I once had my car towed to an auto body repair shop - this after an accident. The tow truck driver and the autobody repair shop apparently had special relationship. My insurance company recommended I use one of their preferred repair shops. So I called the repair shop and let them know I would be sending a tow truck to pick up my car. Next day at the new repair shop I discovered that my stereo and other things were missing. The first repair shop blamed it on the tow truck driver. I eventually won a judgment including three times damages from the first repair shop. By obtaining timestamps from the tow company and from the second repair shop, I was able to demonstrate that it would have been impossible for the tow truck driver to ransack and pillage my car between the pick up and drop off locations.
I had similar in the UK. My car was stolen and found by the police, first I heard qfterwards was notification they they'd had it recovered and had it towed to a local Ford dealer. I went up to see it immediately, and except for the break-in damage it was OK bodyside, and still had multiple items of personal property in. I wasn't allowed to open it, or get my loose personal items because "procedure", and the garage's tame cop seconded this. So I had a look at it, and so did my insurer's agent who happened to be immediately available. Get a call next day, I can touch it now. Get there, more damage to other locks (i never let them have keys), all my personal stuff missing, radio ripped out etc. Excuse me, what's this? Oh, it's just been recovered, that's how it came in. No I was here yesterday, and it wasn't like this. Fortunately the insurance guy had made both a written record and taken a few photos. I never got my stuff back, but the insurers leant on the garage, and I got paid through them. Same place did similar to a friend of mine, broke into and ransacked his car in the hour being it being towed from the site of a minor accident and him arriving there after finding it hadn't been taken where he'd instructed. And they told him it had probably been joyriden.
@@musicloverme3993 not by me at least, and I know they're still in business, and still known as a shower of crooks. But I think the insurers took notice.
This reminds The Werefrog of a story where one woman's mom thought she controlled everything in that woman's life. She wound up taking the daughter's car (daughter in 20s), and when the daughter went back to get it, the mom took the daughter's driver's license and destroyed it. It went to court, and the judge looked at the basis of the case and asked if the DA if he didn't have anything better to do than prosecute some case where a mom was disciplining her daughter after the defense attorney made it out to be that case. Then the DA pointed out the daughter lived on her own, was in her 20s, and auto theft and destruction of property doesn't matter if the people are related or not.
The Daughter needs to divorce herself of the Mom in so many ways & under the threat of calling the PoPo if the Mom tries again. I just wonder how much backbone the Daughter has?
Oh, I remember reading this on Reddit! Once the judge learned the daughter’s age, he was shocked and immediately ruled in the daughter’s favor. I forget what the mom’s punishment was, but she didn’t get off scot-free
I used to work with a guy who was a gear head... he got in a medium accident (no injuries, other car had body damage, he ended up on the curb and cracked his oil pan, so his car had to be towed) - Got the car back a couple days later (was going to fix the oil pan at home), and THOUSANDS of dollars of custom parts were removed / replaced with generic stock parts. He sued, and lost because the court said he couldn't prove that the parts he had the receipts for were in that car, or that the tow company were the ones to steal them even if they were in the car. A few years later he got in another slight accident (he got rear ended at a stoplight, not his fault) and spent over an hour crawling around in and under the car photographing every inch of the car / engine / undercarriage. The cop on the scene was threatening to throw an obstruction charge at him for "interfering with an investigation"... says he told the cop to go ahead if it means he doesn't get screwed by the towing company / garage again and explained what the last judge had said. The cop (in a pissy mood) let him finish, but kept mocking him for being "paranoid" the whole time.
This would have been a great time to have GPS on your vehicle with locator services as the person could have tracked the vehicles use and actually gone and just reclaimed the car; this raises a big liability issue in the case of an accident while it was under the care, custody, and control of the tow company. If the towing company is using your car and charging you storage fees one would wonder if you could turn around and charge them a rental fee.
I'd have taken it back on the sly, garaged it somewhere, and just waited around to see what they had to say. Then gone after them for conversion/rental.
I agree. I would think a rental fee of three times market value for every day the vehicle was in the tow service's custody should be part of the judgement, since they "rented" it without the owner's knowledge or permission.
Couldn't the lawyer supena their phones. It would have to be a surprise order while they were being interrogated for theft. Google tracks your driving and or location of your phone as you drive around town.
A couple of years ago my service truck was totaled by a red light runner. The tow truck driver tried everything to get me to let him take it to his storage yard. He tried to tell me that I'd get in trouble with my company for taking it to my house. Nope, I'd already called the owner and they were ok with it. Then he claimed the insurance wouldn't pay off if they didn't keep it in their "secure" lot. They were "about to close" for the evening but I'd be free to come by in the morning to grab my stuff. I kept refusing and made him drop it off at my property where I could keep an eye on it. He insisted that the engine wouldn't work after being rolled over and it would be in the way. I told him, it was no problem. I own a fork lift big enough to move it if I need to. He finally caved in and dropped blocking the middle of my driveway rather than where I asked him to put it. As soon as he left I moved it to a more secure spot. I know there are honest tow companies, I used to drive a tow truck myself. Even so I have zero doubt that my tools would have mysteriously disappeared overnight if I'd let them take it.
My son totaled our 2005 pontiac montana minivan (texting while driving) about four months ago. It was towed to a storage lot and the next day I called a scrap yard, was offered 350.00 for the minivan which was more than I was expecting so I accepted the offer. The scrap yard went to the storage lot the next day to get the car and my son met him there to hand over the keys and title. Three weeks later I get a letter from the storage yard saying I owed XXXX.xx in storage fees and they were going to contact the bank I had a loan with on the vehicle (we didn't have a loan, car had been paid off since 2008), sell the car to recover their fees if I didn't pay up. So I called, explained that the car left their storage lot two days after the accident. The lady put me on hold and then a guy picked up the call so I told him the same thing. He put me on hold, came back, apologized, said the letter was a mistake, and because I was being honest with him he said I only owed him 200 for the tow. I asked why did you send out this threatening letter? Again, he said it was a mistake. I highly doubt it. They had no idea that the car wasn't even on their lot
I owned a tow company for 12 years. Every vehicle that we impounded listed the location of disablement, time of tow and the mileage at the time the vehicle was impounded. The police accident report would have also had this information notated in the accident report. The only time myself or an employee would gain access to the vehicle would have been to allow the customer to pickup personal effects, the insurance adjuster to inspect, and possibly if the vehicle sat for a period of time greater than a month, to move into the long term storage lot. Having stated that, the mileage would have been notated on an official government document, (the accident report and the tow slip).
@@norml.hugh-mann From accident tows, very rarely was anything removed from the vehicle unless it was by the customer. Impound tows, you'd always get the person that wasn't happy about paying the tow and storage bill, so whatever they could claim as missing, they figured make the tow guy pay. The nice thing about digital cameras, you document everything. Police impounds were inventoried by the police officer requesting the tow. Those cars went into a smaller fenced in area that myself and the lot manager had keys to. Pay the bill, we unlock the lot, you get your car. I had a couple of weekend break-ins over the years. Aftermarket stereos and GM rally wheels on two occasions. The thieves were caught from video footage and their license number.
@@gungadinn You have a weird definition of "rarely". From the one accident I had that required a tow and from friends and family, your chances of having things stolen out of your car is about 75%, tow drivers are crooked AF.
@@Skank_and_Gutterboy I guess you haven't met the right tow company. I had close to a million dollars tied up in equipment. Being licensed to do police towing only opened up once or twice in 10 years for my area, so I did what I could to protect my interest. That's why pictures were taken of vehicle condition and any loose valuables were bagged and placed in the office with vehicle ID and tow slip #. Unlike some lots, the only way you could access your car was by presenting photo ID, then you would be escorted to the car. I can't speak for every tow company and I shouldn't have to. That was them, I'm me. If someone claimed items were missing, the pictures were reviewed showing what was inventoried by us. Anything else, talk to the police as they may have removed them before the tow. People that attempt scamming tow companies are crooked AF. They're pissed their car or truck was towed and they have to pay to get it back. My rates were set by the county and state. $85 for a tow (distance to my lot, $3.00 a mile if being towed elsewhere) $15 for the first 24 hours storage, then $15 each calendar day. Cash only unless going to a body shop that had an account with me. In the event that one of my drivers stole, and it was proven, he'd be fired.
The 🐑 🐑 that voted to give power to narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths to be their masters have no one to blame but themselves for the shit show..💯💯 And I bet this woman played the stupid game of voting.. 😂😂
I have a buddy that due to being impaired, had his car towed and impounded for the mandatory 30 days. After the 30 days when he’s gotten his car back, about a week later, he gets some traffic citations in the mail, then more over the next couple days. 5 citations in total covering 4 days, the 4 days in question were right in the middle of the 30 days impound. He gets all the citations tossed by going to court, showing his receipt for the dates of impound etc. But... he cannot get an answer from anyone on how his impounded vehicle is caught on photo radar & photo redlight camera’s . He tried questioning the tow company, tried getting cops involved, then when his court date for the citations came up he tried to get answers thru the magistrate. No one cares! Then there’s smaller issues. He has no idea of what the odometer read at time of tow nor when it was released. He didn’t know and it’s not recorded on the impound slip. The car doesn’t have gps tracking. So he has no idea just who or how his car was being driven, but since there’s 5 tickets it’s safe to assume it wasn’t being driven gently. You’d think he could demand answers? But the cops won’t question the tow yard, since they work together, or because what if it was a cop? I posed the question; what if the cops used your vehicle to do uncover drug busts/buys? Then after they make arrests, he could have some pissed off drug dealer looking for his car to exact some revenge?
The cops don't care, they just pass it off as a civil matter. They don't want to do any actual police work that costs them money. They just want to do patrol work and issue tickets that raise them money.
