could you sue towing company for improperly towing your car

[alevasseur14]

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Did you read my last post?

 

[Rifter]

x 2

Did you read my last post?

negative, till you posted this. I was in a hurry and at work, i see you covered pretty much everything

Its amazing how many people are like ill just put my ebrake on and they cant tow me, yeah sure buddy keep telling yourself that lol.

 

[alevasseur14]

negative, till you posted this. I was in a hurry and at work, i see you covered pretty much everything

Its amazing how many people are like ill just put my ebrake on and they cant tow me, yeah sure buddy keep telling yourself that lol.

Well, a lot of the things I hear (and I'm sure you do as well) are pretty shocking. But, that's the business and sometimes a wacky comment or request will just make my day.

What area do you work in?

 

[Rifter]

I work in Langley BC, Canada. We have all the auto club and the city/police contact so we get alot of interesting work/MVA's from the police.

 

[alevasseur14]

I work in Langley BC, Canada. We have all the auto club and the city/police contact so we get alot of interesting work/MVA's from the police.

Same here. We have the county sheriff and West St Paul. It's kind of hard to define a "normal" day.

 

[coxmaster]

dude think about that for a second, lockouts are easaly 30% of a tow truck comapanies business. They could pop the lock in 30 seconds if the driver knows what he is doing, 5 min if he doesnt. Or just put it on dollies. Its not going to do anything to slow them down.

Yeah, I realize that now. Completely hadn't thought of that

Its amazing how many people are like ill just put my ebrake on and they cant tow me, yeah sure buddy keep telling yourself that lol.

I'm not looking to find a way to avoid being towed. Ive never had a problem with it, just making conversation.


Just for the record, i have seen a FWD car being towed with the back wheels locked. They were just sliding across the pavement for about 3 miles before they eventually broke loose and started moving. Apparently not every tow company cares as much as others..

 

[Vette73]

Yeah, I realize that now. Completely hadn't thought of that


I'm not looking to find a way to avoid being towed. Ive never had a problem with it, just making conversation.


Just for the record, i have seen a FWD car being towed with the back wheels locked. They were just sliding across the pavement for about 3 miles before they eventually broke loose and started moving. Apparently not every tow company cares as much as others..

Correct. Like all business there are good and bad.
The bad are usually the ones that have contracts in HOAs or apartments so they get paid by towing by any means.
Ones that have contracts with the city or a large/good business will usually do a good job. I worked at one so that is what I was basing my "don't f__k up a car or you will pay for it..." experiance on.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Yea in that situation pretty much I belive they are not liable for damages.

Nope, they're still required to operate with due care under the circumstances. While the city would probably not have any liability, the towing company absolutely would. It's not at all out of line to expect a towing company to know how to safely tow cars without damaging them and they'd be held to that standard in tort claims. I suppose they could make an argument of contributory negligence on the part of the person parking in the no-parking zone, but I don't see that getting very far because while the car being towed is reasonably foreseeable, a court would likely consider that improper towing would not be reasonably foreseeable.

Now, you'd need to have the car checked out within a reasonable amount of time; three months would be stretching things, but 2-3 weeks probably wouldn't be. The reasonableness of how long it took to discover the damage is really a judgment call by the court.

ZV

 

[Zenmervolt]

dude think about that for a second, lockouts are easaly 30% of a tow truck comapanies business. They could pop the lock in 30 seconds if the driver knows what he is doing, 5 min if he doesnt. Or just put it on dollies. Its not going to do anything to slow them down.

Dollies yes. However, any attempt to enter the vehicle would be a criminal act. If they popped the lock to release the parking brake, they'd be leaving themselves open to a criminal charge. (Whether such a charge is actually pursued in practice is another matter altogether, and I'd guess that most people don't press the issue, but the act is, at minimum, a trespass tort and in many places would technically fall under statutory codes for criminal trespass.)

ZV

 

[alphatarget1]

Neighbors STI was towed with by a conventional truck back in college, destroyed the differential, etc and other things. Truck company told him it was his fault because he was parked without a permit, they didn't know his dad is one of the highest profile attorneys in socal.

Needless to say, he got a brand new STI with the settlement money.

That's awesome. Pwnage at its best.

 

[simonizor]

If you live in NYC, nope. You are liable for all damages if you are towed by the city. NYC will make you go through your insurance - don't have that kind of coverage? Too bad.

I don't see how that's in any way legal.

 

[drinkmorejava]

alevasseur14, how do you pop the lock on something like bmw. Don't you have to royally screw up the window to get in?

 

[alevasseur14]

alevasseur14, how do you pop the lock on something like bmw. Don't you have to royally screw up the window to get in?

