking lot because I was too lazy to put my new registration stickers on. Both cars were up to date, just behind on the sticker application. I thankfully woke up and chased them down and was able to pay a "cheaper" unhook fee, aka a bribe for them not to drag our cars to a lot an hour away.
After that my wife's car needed some transmission lines replaced.
They only come on the last day of the month past midnight too, so they're not really doing anything for illegal parking.
I once saw a single mom with 3 kids return to the empty spot where her van was parked at like 11 in the night and had to go down and give her the tow company info. Its just a racket in most places. It makes sense in cities to clear out illegal parking that is legit dangerous, ie fire lanes, fire hydrants, limited street parking, etc. But when they're contracted with a private property, its almost always corrupt.
I read this story of a tow company near DC that is entirely in bed with the local government. They illegally tow legally parked cars all the time, fuck up cars, extort people, etc and never get more than a slap on the wrist. Just another mechanism where having money makes you exempt from laws.
Many moons ago, I lived in a gated apartment. It's a relatively safe complex so I usually park my car away from my actual apartment.
One night I made an honest mistake and forgot to check if my parking permit was visible. Well, they impounded my car.
I didn't know until five days later because I didn't really drive my car I'd rather bike or bus to work (and I didn't check my car because I thought it was safe)
I was never properly notified by the city or by the building manager my car was impounded (legally required in CA btw). I found out the hard way oddly enough, one night when I was walking to my car to do a weed and grocery run.
....lol I'm still in crippling debt from the loan I had to pull to get my car out of the lot.
Bonus points is that I finally got a letter from the city two months later saying my car was impounded, After i got my car back and paid the massive fees.
At the university nearest to where i live has been sicing their parking enforcement on homeless students living in their vehicles
Assuming the issue here is more the parking enforcement (or more like eviction) than who does it, aye?
Very true, doesn't make much of a difference on the one hand whether it is contracted out or done in house. My point is more thata significant portion of many tow companies work is essentially privatized pig work, and that many profit off of the imiseration of poor and vulnerable people
Story time: A local towing company is used rather extensively by a slumlord in town. When people raise too much of a stink about mold or rates going up, he'd call to have their cars illegally towed. It's not like someone making ~30k a year can do much about it. To add to this, that towing company is outfitted like a goddamn fort and upon retrieving your car you have to sign a document that absolves you from any attempts to sue or say anything particularly libelous (true) about the company.
As an added note, as ridiculous as carbrains are, capitalism has also made it so stuff like reliable parking and reasonable fines can be hard to come by in parts. If this was paired with better bus and train infrastructure, I wouldn't say a word.
One final note, there's a cheeky little tune about towing companies called Lincoln Park Pirates.
tow truck owners are heroic first responders and worthy of our respect! if it were not true, THE LORD would not have blessed them with his SIGN
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(the industry is plagued with institutional corruption, kickbacks, self-dealing, criminality. it's a legitimately scary threat to tell someone you're going to have their car towed by the worst asshole [1 star review x 100] you can find in the directory.)
The tow truck industry seems like it's in bad shape. If your car is disabled and you need a tow, they'll charge you a couple hundred bucks UNLESS it's through AAA or an insurance rider or something, in which case you might pay $50 or nothing. Parking lot tow fees are also a couple hundred. I figure it's like healthcare where systems for massive institutional purchases at massive discounts have made it pretty much impossible for small providers to get by, so they either get bought up by AAA or (not an option for medical) resort to, essentially, crime with private tow agreements.
Every tow driver I've met when purchasing a tow myself has been really nice, and the one that I met when being towed against my will (he wouldn't unhook the car or give me a ride to the tow lot) was an asshole. As far as urbanism goes, I think that tows of cars that are in the wrong place should just be to a nearby spot, and you should give them a regular income-scaled fine if necessary. When Chicago tows cars for nonpayment of parking fines, etc., most of the owners can never afford to pay the rapidly-accruing lot fees and eventually the cars are sold for pennies. It's regressive. But when the city tows cars because, e.g., they're filming a movie on the block, they just move them a couple blocks over and your "punishment" is having to walk around for a bit and find your car. They should do that everywhere.
Look, I've had my car towed because I parked it where it wasn't supposed to have been parked. Fair enough, I'll pay the fee to get my car back.
But did they really have to steal the sunglasses that I owned for 10+ years and had traveled around the world in, that had one lense that was severely chipped? They were completely worthless and had only sentimental value. They stole them anyway.
Every time I've had a car towed for a mechanical failure, the driver is extremely happy to be actually helping someone for a change.
I've heard of maybe a couple people having their car towed in my life. Granted, I avoid downtowns of major cities, which is where that might happen.