I am a tow truck driver and it's often customers don't want to give me keys for this reason. All my tows are voluntary and I tell them to take a picture of the odometer if they are worried and to expect a little distance if the vehicle is drivable as I'll drive it onto the truck or the repair facility will need to drive it around.
@@8000RPM. uh. No. Not anymore. This isn't the 70s where anybody can crawl under a car and unhook a speedometer cable. New cars are all sensor based speedometers. Sensors that aren't too easy to get to in most cases.
@@8000RPM. That's where I would sue for damages. I have an oddball 4x4 where the speedo is plugged into the transfercase and while there's a way to undo the other end, it's not user accessible. Then there's the upgrades I have in place with sensors that make the engine misbehave. Towing company knows better than to mess with it.
Our new in 1994 mini van was in a place in Arizona called Earnhardt Dodge for warranty work. When we dropped it off it had a full tank of gas and I always write down the miles. The repair involved a power window part so there is no reason it should be moved except in to the shop. At the time it only had 1500 miles on it. The repair took two days due to it being so new they had to wait for a part from the factory. Fine we had no issue with that. They gave us a loaner. We did have a big problem when we picked it up and discovered it had almost 200 more miles on it than when we dropped it off. Also there were McDonald's and candy wrappers on the floor. There was a food stain on the passenger seat and some soda pop or coffee had been spilled in the cup holder. My wife was really pissed. She stormed in to the General manager's office. We had just bought it a month earlier. He went out to the service department with her. He went inside to speak to the service writer. She could hear him yelling. Turned out they used our van to deliver and pick up parts to and from their other dealerships including some fenders and engine parts. Obviously whomever was driving it ate a lot given all the wrappers. The service manager was the culprit who told the parts runner to just grab some keys and take a vehicle from the line that were waiting on parts. They paid us a buck a mile. Filled the gas tank. Detailed the entire van and gave us free oil changes for as long as we own the van. We ran it to over 100K miles.
I suspect that my recently repaired car got sent on a few errands as part of its "test" drive. I'm still working to get the dealer to finish the repair job they supposedly completed, though. And the prices of the repairs -- !!!
About 25 years ago, I had a vehicle repo'ed for non-payment. I redeemed the vehicle, as per the instructions in the redemption letter they sent me -- but it took me about 3 weeks to get the money together. So when I went to pick up the vehicle, literally *EVERYTHING* they could take (without unbolting stuff) from that vehicle was stolen -- even the spare tire. Of course they had the gall to tell me that's how it was when they got it. I didn't have the money for a lawyer, and no lawyer I called would take it on contingency, because it was literally the towing/storage company's word against mine. How many people did they do that to?! Your vehicle goes to auction literally *RANSACKED,* and gets sold for far less than it otherwise would have -- which is already a ripoff because auctions *NEVER* actually get the full value for the car anyway. Ridiculous!!
That's what you get when you buy what you can't afford; a product that doesn't belong to you but you are responsible for and the actual ownert can endlessly increase cost of the product as the value goes down....and who's representative will ignore that laws if they ever get possession of the vehicle. I won't finance
@@norml.hugh-mann congratulations for being financially stable enough to never need to finance a vehicle, you can just muster up thousands of dollars at once without taking out a loan. a large majority of Americans aren't as lucky as you.
@@norml.hugh-mann So if you can't afford a car payment, then you deserve to let your car get ransacked? Not everyone has thousands of dollars to drop on a car, and not everyone wants to drive a shitbox forever.
Years ago my sister had her minivan stolen from the parking lot of a mall while Christmas shopping. The police found the car within hours and had it towed to an impound lot but didn't tell anyone. 2 weeks later she got a $700 bill from the towing company. In the meantime, the windows were left open in December. The van was written off and she didn't have to pay the $700
Got a "Photo Speed ticket" in Arizona when I was visiting/working there about 10 years ago. (Lower Speed Limit Sign and Camera were on the same "sand bagged post") Included was a fuzzy 2AM photo of someone (possibly me) behind the wheel. The letter showed the Amount of the Fine, and a Request to; "Please Provide a Copy of Your Drivers License to Prove that this is You" I other words - "Please Prove Yourself Guilty and Send Us The Bread PDQ !" Didn't happen, and 4 months later Arizona Outlawed and Dismissed all Photo Ticketing & Tickets.
Maybe they should get better cameras. Where I am they can show a very good photo of the driver. In fact many years ago my mother tried to pay a fine I had inadvertently gained while driving her car. She tried to take the penalty and they refused to accept it saying it clearly wasn't an elderly woman driving, but some dashing young and handsome ner' do well!
Really, cause Chicago’s scammy red light and speed cameras seem to be operated from Arizona, they delay sending you the notice so they get to double the fine when your payment doesn’t reach them in time. Big racket, Chicago city of thieves, if its not the city fcking you over it will be three thugs stealing your car while your washing it on your driveway or robbing you while your walking to the store. One of their favorites hunting grounds is the parking lots of gyms.
Chicago LOVES its red light cameras. When they were being installed the mayor had the traffic lights reprogrammed so that the amount of time the light was yellow was incredibly short. So short that unless you were doing the speed limit AND at the intersection at the exact moment the light turned yellow there was NO POSSIBLE way for you to drive thru the intersection before the light turned red and you rec'd a ticket. So tickets were mailed out and you only have seven days to either pay it or contest it. After seven days city law requires a second notice be mailed but the city decided to skip that step and just mail out notices that you are now guilty and have no choice but to pay the ticket. So people banded together and sued the city and a judge threw out every ticket because chicago did not send out a second notice. So chicago doubled down and mailed out the second notices and once again people went to court and the court told chicago, "Nope, you blew it when you skipped mailing the second notices the first time around." The city did reprogram the lights with a longer yellow but again unless you are at the intersection there is a very VERY slim chance you will make it thru before the light turns red. So I crawl thru the city when I am unlucky enough to go there. They will not get a dime from me.
Makes me wonder. You hear the tales on reddit where someone steals someone else's car, and the legal owner sees it in a parking lot or something, and still has their spare keys, and just repossesses their own car. If your car had been towed and was being kept 'safe' in impound, but you found it by your local mall, and still had your keys - what would be the legalities. If nothing else, you'd give a heart attack to the guy who wasn't supposed to be driving your car. Lucy would have some 'splainin to do.
Something similar I remember reading in the palladium item happened like this. A towing company took the wrong car and refused to give it back unless the guy paid the towing bill. End up in court and when the owner finally won and got the car back he refused delivery. They rack up 25,000 miles and had a severe oil leak and two Pistons were blown.
Today most road tolls are also automated and changed to the vehicle. The tow company needs to be charged all the bills and the retail daily rental fee for the use of the truck.
@@jorejaha $5-10,000 for the smoke contaminated interior which is the cost of cleaning hard surfaces & replacing seats, headlinings, sound deadening panels & everything else porous.
Having to pay the retail value of a similar rental vehicle is not enough to discourage this happening in the future. That is like asking a thief to just give the stuff back when they get caught.
I took my pickup to a transmission service garage for transmission rebuild. When I got the vehicle back, there was sand on the seat and floorboards, and a fishing pole left inside. Other than that, no problems, and the billed amount seemed very good. So, with a smile and a wink, I asked him if he had any success on the test drive as I handed him back the fishing pole.
@@rossk4864 I would have said, "Funny thing. I guess I forgot my fishing pole in the truck. Silly me. Looks like I'm headed to the lake!" At that point they would have had to explain why their fishing pole was in your truck or lose it. Since its in your truck, its assumed to be yours until proven otherwise right? Not sure how that works legally.
@@eatngobstoppers215 Well, I'm a bit of slow thinker on my feet! But, all in all, the guy did the rebuilt for about 5/8's the cost quoted by Aamco, and it operated like a brand-new tranny, so to me, finding the fishing pole and sand was amusing and I had my little bit of fun with it instead of coming down too hard on the guy :)
I guess it depends on how far you live from the coast. Where I am, it's a good 1.5-2 hours to the gulf coast, so I think I would have had more to say in that situation.
So first it was an un-needed tow due to the truck being drivable. Then they play the shell game and won't give it back because someone us using it and racking up tickets. Sounds like a good lawsuit. Take the truck to a mechanic right away and have them attest whether it was drivable. Get the police persons name in the accident scene and subpoena them for their reasoning as to why it was towed.
Depending on what kind of accident it was, if the driver took an ambulance ride or was otherwise incapacitated it would be towed regardless of its condition. I've towed cars and has cars that looked perfectly fine be undriveable due to unseen damage to the suspension/undercarriage. But if she went to claim the car she should have at least been given access to it for inspection. That is where the story truly takes the bad turn.
@@Eidolon1andOnly Yes, I am that old. Any chance yours comes from a whiny ex daddy's boy with a dodgy pig-sticker and an even more dubious recreational preference for his Boyz?
Steve, did you hear about the antique soviet biplane that was used by a Cuban guy to escape to Florida? Its similar to this story because while the pilot was still in ICE custody, his valuable antique airplane was involved in a crash near Miami. The crash was all over the Miami channel 10 news when it happened, then not one more word about it. Everyone assumes it was crashed by cops joyriding in the plane, and this is why the story has been silenced. Can you find out any more about it? Like maybe who was rescued from the crash site and if they were law enforcement personnel?
@@shadowfan115 It would still be his property, even if it is here illegally. It would have to be returned as he was removed. If they crashed it, he can still sue, even if kicked out of the country. Though suing from Cuba may be difficult.