Not if you're good. A tower's lockout kit has just about every imaginable tool you need to get into any vehicle.

 

[T2urtle]

most cars you just need 2 plastic wedges, that inflatble pad and a long enough rod to hit the unlock button.

Ive done some in the past. I feared the frameless window ones but everyone said they were cake to do. Which they are in theory... just dont know how it is in the field.

 

[jteef]

my bmw was flatbedded once; tow company used my suspension to strap the car down and bent the rear lower wishbones significantly. They paid to get them replaced, but it was definitely a hassle.

Another time i paid to get my car towed and the clown who came out wanted to strap it down the same way. The dude wanted to fight me over my insistence he use the wheels. Ultimately he did and everything was fine.

 

[Rifter]

my bmw was flatbedded once; tow company used my suspension to strap the car down and bent the rear lower wishbones significantly. They paid to get them replaced, but it was definitely a hassle.

Another time i paid to get my car towed and the clown who came out wanted to strap it down the same way. The dude wanted to fight me over my insistence he use the wheels. Ultimately he did and everything was fine.

Anyone who uses any kinds of aluminum control arms to strap to is an idiot. Wheel straps are the way to go, so much less chance of damage.

 

[Rifter]

Dollies yes. However, any attempt to enter the vehicle would be a criminal act. If they popped the lock to release the parking brake, they'd be leaving themselves open to a criminal charge. (Whether such a charge is actually pursued in practice is another matter altogether, and I'd guess that most people don't press the issue, but the act is, at minimum, a trespass tort and in many places would technically fall under statutory codes for criminal trespass.)

ZV

This wopuld depend on why the vehicle is being removed, if the police/city are having it removed they will usually give you authorization to enter the vehicle if needed, most of the time they are having it removed they will have to enter and search it themselves just to follow there own procedure. Abandoned vehicles for example they must check the trunk for bodies before allowing it to be towed. For Private impounds though you are not allowed to enter, you woould have to dolly it, or if it was to close to the curb to dolly then skate it up a deck.

 

[Zenmervolt]

This wopuld depend on why the vehicle is being removed, if the police/city are having it removed they will usually give you authorization to enter the vehicle if needed, most of the time they are having it removed they will have to enter and search it themselves just to follow there own procedure. Abandoned vehicles for example they must check the trunk for bodies before allowing it to be towed. For Private impounds though you are not allowed to enter, you woould have to dolly it, or if it was to close to the curb to dolly then skate it up a deck.

That would make sense, especially for abandoned vehicles. I think there may be an unreasonable search argument available for non-abandoned vehicles even when the city is having it towed, but like I said before I rather doubt that anyone would really explore that avenue in practice (high cost, no real benefit).

Damnit, now I want to scour law review articles to see if I can find any theories on this.

ZV

 

[imagoon]

@coxmaster: that's a pretty common occurrence. If the vehicle owner isn't there to take the parking break off, we will simply unlock the door using our ninja skills and take the parking break off.

How does that work out with the cars that have electric parking brakes? Not joking either. It was all the rage at the Chicago auto show this year. The parking brake was a button... you clicked it and you heard a whir and a click and the brake was set. It couldn't be disengaged without the key in the 'on' position.

 

[alevasseur14]

How does that work out with the cars that have electric parking brakes? Not joking either. It was all the rage at the Chicago auto show this year. The parking brake was a button... you clicked it and you heard a whir and a click and the brake was set. It couldn't be disengaged without the key in the 'on' position.

Haven't come across that yet. Interesting. In that case, however, you'd simply dolly the car or pull it up on the bed. People don't like that option too much, though. Snow works wonders to get a car up, as does dish soap in the spring/summer/fall.

 

[LiveWire305]

I'm the owner of Alpha Omega Towing LLC. in Miami and I've been in incident with customers before but its nothing insurance cant handle. Just contact consumer services or DMV, im sure they'll shape up.

Your first post on this forum and it's to bump an 18-month old thread with an improperly formatted link to your business? Not a good way to make a positive first impression. Link removed.

Zenmervolt - AnandTech Moderator

 

[Doppel]

I'm the owner of Alpha Omega Towing LLC. in Miami and I've been in incident with customers before but its nothing insurance cant handle. Just contact consumer services or DMV, im sure they'll shape up.

lol

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Zenmervolt - AnandTech Moderator

 

[exar333]

I'm the owner of Alpha Omega Towing LLC. in Miami and I've been in incident with customers before but its nothing insurance cant handle. Just contact consumer services or DMV, im sure they'll shape up.

Love the name.

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Zenmervolt - AnandTech Moderator