Important for everyone if your vehicle is being towed and you are present photograph the vehicle inside and out specially the inside and contents. Some companies and their drivers have a habit of "losing" things of value or that they find desirable. Also photograph your odometer so you can prove miles as you vehicle shouldn't be accruing miles beyond a very limited amount associated with any repairs.
Yes and no. The problem with evidence in court is that it has to be vetted otherwise it's just hearsay. Who is to say when you've made these pictures? You need to have a way which is recognizable in court. I'm thinking at least a signature from the tow truck driver (I know some even have the mileage on the official report).
My company used a date, time stamp and gps photo app for all our photos. When dropping a vehicle off for maintenance or repairs I clean it out of all items I don’t want to see go missing as a precaution.
This reminds me of a story that happened to my mom. She got carjacked at gunpoint, the criminal crashed the car into a tree after a chase, and the car was sent to the scrapyard. Then somebody steals the plate from the junkyard and puts it in their own car. That person then proceeds to park illegally every single day and gets a ticket every single day. All those tickets got forwarded to my mom. There was nothing she could do. She went to court and got them to void them, but more tickets kept coming in that had to be individually voided. She went to the police officer writing the tickets and she refused to stop writing them (presumably since it was helping her meet quota to have a free violation every day). I don’t know what you’re supposed to do in that situation.
On this side of the world, you can report the plates stolen and cancel the registration. Also, the vehicle description has to match the plates and parking officers both have the facility and are expected to check the description, and if the vehicle description does not match the plates, they have to investigate further. Traffic officers can confiscate illegally affixed plates from the vehicle and return them to the registration authorities.
Good morning, Steve. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I appreciate your show because of the low tech construction of it as well as your down-to-earth way of speaking about legal issues.
I don't think towing to the moon and back is that cheap. They left the moon buggy up there from the early 70's. The parking fines it's accumulating up there must be "astronomical"....for lack of a better word. 😁
When I look in a telescope and see that junk car up there I will definitely believe they went there! But you shouldn’t believe it just because I told you I seen it with my own eyes. Always remember governments lie
Years ago I took my car to a dealership to have it serviced. I saw my car being driven around and found they were using it to go get parts used by the dealership. When I confronted them they said they were just test driving my car. Really for an oil change!
Many toll roads don’t even have an option to pay in person anymore. I rented a moving van, and could not pay in person or online because I wasn’t the owner. I tried for two months to pay online with the moving vans plates. And of course the moving van company finally billed me for it along with a surcharge.
A few years ago I got a few parking offence tickets and a notice of my car being on the road without a Valid MOT, Insurance, and road Tax. The odd thing was that my car was currently in the garage for a repair and service.
I left my car at Heathrow airport for 10 days with a meet and greet company (in the UK this means they meet you and take your car and store it off-site then bring it back to meet you on your return). This company's publicised safe storage was 5 miles from the airport but when the car came back it had 90 miles more on the clock as well as being smothered in brick dust.
Interestingly, this has also been a big issue in the Netherlands. Many fraudulent companies exist. The advice is to do diligent research on them and only use recognized parties.
Steve, In Illinois we have mostly gone to an automated toll system. It will either scan the IPass in your front window as you go by or simply bill the owner of the car based on a picture taken of the plates. Many toll areas no longer have a place for people to physically pay the toll, or if they do it is down to one or two lanes mostly used by semi trucks. It is good to know that this is happening, thanks for covering it.
Tolls may be "different". That case, it is the "car" that is going through the toll, so the owner would be liable for the "car" utilizing the road. But not paying tolls will lose you a friend that lent you a car REAL quick.
Ohio has an "unauthorized use of a motor vehicle" law, as many states do. The use of the vehicle by a shop, impound lot's employees, or even a friend or family member without permission falls under this law. I knew a family who had their own son charged with this after he took their car and wrecked it.
I was the supervisor of a Motor Pool at a Federal Government facility. The vehicles were checked out to employees to perform their work off campus as needed. The plates were in the GSA leasing system and somehow GSA tied my name to ownership. The occasional red light and speed camera tickets were processed in my name...Luckily, I was finally able to get GSA to link the agency and not me personally. I did have to go after the users to pay their violations, though.
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq We had that at my office (before I retired). A speeding ticket came for a car that was supposedly in the secure car park under the building. No one would own up to driving the vehicle until the manager ruled that vehicle use would be "by the book" from there on. One of the staff then spoke up and suggested he had actually taken a different vehicle to the one he signed out...
@@OzzieKev He was heading towards being the most unpopular man in the department???? Now he only looks stupid...or a bit shifty? Bit like a family friend who got the despatch manager's job at a liquor warehouse with a theft problem ex the delivery trucks. The first day, the first load, he had the driver right beside him checking on all the liquor being loaded. He then said "You watched and checked that eveything on your manifest was there and loaded. Sign at the bottom of the sheet. All that is now your responsibility and each of the recipients will check off and countersign goods received. Anything that falls off the back of the truck you will be your financial responsibility i.e you will pay for." The driver objected to this and was told bluntly.. "No signee, no jobbee..." He (and all the other drivers) signed...and there was no more "theft" ex truck. And they all lived happily ever after...
Germany has very strict privacy laws, such that their speed cameras automatically blur the face of anyone in the right front seat. Someone with a Brit spec car was constantly speeding and running lights because he knew this. Being Germans, I'm sure they eventually caught him with mark 1 eyeball and took away all his toys.
Same here in Finland too. And automated speeding tickets require that picture of the driver is recognizable. And if driver, let's say is a young female and owner of the car is an old man, ticket is off course void. Police can investicate who driver was. If driver is a close member of the family by law owner need not to assist in investication nor wittness against a family member. So most of tickets that have no valid picture are dissmissed... And here is not a good idea to pay the tickets that you get as owner of the vehicle, because it is considered admitting the guilt. A father got automated speeding tickets for he's vehicles driven by familymembers. They paid the tickets on his name. When enough tickets had accumalated on "his license" even he was not behind the wheel, he lost temporary his driving license. Even he tried to appeal later and pictures wittnessed that he was not driving. The time of appeal (30 days normally) had run out...
I'm a single guy but I have two cars. I keep the old one when I buy a new one. And I've loaned the old car to a friend to teach her kids how to drive. Loaned it to my brother for the same reason. When people fly in to visit me and don't get a rental, I tell 'em "use the 2nd car--keys are in it" if they want to wander around the city without me. In the grand scheme it doesn't amount to a lot of driving, but why on earth should I be on the hook for tolls or speeding or red-light tickets incurred without ever identifying the driver? It's beyond ridiculous that this is allowed in this country. Fortunately, I live in a state where it is flat illegal to issue tickets by red light or speeding camera.
I had a van repo'd once, and when I got it back the following week, it was filthy. I found an empty bottle of some cheap shit champagne, and some of it had been spilled on the carpeting. My sister (who is a lawyer) called the towing company's attorney, and I got a check by fedex the following day for $500 to make me go away. That covered the detailing pretty well.
I had my car towed from an accident once. I refused to give the keys to the company after locking the vehicle. They were unhappy, but still towed the car to the repair place I had specified. I came the next day to provide the keys to the repair place after agreeing to the repair process.
As for why the vehicle was towed from the scene but was still drivable, I have two words: Inertia Switch. If the impact was severe enough to trip the inertia switch (hidden under the dash, but easy to find if you know where to look) it is not drivable by the layman, but someone in the auto industry it would take about 20 seconds to reset the switch.
For people who don't know what the inertia switch is, it cuts off fuel in case of an accident. When your teen driver says, "It won't start." try this switch first. If it clicks and the car now starts, ask them what they hit. :) It really irritates me that tow truck drivers, who should know about this, would rather charge for a tow and storage than take 20 seconds to try resetting this switch.
I stopped at a minor traffic accident to see if anyone needed help. Everyone was okay but one car would not start so I told her to pop the trunk. I pulled back the carpeting and found the fuel cut off switch. It had actuated because she was bumped from behind. Reset the switch and she was able to drive away. NO tow company is going to tell you about this, they would rather charge you for the tow
I'm so tired of these scammers, too many , such greedy people. I would have called the police if I wasn't allowed to get personal items out of the car.
Back in the late 50's I recalled reading an article on "Pop Mechanics" about a guy in Phoenix who won a case against Arizona State Police for issuing a speeding citation against him from an automated radar/camera speed trap. The state court ruled that it was a violation of his 4th and 5th Amendment rights in that to get out of the ticket he would have to testify against a family member (son) to shift the blame. There is also a Pennsylvania State Supreme Court ruling from the mid 70's that states that a license plate number can only be used as Prima Facia Evidence for a simple parking ticket, For moving violations and other criminal offences, the license plate number can only be used as an investigative lead.
in Australia, when we receive speeding fines (or any vehicle related) there is a spot on the form to 'nominate' another person who may have been driving the vehicle at the time of the fine...
In Wisconsin where I worked as an officer before I retired there is a law "Operating a Motor Vehicle without Owners Consent". That way you don't have to prove theft.
Simpler than "unlawfully converts to own use"... i.e. they had a legitimate reason (say authorised borrowing for X days) but failed to return it...which then "converts" colour of law to unlawful.. not theft if they 'intended to return the vehicle to the owner in the same condition as when borrowed" but theft if they change the plates, colour etc intending/aiming/facilitating to deprive the owner of the vehicle permanently.
The idea of a GPS with a locator system built in that records to the address where it was moved from and where it was stopped, and moved again sounds like a good idea. The only thing better would be a kill switch you engage so it can not be driven.
I wonder if she can send a rental bill with a bunch of fees attached? something like, $500/day rental $3500 cleaning fee, $2500 insurance fee, $2000 court paperwork processing fee, etc.
Her fees to them should be MUCH more than what they charge her. Should charge them a premium legal fee for representing them in court, getting tickets dismissed, etc. They documented the car as being in the impound yard between two dates. The state documented it as being out and driven. Grand Theft Auto?
Regarding tolls...Many places don't have staffed toll booths anymore. EZPass and the like are the norm. In several places along Interstate 90 there are toll booths that one is expected to either have the applicable electronic tag or to go online after one's trip and pay, plates and such are photographed as one passes through for enforcement.
In my state if you you loan your car and they get a camera ticket they send to car owner. You then must sign an affidavit stating you weren't the driver but you must identify who was. The ticket will then be sent to them.
It us kind of crazy to give car owners and not the drivers speeding tickets. Some insurance companies base their rates on whether or not there are any tickets to my name. I am a vanpool driver who had to prove there aren't any tickets in my name before being allowed to drive those vans. If my kid was driving at the time I get a ticket, it's not as simple as letting her pay it, there could be other consequences.
I got a video toll charge while my car was being towed. I called and told them to bring up the picture and it will show it was hooked to a tow truck. They said it was my responsibility to tell the tow truck not to use the toll road. I said say time sending this to the collection agency send it straight to court and see what the judge thinks. Charge disappeared never heard another thing about it.
I guess that's why it's getting harder to reproduce keys these days. For my car it costs $1600 if the keys are lost. It's not uncommon to have thieves working at tow companies who'll steal personal possessions. I had a co-worker who's car was towed and the wheels were replaced with mismatched hide-a-spares and custom engine parts were missing. "Oh, it was like that when we towed the car."
You can get a key cut for under five dollars, that will the doors and trunk, but not start the car. Very handy to have if you lock your keys in the car.
When I was a probationary policeman I impounded a Porsche that had been stolen and the engine removed. I used the OPG (official police garage) tow service for my division. I filled out the impound report and noted that the vehicle had four new tires because the paper showing the size was still readable on the tread. The next day the Sergeant called me at home to tell me that when the owner went to pick up his Porsche it had four junker tires on it. I asked the Sergeant if he read my impound report and he said yes. I told him that I wrote "new" over the drawing of the four tires and noted that the tires were brand new and had less than 50 miles on them because of the paper was still attached to the tread. He said thank you and hung up. When I went to work that night I was advised that our OPG had lost their status and several employees had been arrested. Pretty stupid people. The tow truck driver got a copy of the impound report that said tires were new.
It's hard to remember when you're having your car towed, but if you can whip out your phone and take pictures, do a video walkaround, etc., you'll have useful evidence should you wind up with a dishonest tow/impound company. My local car dealer has begun having the mechanic do a video of problem areas before beginning work on my car. I've also taken a photo of the plastic piece that was not properly secured after the latest trip to their service center. Also, if you can remove as many personal belongings as possible before the tow, especially valuables, you don't have to worry about them being stolen. Not always possible, though, especially if you're being hauled away in an ambulance.
@@robertheinkel6225 Yes and I carry one of those on my second keychain, except it cost $35... $150 to $350 for a full function key. But both require having the original key. I'd assume she left keys in her PU, which is odd if you are going on a months long trip out of town or else it's a very old vehicle. (I carry a spare since the day I locked keys in the car and had to take an Uber home for the spare set.)
I still don't understand how it is legal for all of these states in the NE of the US to charge tolls for driving on a Federal Interstate Highway and choose not to even bother hiring toll booth operators to collect the toll, but instead to just mail a bill ( usually at 2x or 3x the normal rate ) to the registered owner of the vehicle. They shouldn't even be allowed to charge a toll on an Interstate, but FFS, if you want a toll, hire someone to collect it or at least install a machine to take my money!
@@phillipsusi1791 Be grateful the Mafia coughed up the money to build those highways in partnership (yeah right) with the local and federal authorities.... in return for 50 or 100 years of tolls.... and that the process does not employ people on toll booths... as the costs for manned booths would be 10x higher than the 2x or 3x toll tickets....
My friend had his car towed after totaling it but by the time he got to it the towing company had stolen everything of value that was left in it and refused to take any responsibility.
FYI in Spain when you get an automated ticket they first send a notice to the owner with details of the infraction and obligation to state who was the driver and their contact details
Same here in the UK. After you stated that the car was in possession of dodgy towing limited they would write to them and ask who was driving. The towing company would then have to state who was driving or pay a bigger fine. If they did not name the driver and said it was not being driven the police would be investigating.
In my part of Canada the driver cannot be charged for automated ticket. Owner is charged with fine, and no points go to any driver's record, nor who was driving is being determined
@@johnclements6614 I would think all she need to do is notify the appropriate dept that the car was out of her possession from A date to B date, since I assume she has some record of the tow and recovery date, and sign a statutory declaration. I've had parking tickets when my car was at my mechanics and that was all I needed to do.
Hey Steve, i live on the east coast off N.J. near the beach. If you check a map, you can see where Seaside, N.J. is. After our past storm, that tore thru the 20-30 miles of our beachs, a woman, who was NOT here during the storm, she has another home further up north, came down here to see forst hand the damage to her home at the shore. She was able to take pictures or a video of a tow company that was "approved" for towing damaged by the storm vehicles. They stopped at her driveway, looked at her vehicle, she just drove here from the city. They backef into her driveway,hooked up and towed away her perfectly good car. Later, the photos hit the press and the police dept. 2 low lifes were arrested for the tow and later checking their yard, many good problem free vehicles were towed by these 2. The company was suspended from towing anything in NJ. It was later revealed that their tow company was kicked out of at lease 2 more towns for the same kind or theft. That was previous to Hurricane Sandy in our area ! How did they get approved with this kind of history ? You can guess !
A friend had an antique car, whose tire rim needed to be reattached. Someone from the repair shop decided to take it for a joy ride, but was unfamiliar with how a car from the 1920's handles. And totaled it. smh... Not sure how it was ever resolved.
@@craigf6277 Class of '73 here. As well as the classes beside the beautiful Long Island Sound, I attended classes (sea year) in Vung Tau, Cat Lai, and Qui Nhon in the middle of a shooting war. (Went to some really nice places as well.)
Had a friend that fought for months over a Canadian toll road charge. He had not gone to Canada and refused to pay to which they said they would put out an arrest warrant. Fast forward 3 months and he was telling his brother-in-law the story and how crazy it was since he had not gone to Canada. The brother-in-law said remember 6 months ago when you let me borrow your car.......to go to a business in CANADA.....oops.
I've only had good dealings with tow truck people. I once got my car towed from Tampa, Florida to Suwannee County, FL for $30 (this was back in 1997.) He told me just to buy him lunch. So we went to Olive Garden on the way. Then I got AAA and even then: good dealings ever since.
I had a similar experience, I received CCJ "County Court Judgement" for purchasing something with a credit card in the UK whilst I was actually working overseas on a long term contract. The issue is known as identity theft.
This from Stockton, California. My ex called saying she was t-boned in an intersection. I rushed over & after the investigation drove the slightly damaged car to a legal parking spot nearby, locked it, & took her home. Later that day got a ride to go retrieve the car to find, no car. It had been towed. After finding who had towed it, the following day I arrived in an Italian rage, got their attention & our car.
Chicago police department used to give me tickets though I was never in the city. I finally just moved out of the State. Police are little more than road pirates. As are governments!
Steve I am wondering. If a tow truck company tows a vehicle in Seattle/ Shoreline area the day before Christmas and you call and ask if your vehicle is in that tow truck company's lot and they say yes and you give them your information are they obligated to send any notices to your residence or the residence of what's on the registration/ Insurance? This happened to me back in 2013. I am wondering if I can take legal action against the company or has it been to long? I had let the company know I wanted my vehicle back and was looking for someone that could help. But within 20 days they supposedly sold it at an auction with all my personal belongings in it.
Y'all should really be talking to a local lawyer on that, but if it's been 9 years, it's probably too late. In general, WA requires that you file suit within 3 years of the offending act, unless you're either incapacitated and unable to exercise your rights, or were injured in a long-term way which isn't readily apparent at the time of the injury (like asbestos-related cancer).
In Quebec radar-camera fines never carry point penalties because the driver cannot be identified. Further the fine is less than if the police had caught you for that speed. They've also been thrown out due to there being no sworn officer as a witness. (New legislation covers this omission).
The legislators will need the death of one or more of them from a speeding drunken "unidentified" driver to happen a couple of times..and then suddenly the law will change to: "You the registered owner did this... or someone you loaned the car did this. Your choice."
Quite the opposite in Australia. Camera offences carry the same fine, demerit points, plus "extra levies" as would be incurred if pulled over by a cop. We do get the option of naming the driver, if it wasn't the owner, and all is passed onto them.
@@Grumpy-sy7wr Very aware. My son spent a couple years in SE Asia/Australia including a year in the Melbourne area. He got a job driving delivery trucks and installing furniture for whatever the Australian IKEA equivalent is. Very tight tolerances for speeding. IAC, he quit that job and bought a motorcycle and headed off to Tasmania. About 2 months later, a company truck broke the limit somewhere in Melbourne - speed camera. The company claimed my son was the driver. My son fought it, from Taz (lockdown Covid period). I read the language on the VicRoads docs (where you tag it to someone else) - making a false declaration carried a heavy fine and was a criminal offense. Since my son could prove, unequivocally, that he was in Taz at the time of the ticket, the owner of the vehicle eventually had to cave. This took on the order of 2 months to get resolved.
@@AlanTheBeast100 You are a "prospect" for an outlaw motorcycle gang. One of the senior gang mebers gets a ticket in a "company" vehicle. You are nominated by him as the driver..... or you have more money than the Bank of England. You drive your Ferrari through town at 100mph. CLICK. You work for the multimillionaire on his yacht. You don't need to drive, you will be employed on a good salary for the next three years and receive $150k tax free bonus.... if you accept you were the driver...
In Europe your first notice on a speeding or other video tickets actually tells you that you are liable unless you submit the name and address of the actual driver. A husband and wife in England actually got into the papers because he was putting some of his tickets in her name so he could keep his license and the police proved somehow she was not behind the wheel .. another case involved a rental company moving tickets from their drop off and pick up drivers to the customers from overseas licenses
Yes. And automated speeding tickets require that picture of the driver is recognizable. ( In Finland. In many other countries the license plate is enough.) And if driver, let's say is a young female and owner of the car is an old man, ticket is off course void, in owner protests. Police can investicate who driver was. If driver is a close member of the family by law owner need not to assist in investication nor wittness against a family member. (In Finland. I bet the law is similar in Sweden, Norway, Denmark too.) So most of tickets that have no valid picture are dissmissed... And here is not a good idea to pay the tickets that you get as owner of the vehicle, because it is considered admitting the guilt. A father got automated speeding tickets for he's vehicles driven by familymembers. They paid the tickets on his name. When enough tickets had accumalated on "his license" even he was not behind the wheel, he lost temporary his driving license. Even he tried to appeal later and pictures wittnessed that he was not driving. The time of appeal (30 days normally) had run out...
@@mikaturunen2354 in France an England you have sixty days to give the details of the driver if it was not you, or you as car owner must pay the ticket- if the car is a company owned car, the managing director is liable for the tickets (and points)...
@@mexicanspec He said he was test driving it. On the other side of town with a date? I patrolled a neighborhood of mostly undocumented. One of the local tow companies was always trying to screw them over. I don't want to see anyone, especially the poor, get screwed over. Got sued in federal court by the tow company for trying to shut them down. They would have one of their employees dress up like apartment security. Caught them moving a car into a red zone, taking a poloroid and then towing it. The list goes on.
In the UK, whenever a ticket is sent to a vehicle owner, a document is to be completed requesting the name of the driver operating the vehicle at the time of the offence. It is NOT assumed that the owner is automatically guilty unless the form is completed where the owner admits to driving the car at that time.
@@patriotlightning4699 I just looked up the state prison, apparently they closed it in 2002. Is there anything there now? The Steve Goodman song to which I was referring was from 1972.
@@joshuarosen465 My bad--- a poor attempt at humor on my part~ Yes, the prison was closed in 2002, but it was in The Blues Brothers, Prison Break, and a few other movies. I'll have to look up that song!
I just hope all your toll roads in the state have the same system. In California and Florida (and probably other places), the toll systems are different everywhere. So if you get a transponder for one place, it won't work in the others, or if it does work but you're not signed up for the other place, then you'd have to pay your bill separately. And they don't all allow you to pay over the Internet, after the fact, if you don't have a transponder. It's a real nuisance for people like me who rarely use those roads.
ive only recently come across your channel, but I am glad I did. Its the perfect channel pointing out all the broken and corrupted systems of the world and how money seems to be a leading fact of said corruption getting worse. how is any of these thing acceptable and why is it allowed to continue? guess we just wait for the 15 year cauldron to finish boiling then we get to see humanity going extinct due to its own willful ignorance.
This happened to a friend of mine. She was arrested for DUI one night while driving her pickup truck. She went to jail. Her truck was towed. The next day she asked me for a ride to go get her truck from the tow yard. So we went over there, presented to paperwork and they could not find her truck. So she called the sheriff’s department. They confirmed it was the right company and sent a deputy over. So we wait. The owner was being a real jerk too. Just as the deputy shows up we see her truck come wheeling down the road at high speed and come flying into the parking lot. Behind the wheel is a teenage boy. In the bed is a car engine. The deputy raised his eyebrows. The owner comes flying out of the office and starts screaming at the kid. He tells him that he was not supposed to take that truck and they he was in real trouble. The kid got really pissed off and told the owner to go f**k himself. He said that the owner ordered him to take the truck to go fetch an engine from across town. He was not going to be made the scape goat. Turns out the kid had no drivers license. No insurance. Was working under the table for the tow company. Then the owner started making excuses. The deputy was really pissed off and was having none of it. He told us to take the truck and leave and he would deal with the tow yard. I wish I knew what the outcome was.
In Alberta, and elsewhere, the photo radar tickets are applied to the car - regardless of who was driving. Legislation was enacted to allow for this. A ticket issued by a police.officer would be issued to the driver, not the owner. But photo radar is considered something different
I own a towing company here in Birmingham AL, Steve..... I worked for someone else's towing company for 13 years before I bought my own trucks and started my company; There are tons of dishonest operators out there, and they give us all a bad name......Kind of like the way Michael Avenatti makes lawyers look bad, right?.....LOL..... but we are not all like that. Like with any business, I want to be compensated fairly, but "fair" is always subjective, right?
The thing you said about tolls getting paid right then depends on the state. Case in point Colorado and E-470. They have automated systems that capture your license plate and you get the toll fee at a later date.
When me and my brother were young and still living at home in Florida we both had a car in the driveway with no tag . One I had just bought and was going to get tagged over the weekend. The other was a project car my brother owned . I came home to 2 municipal tickets for the cars not being tagged even though they weren’t on the road in my name. I thought they’re just tickets so I made my brother give me the money for his car ticket, again a ticket in my name and I went paid them both. What I didn’t know until a couple years later was they are actually misdemeanors ! Sucks !
in Germany, you get a letter by mail "A driver did this infraction. Name the driver please or just pay the infraction" or, if it is too fast just a "Name the driver. Here's a photo of them." There's a fill-in box to name who it is, and in this case you could write "an employee of XYZ Towing" - at which point those get mail.
I once had my car towed to an auto body repair shop - this after an accident. The tow truck driver and the autobody repair shop apparently had special relationship. My insurance company recommended I use one of their preferred repair shops. So I called the repair shop and let them know I would be sending a tow truck to pick up my car. Next day at the new repair shop I discovered that my stereo and other things were missing. The first repair shop blamed it on the tow truck driver. I eventually won a judgment including three times damages from the first repair shop. By obtaining timestamps from the tow company and from the second repair shop, I was able to demonstrate that it would have been impossible for the tow truck driver to ransack and pillage my car between the pick up and drop off locations.
I had similar in the UK.
My car was stolen and found by the police, first I heard qfterwards was notification they they'd had it recovered and had it towed to a local Ford dealer.
I went up to see it immediately, and except for the break-in damage it was OK bodyside, and still had multiple items of personal property in.
I wasn't allowed to open it, or get my loose personal items because "procedure", and the garage's tame cop seconded this.
So I had a look at it, and so did my insurer's agent who happened to be immediately available.
Get a call next day, I can touch it now.
Get there, more damage to other locks (i never let them have keys), all my personal stuff missing, radio ripped out etc.
Excuse me, what's this?
Oh, it's just been recovered, that's how it came in.
No I was here yesterday, and it wasn't like this. Fortunately the insurance guy had made both a written record and taken a few photos.
I never got my stuff back, but the insurers leant on the garage, and I got paid through them.
Same place did similar to a friend of mine, broke into and ransacked his car in the hour being it being towed from the site of a minor accident and him arriving there after finding it hadn't been taken where he'd instructed. And they told him it had probably been joyriden.
@@jonathanj8303 F those Aholes! I hope they ALL get sued out of business!!!
@@musicloverme3993 not by me at least, and I know they're still in business, and still known as a shower of crooks. But I think the insurers took notice.
@@jonathanj8303 Hmmm. A shower of crooks. Is that like a murder of crows?
@@musicloverme3993 except that I'm generally well disposed towards crows, yes.
This reminds The Werefrog of a story where one woman's mom thought she controlled everything in that woman's life. She wound up taking the daughter's car (daughter in 20s), and when the daughter went back to get it, the mom took the daughter's driver's license and destroyed it. It went to court, and the judge looked at the basis of the case and asked if the DA if he didn't have anything better to do than prosecute some case where a mom was disciplining her daughter after the defense attorney made it out to be that case. Then the DA pointed out the daughter lived on her own, was in her 20s, and auto theft and destruction of property doesn't matter if the people are related or not.
The Daughter needs to divorce herself of the Mom in so many ways & under the threat of calling the PoPo if the Mom tries again. I just wonder how much backbone the Daughter has?
I'm grateful to The Werefrog for sharing this story. 🐸
Is a Werefrog the same thing as a Werewolf? Has Alex Jones turned you gay yet?
Oh, I remember reading this on Reddit! Once the judge learned the daughter’s age, he was shocked and immediately ruled in the daughter’s favor. I forget what the mom’s punishment was, but she didn’t get off scot-free
Yeah, this was a whole saga, and actually the least bat sh!t crazy part...
I used to work with a guy who was a gear head... he got in a medium accident (no injuries, other car had body damage, he ended up on the curb and cracked his oil pan, so his car had to be towed) - Got the car back a couple days later (was going to fix the oil pan at home), and THOUSANDS of dollars of custom parts were removed / replaced with generic stock parts. He sued, and lost because the court said he couldn't prove that the parts he had the receipts for were in that car, or that the tow company were the ones to steal them even if they were in the car.
A few years later he got in another slight accident (he got rear ended at a stoplight, not his fault) and spent over an hour crawling around in and under the car photographing every inch of the car / engine / undercarriage. The cop on the scene was threatening to throw an obstruction charge at him for "interfering with an investigation"... says he told the cop to go ahead if it means he doesn't get screwed by the towing company / garage again and explained what the last judge had said. The cop (in a pissy mood) let him finish, but kept mocking him for being "paranoid" the whole time.
This would have been a great time to have GPS on your vehicle with locator services as the person could have tracked the vehicles use and actually gone and just reclaimed the car; this raises a big liability issue in the case of an accident while it was under the care, custody, and control of the tow company.
If the towing company is using your car and charging you storage fees one would wonder if you could turn around and charge them a rental fee.
I'd have taken it back on the sly, garaged it somewhere, and just waited around to see what they had to say. Then gone after them for conversion/rental.
I agree. I would think a rental fee of three times market value for every day the vehicle was in the tow service's custody should be part of the judgement, since they "rented" it without the owner's knowledge or permission.
@@rossk4864 nice 1000$ a day i would say is fair.
Couldn't the lawyer supena their phones. It would have to be a surprise order while they were being interrogated for theft. Google tracks your driving and or location of your phone as you drive around town.
*$1,000 a day rental fees sounds about right.*
A couple of years ago my service truck was totaled by a red light runner. The tow truck driver tried everything to get me to let him take it to his storage yard. He tried to tell me that I'd get in trouble with my company for taking it to my house. Nope, I'd already called the owner and they were ok with it. Then he claimed the insurance wouldn't pay off if they didn't keep it in their "secure" lot. They were "about to close" for the evening but I'd be free to come by in the morning to grab my stuff. I kept refusing and made him drop it off at my property where I could keep an eye on it. He insisted that the engine wouldn't work after being rolled over and it would be in the way. I told him, it was no problem. I own a fork lift big enough to move it if I need to. He finally caved in and dropped blocking the middle of my driveway rather than where I asked him to put it. As soon as he left I moved it to a more secure spot.
I know there are honest tow companies, I used to drive a tow truck myself. Even so I have zero doubt that my tools would have mysteriously disappeared overnight if I'd let them take it.
No doubt here either, as an honest tow truck driver would have taken you and the service truck to where you wanted without problems.
My son totaled our 2005 pontiac montana minivan (texting while driving) about four months ago. It was towed to a storage lot and the next day I called a scrap yard, was offered 350.00 for the minivan which was more than I was expecting so I accepted the offer. The scrap yard went to the storage lot the next day to get the car and my son met him there to hand over the keys and title.
Three weeks later I get a letter from the storage yard saying I owed XXXX.xx in storage fees and they were going to contact the bank I had a loan with on the vehicle (we didn't have a loan, car had been paid off since 2008), sell the car to recover their fees if I didn't pay up.
So I called, explained that the car left their storage lot two days after the accident. The lady put me on hold and then a guy picked up the call so I told him the same thing. He put me on hold, came back, apologized, said the letter was a mistake, and because I was being honest with him he said I only owed him 200 for the tow. I asked why did you send out this threatening letter? Again, he said it was a mistake. I highly doubt it. They had no idea that the car wasn't even on their lot
I owned a tow company for 12 years. Every vehicle that we impounded listed the location of disablement, time of tow and the mileage at the time the vehicle was impounded. The police accident report would have also had this information notated in the accident report.
The only time myself or an employee would gain access to the vehicle would have been to allow the customer to pickup personal effects, the insurance adjuster to inspect, and possibly if the vehicle sat for a period of time greater than a month, to move into the long term storage lot.
Having stated that, the mileage would have been notated on an official government document, (the accident report and the tow slip).
And I bet cash, cigarettes, stereos, ect vanished on many occasions
You did it the way which is most likely legal and if there is a text book for it i hope it is the way written to do so in that book
@@norml.hugh-mann
From accident tows, very rarely was anything removed from the vehicle unless it was by the customer.
Impound tows, you'd always get the person that wasn't happy about paying the tow and storage bill, so whatever they could claim as missing, they figured make the tow guy pay. The nice thing about digital cameras, you document everything.
Police impounds were inventoried by the police officer requesting the tow. Those cars went into a smaller fenced in area that myself and the lot manager had keys to. Pay the bill, we unlock the lot, you get your car.
I had a couple of weekend break-ins over the years. Aftermarket stereos and GM rally wheels on two occasions. The thieves were caught from video footage and their license number.
@@gungadinn
You have a weird definition of "rarely". From the one accident I had that required a tow and from friends and family, your chances of having things stolen out of your car is about 75%, tow drivers are crooked AF.
@@Skank_and_Gutterboy
I guess you haven't met the right tow company.
I had close to a million dollars tied up in equipment. Being licensed to do police towing only opened up once or twice in 10 years for my area, so I did what I could to protect my interest.
That's why pictures were taken of vehicle condition and any loose valuables were bagged and placed in the office with vehicle ID and tow slip #.
Unlike some lots, the only way you could access your car was by presenting photo ID, then you would be escorted to the car.
I can't speak for every tow company and I shouldn't have to. That was them, I'm me. If someone claimed items were missing, the pictures were reviewed showing what was inventoried by us. Anything else, talk to the police as they may have removed them before the tow.
People that attempt scamming tow companies are crooked AF. They're pissed their car or truck was towed and they have to pay to get it back. My rates were set by the county and state. $85 for a tow (distance to my lot, $3.00 a mile if being towed elsewhere) $15 for the first 24 hours storage, then $15 each calendar day. Cash only unless going to a body shop that had an account with me.
In the event that one of my drivers stole, and it was proven, he'd be fired.
So they work with the city, making them a state/government actor, and throw out fines without due process? Very illegal.
Ha! Calling what the government (the biggest gang) does illegal rofl. The government decides legality. The gubernment finds itself not illegal.
The 🐑 🐑 that voted to give power to narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths to be their masters have no one to blame but themselves for the shit show..💯💯
And I bet this woman played the stupid game of voting.. 😂😂
@@NPzed where did the government get the power?? From GODS?? 😂😂
Wrong, yes. Illegal, hell no. The city declared it was legal. Make a written complaint, pass a petition and get it on your ballot, etc. etc.
@@coop5329 I bet you voted a lot, right?? 😂😂
I have a buddy that due to being impaired, had his car towed and impounded for the mandatory 30 days.
After the 30 days when he’s gotten his car back, about a week later, he gets some traffic citations in the mail, then more over the next couple days. 5 citations in total covering 4 days, the 4 days in question were right in the middle of the 30 days impound.
He gets all the citations tossed by going to court, showing his receipt for the dates of impound etc.
But... he cannot get an answer from anyone on how his impounded vehicle is caught on photo radar & photo redlight camera’s .
He tried questioning the tow company, tried getting cops involved, then when his court date for the citations came up he tried to get answers thru the magistrate. No one cares!
Then there’s smaller issues. He has no idea of what the odometer read at time of tow nor when it was released. He didn’t know and it’s not recorded on the impound slip. The car doesn’t have gps tracking.
So he has no idea just who or how his car was being driven, but since there’s 5 tickets it’s safe to assume it wasn’t being driven gently.
You’d think he could demand answers? But the cops won’t question the tow yard, since they work together, or because what if it was a cop?
I posed the question; what if the cops used your vehicle to do uncover drug busts/buys? Then after they make arrests, he could have some pissed off drug dealer looking for his car to exact some revenge?
The cops don't care, they just pass it off as a civil matter. They don't want to do any actual police work that costs them money. They just want to do patrol work and issue tickets that raise them money.
@@notpoliticallycorrect4774 Yup,...!
I am a tow truck driver and it's often customers don't want to give me keys for this reason. All my tows are voluntary and I tell them to take a picture of the odometer if they are worried and to expect a little distance if the vehicle is drivable as I'll drive it onto the truck or the repair facility will need to drive it around.
On many cars, it's easy to disconnect the speedo,...
@@8000RPM. or you can just not be a douche and leave their car alone other then to transport.
@@8000RPM. uh. No. Not anymore. This isn't the 70s where anybody can crawl under a car and unhook a speedometer cable. New cars are all sensor based speedometers. Sensors that aren't too easy to get to in most cases.
@@8000RPM. That's where I would sue for damages. I have an oddball 4x4 where the speedo is plugged into the transfercase and while there's a way to undo the other end, it's not user accessible. Then there's the upgrades I have in place with sensors that make the engine misbehave. Towing company knows better than to mess with it.
@@jordanmpaul if the odometer is disconnected on a modern car, the ecm will record a fault that can be extracted via a scan tool.
Our new in 1994 mini van was in a place in Arizona called Earnhardt Dodge for warranty work. When we dropped it off it had a full tank of gas and I always write down the miles. The repair involved a power window part so there is no reason it should be moved except in to the shop. At the time it only had 1500 miles on it. The repair took two days due to it being so new they had to wait for a part from the factory. Fine we had no issue with that. They gave us a loaner. We did have a big problem when we picked it up and discovered it had almost 200 more miles on it than when we dropped it off. Also there were McDonald's and candy wrappers on the floor. There was a food stain on the passenger seat and some soda pop or coffee had been spilled in the cup holder. My wife was really pissed. She stormed in to the General manager's office. We had just bought it a month earlier. He went out to the service department with her. He went inside to speak to the service writer. She could hear him yelling. Turned out they used our van to deliver and pick up parts to and from their other dealerships including some fenders and engine parts. Obviously whomever was driving it ate a lot given all the wrappers. The service manager was the culprit who told the parts runner to just grab some keys and take a vehicle from the line that were waiting on parts. They paid us a buck a mile. Filled the gas tank. Detailed the entire van and gave us free oil changes for as long as we own the van. We ran it to over 100K miles.
I suspect that my recently repaired car got sent on a few errands as part of its "test" drive. I'm still working to get the dealer to finish the repair job they supposedly completed, though. And the prices of the repairs -- !!!
Haha they screwed you and you think you won somehow? You got trampled on bro
About 25 years ago, I had a vehicle repo'ed for non-payment. I redeemed the vehicle, as per the instructions in the redemption letter they sent me -- but it took me about 3 weeks to get the money together. So when I went to pick up the vehicle, literally *EVERYTHING* they could take (without unbolting stuff) from that vehicle was stolen -- even the spare tire. Of course they had the gall to tell me that's how it was when they got it. I didn't have the money for a lawyer, and no lawyer I called would take it on contingency, because it was literally the towing/storage company's word against mine. How many people did they do that to?! Your vehicle goes to auction literally *RANSACKED,* and gets sold for far less than it otherwise would have -- which is already a ripoff because auctions *NEVER* actually get the full value for the car anyway. Ridiculous!!
That's what you get when you buy what you can't afford; a product that doesn't belong to you but you are responsible for and the actual ownert can endlessly increase cost of the product as the value goes down....and who's representative will ignore that laws if they ever get possession of the vehicle.
I won't finance
@@norml.hugh-mann congratulations for being financially stable enough to never need to finance a vehicle, you can just muster up thousands of dollars at once without taking out a loan. a large majority of Americans aren't as lucky as you.
@@norml.hugh-mann So if you can't afford a car payment, then you deserve to let your car get ransacked? Not everyone has thousands of dollars to drop on a car, and not everyone wants to drive a shitbox forever.
Id have been locked up for murder had they pulled that on me
Years ago my sister had her minivan stolen from the parking lot of a mall while Christmas shopping. The police found the car within hours and had it towed to an impound lot but didn't tell anyone. 2 weeks later she got a $700 bill from the towing company. In the meantime, the windows were left open in December. The van was written off and she didn't have to pay the $700
Got a "Photo Speed ticket" in Arizona when I was visiting/working there about 10 years ago.
(Lower Speed Limit Sign and Camera were on the same "sand bagged post")
Included was a fuzzy 2AM photo of someone (possibly me) behind the wheel.
The letter showed the Amount of the Fine, and a Request to;
"Please Provide a Copy of Your Drivers License to Prove that this is You"
I other words - "Please Prove Yourself Guilty and Send Us The Bread PDQ !"
Didn't happen, and 4 months later Arizona Outlawed and Dismissed all Photo Ticketing & Tickets.
Maybe they should get better cameras.
Where I am they can show a very good photo of the driver. In fact many years ago my mother tried to pay a fine I had inadvertently gained while driving her car. She tried to take the penalty and they refused to accept it saying it clearly wasn't an elderly woman driving, but some dashing young and handsome ner' do well!
Really, cause Chicago’s scammy red light and speed cameras seem to be operated from Arizona, they delay sending you the notice so they get to double the fine when your payment doesn’t reach them in time. Big racket, Chicago city of thieves, if its not the city fcking you over it will be three thugs stealing your car while your washing it on your driveway or robbing you while your walking to the store. One of their favorites hunting grounds is the parking lots of gyms.
Chicago LOVES its red light cameras. When they were being installed the mayor had the traffic lights reprogrammed so that the amount of time the light was yellow was incredibly short. So short that unless you were doing the speed limit AND at the intersection at the exact moment the light turned yellow there was NO POSSIBLE way for you to drive thru the intersection before the light turned red and you rec'd a ticket.
So tickets were mailed out and you only have seven days to either pay it or contest it. After seven days city law requires a second notice be mailed but the city decided to skip that step and just mail out notices that you are now guilty and have no choice but to pay the ticket. So people banded together and sued the city and a judge threw out every ticket because chicago did not send out a second notice. So chicago doubled down and mailed out the second notices and once again people went to court and the court told chicago, "Nope, you blew it when you skipped mailing the second notices the first time around."
The city did reprogram the lights with a longer yellow but again unless you are at the intersection there is a very VERY slim chance you will make it thru before the light turns red. So I crawl thru the city when I am unlucky enough to go there. They will not get a dime from me.
Makes me wonder. You hear the tales on reddit where someone steals someone else's car, and the legal owner sees it in a parking lot or something, and still has their spare keys, and just repossesses their own car.
If your car had been towed and was being kept 'safe' in impound, but you found it by your local mall, and still had your keys - what would be the legalities.
If nothing else, you'd give a heart attack to the guy who wasn't supposed to be driving your car. Lucy would have some 'splainin to do.
LMAO. imagine showing back up to the shop in the car you've already given them. maybe with the sheriff following you to file a stolen car report. lol
Something similar I remember reading in the palladium item happened like this. A towing company took the wrong car and refused to give it back unless the guy paid the towing bill. End up in court and when the owner finally won and got the car back he refused delivery. They rack up 25,000 miles and had a severe oil leak and two Pistons were blown.
I hope he sued for damages.
What do you mean "took the wrong car"?
@@Genesh12 Just guessing here, but it was probably a repo tow, and the towing company got the details wrong and thus repo-towed the wrong vehicle.
@@Genesh12 yes and wrecked it. Turns out the son took the car hot riding
Today most road tolls are also automated and changed to the vehicle. The tow company needs to be charged all the bills and the retail daily rental fee for the use of the truck.
And they need to refund any storage fees since her car wasn't just sitting in storage.
Plus if she was making payments ,2 payments she didn't have the truck.
@@brianjacobsen8878 Plus vehicle rental fee at the going rate from Avis. plus depreciation from the smoke smell.
@@jorejaha $5-10,000 for the smoke contaminated interior which is the cost of cleaning hard surfaces & replacing seats, headlinings, sound deadening panels & everything else porous.
Having to pay the retail value of a similar rental vehicle is not enough to discourage this happening in the future. That is like asking a thief to just give the stuff back when they get caught.
I took my pickup to a transmission service garage for transmission rebuild. When I got the vehicle back, there was sand on the seat and floorboards, and a fishing pole left inside. Other than that, no problems, and the billed amount seemed very good. So, with a smile and a wink, I asked him if he had any success on the test drive as I handed him back the fishing pole.
Should have kept the fishing pole. If they wanted it back they’d have to explain why it was in your vehicle.
@@gabagool2064 I thought about it. However, his expression of chagrin was enough reward when I handed it back to him with a smile :)
@@rossk4864 I would have said, "Funny thing. I guess I forgot my fishing pole in the truck. Silly me. Looks like I'm headed to the lake!" At that point they would have had to explain why their fishing pole was in your truck or lose it. Since its in your truck, its assumed to be yours until proven otherwise right? Not sure how that works legally.
@@eatngobstoppers215 Well, I'm a bit of slow thinker on my feet! But, all in all, the guy did the rebuilt for about 5/8's the cost quoted by Aamco, and it operated like a brand-new tranny, so to me, finding the fishing pole and sand was amusing and I had my little bit of fun with it instead of coming down too hard on the guy :)
I guess it depends on how far you live from the coast. Where I am, it's a good 1.5-2 hours to the gulf coast, so I think I would have had more to say in that situation.
So first it was an un-needed tow due to the truck being drivable. Then they play the shell game and won't give it back because someone us using it and racking up tickets. Sounds like a good lawsuit. Take the truck to a mechanic right away and have them attest whether it was drivable. Get the police persons name in the accident scene and subpoena them for their reasoning as to why it was towed.
Depending on what kind of accident it was, if the driver took an ambulance ride or was otherwise incapacitated it would be towed regardless of its condition. I've towed cars and has cars that looked perfectly fine be undriveable due to unseen damage to the suspension/undercarriage. But if she went to claim the car she should have at least been given access to it for inspection. That is where the story truly takes the bad turn.
Steve, thank you for teaching an immigrant so many facets of the often wacky legal system in the USA.
Your vids are entertaining and educational.
Cool username. Was it inspired by Del tha Funky Homosapien?
Have you learn how and who really writes laws in 🇺🇸?? 😂😂
@@Eidolon1andOnly HAS to be...
@@Eidolon1andOnly
Yes, I am that old.
Any chance yours comes from a whiny ex daddy's boy with a dodgy pig-sticker and an even more dubious recreational preference for his Boyz?
@@ContraNovae What?
Steve, did you hear about the antique soviet biplane that was used by a Cuban guy to escape to Florida? Its similar to this story because while the pilot was still in ICE custody, his valuable antique airplane was involved in a crash near Miami. The crash was all over the Miami channel 10 news when it happened, then not one more word about it. Everyone assumes it was crashed by cops joyriding in the plane, and this is why the story has been silenced. Can you find out any more about it? Like maybe who was rescued from the crash site and if they were law enforcement personnel?
...I assume the Cuban dude was able to sue and win correct?
@@The-Singularity-X01 I would assume not as he was hear sadly illegally and it was no longer legally his property
@@shadowfan115 It would still be his property, even if it is here illegally. It would have to be returned as he was removed. If they crashed it, he can still sue, even if kicked out of the country. Though suing from Cuba may be difficult.
@@cycleboy8028 He can't be here illegally. Dry land to dry land any Cuban is accepted into the US.
@@DodAederen That ended a few years ago.
Important for everyone if your vehicle is being towed and you are present photograph the vehicle inside and out specially the inside and contents. Some companies and their drivers have a habit of "losing" things of value or that they find desirable. Also photograph your odometer so you can prove miles as you vehicle shouldn't be accruing miles beyond a very limited amount associated with any repairs.
Yes and no. The problem with evidence in court is that it has to be vetted otherwise it's just hearsay. Who is to say when you've made these pictures? You need to have a way which is recognizable in court. I'm thinking at least a signature from the tow truck driver (I know some even have the mileage on the official report).
My company used a date, time stamp and gps photo app for all our photos. When dropping a vehicle off for maintenance or repairs I clean it out of all items I don’t want to see go missing as a precaution.
This reminds me of a story that happened to my mom.
She got carjacked at gunpoint, the criminal crashed the car into a tree after a chase, and the car was sent to the scrapyard.
Then somebody steals the plate from the junkyard and puts it in their own car. That person then proceeds to park illegally every single day and gets a ticket every single day. All those tickets got forwarded to my mom.
There was nothing she could do. She went to court and got them to void them, but more tickets kept coming in that had to be individually voided. She went to the police officer writing the tickets and she refused to stop writing them (presumably since it was helping her meet quota to have a free violation every day).
I don’t know what you’re supposed to do in that situation.
On this side of the world, you can report the plates stolen and cancel the registration. Also, the vehicle description has to match the plates and parking officers both have the facility and are expected to check the description, and if the vehicle description does not match the plates, they have to investigate further. Traffic officers can confiscate illegally affixed plates from the vehicle and return them to the registration authorities.
@@melkiorwiseman5234 The plates have to match the VIN as well I believe.
So you told the cops 👮♂️ someone else has your plates. They know where to find them and prefer to charge YOU. What is their job.
State attorney general and state police would be good places to start, followed by a local television newsroom.
Steal the plate back
I certainly expect the Tow Truck Company to pay for it and Pay Me for misuse of my vehicle!
😮😬🤬
Good morning, Steve. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I appreciate your show because of the low tech construction of it as well as your down-to-earth way of speaking about legal issues.
I wish he was my neighbor. I'd drink a beer while he talked.
Well said
And don’t forget his great sense of humor!
I don't think towing to the moon and back is that cheap. They left the moon buggy up there from the early 70's. The parking fines it's accumulating up there must be "astronomical"....for lack of a better word. 😁
When I look in a telescope and see that junk car up there I will definitely believe they went there!
But you shouldn’t believe it just because I told you I seen it with my own eyes.
Always remember governments lie
Hahaha
Best comment so far!
But only a LUNAtic would pay them...
Hundo, unfolded, behind the head of the white owl, on the top of the left OED cabinet. 20.
20?
The owl is using Ben as a pillow.
Years ago I took my car to a dealership to have it serviced. I saw my car being driven around and found they were using it to go get parts used by the dealership. When I confronted them they said they were just test driving my car. Really for an oil change!
Many toll roads don’t even have an option to pay in person anymore. I rented a moving van, and could not pay in person or online because I wasn’t the owner. I tried for two months to pay online with the moving vans plates. And of course the moving van company finally billed me for it along with a surcharge.
A few years ago I got a few parking offence tickets and a notice of my car being on the road without a Valid MOT, Insurance, and road Tax. The odd thing was that my car was currently in the garage for a repair and service.
I left my car at Heathrow airport for 10 days with a meet and greet company (in the UK this means they meet you and take your car and store it off-site then bring it back to meet you on your return). This company's publicised safe storage was 5 miles from the airport but when the car came back it had 90 miles more on the clock as well as being smothered in brick dust.
Interestingly, this has also been a big issue in the Netherlands. Many fraudulent companies exist. The advice is to do diligent research on them and only use recognized parties.
That is theft of a motor vehicle. The tow company has zero right to operate the private property and they should have suspended licenses to tow.
So they were driving the vehicle.
Steve, In Illinois we have mostly gone to an automated toll system. It will either scan the IPass in your front window as you go by or simply bill the owner of the car based on a picture taken of the plates. Many toll areas no longer have a place for people to physically pay the toll, or if they do it is down to one or two lanes mostly used by semi trucks. It is good to know that this is happening, thanks for covering it.
Tolls may be "different". That case, it is the "car" that is going through the toll, so the owner would be liable for the "car" utilizing the road. But not paying tolls will lose you a friend that lent you a car REAL quick.
Ohio has an "unauthorized use of a motor vehicle" law, as many states do. The use of the vehicle by a shop, impound lot's employees, or even a friend or family member without permission falls under this law. I knew a family who had their own son charged with this after he took their car and wrecked it.
I was the supervisor of a Motor Pool at a Federal Government facility. The vehicles were checked out to employees to perform their work off campus as needed. The plates were in the GSA leasing system and somehow GSA tied my name to ownership. The occasional red light and speed camera tickets were processed in my name...Luckily, I was finally able to get GSA to link the agency and not me personally. I did have to go after the users to pay their violations, though.
Sign here,
driver's licence number here,
time date and place "Out";
time date and place "In".....
Official letter "you got pinged pay up"
slam dunk.
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq We had that at my office (before I retired). A speeding ticket came for a car that was supposedly in the secure car park under the building. No one would own up to driving the vehicle until the manager ruled that vehicle use would be "by the book" from there on. One of the staff then spoke up and suggested he had actually taken a different vehicle to the one he signed out...
@@OzzieKev
He was heading towards being the most unpopular man in the department????
Now he only looks stupid...or a bit shifty?
Bit like a family friend who got the despatch manager's job at a liquor warehouse with a theft problem ex the delivery trucks.
The first day, the first load, he had the driver right beside him checking on all the liquor being loaded.
He then said "You watched and checked that eveything on your manifest was there and loaded.
Sign at the bottom of the sheet.
All that is now your responsibility and each of the recipients will check off and countersign goods received.
Anything that falls off the back of the truck you will be your financial responsibility i.e you will pay for."
The driver objected to this and was told bluntly..
"No signee, no jobbee..."
He (and all the other drivers) signed...and there was no more "theft" ex truck.
And they all lived happily ever after...
Germany has very strict privacy laws, such that their speed cameras automatically blur the face of anyone in the right front seat. Someone with a Brit spec car was constantly speeding and running lights because he knew this. Being Germans, I'm sure they eventually caught him with mark 1 eyeball and took away all his toys.
Same here in Finland too. And automated speeding tickets require that picture of the driver is recognizable. And if driver, let's say is a young female and owner of the car is an old man, ticket is off course void. Police can investicate who driver was. If driver is a close member of the family by law owner need not to assist in investication nor wittness against a family member.
So most of tickets that have no valid picture are dissmissed...
And here is not a good idea to pay the tickets that you get as owner of the vehicle, because it is considered admitting the guilt. A father got automated speeding tickets for he's vehicles driven by familymembers. They paid the tickets on his name. When enough tickets had accumalated on "his license" even he was not behind the wheel, he lost temporary his driving license. Even he tried to appeal later and pictures wittnessed that he was not driving. The time of appeal (30 days normally) had run out...
Not only should they be pulled in to pay the fine they should be jailed for theft/conversion and vandalism.
ALL, toll roads and automatic ticketing cameras need to be ABOLISHED, in the land of the FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a single guy but I have two cars. I keep the old one when I buy a new one. And I've loaned the old car to a friend to teach her kids how to drive. Loaned it to my brother for the same reason. When people fly in to visit me and don't get a rental, I tell 'em "use the 2nd car--keys are in it" if they want to wander around the city without me. In the grand scheme it doesn't amount to a lot of driving, but why on earth should I be on the hook for tolls or speeding or red-light tickets incurred without ever identifying the driver? It's beyond ridiculous that this is allowed in this country.
Fortunately, I live in a state where it is flat illegal to issue tickets by red light or speeding camera.
I had a van repo'd once, and when I got it back the following week, it was filthy. I found an empty bottle of some cheap shit champagne, and some of it had been spilled on the carpeting. My sister (who is a lawyer) called the towing company's attorney, and I got a check by fedex the following day for $500 to make me go away. That covered the detailing pretty well.
I had my car towed from an accident once. I refused to give the keys to the company after locking the vehicle. They were unhappy, but still towed the car to the repair place I had specified. I came the next day to provide the keys to the repair place after agreeing to the repair process.
As for why the vehicle was towed from the scene but was still drivable, I have two words: Inertia Switch. If the impact was severe enough to trip the inertia switch (hidden under the dash, but easy to find if you know where to look) it is not drivable by the layman, but someone in the auto industry it would take about 20 seconds to reset the switch.
For people who don't know what the inertia switch is, it cuts off fuel in case of an accident. When your teen driver says, "It won't start." try this switch first. If it clicks and the car now starts, ask them what they hit. :)
It really irritates me that tow truck drivers, who should know about this, would rather charge for a tow and storage than take 20 seconds to try resetting this switch.
I stopped at a minor traffic accident to see if anyone needed help. Everyone was okay but one car would not start so I told her to pop the trunk. I pulled back the carpeting and found the fuel cut off switch. It had actuated because she was bumped from behind. Reset the switch and she was able to drive away. NO tow company is going to tell you about this, they would rather charge you for the tow
I'm so tired of these scammers, too many , such greedy people. I would have called the police if I wasn't allowed to get personal items out of the car.
Back in the late 50's I recalled reading an article on "Pop Mechanics" about a guy in Phoenix who won a case against Arizona State Police for issuing a speeding citation against him from an automated radar/camera speed trap. The state court ruled that it was a violation of his 4th and 5th Amendment rights in that to get out of the ticket he would have to testify against a family member (son) to shift the blame. There is also a Pennsylvania State Supreme Court ruling from the mid 70's that states that a license plate number can only be used as Prima Facia Evidence for a simple parking ticket, For moving violations and other criminal offences, the license plate number can only be used as an investigative lead.
It was nice of the towing company to supply her with documentation that they had possession of it the whole time
This has a lot more problems than what you're just stating the towing company is incredibly corrupt Right along with the state.
your average neighbor
in Australia, when we receive speeding fines (or any vehicle related) there is a spot on the form to 'nominate' another person who may have been driving the vehicle at the time of the fine...
In Wisconsin where I worked as an officer before I retired there is a law "Operating a Motor Vehicle without Owners Consent". That way you don't have to prove theft.
Simpler than "unlawfully converts to own use"...
i.e. they had a legitimate reason (say authorised borrowing for X days) but failed to return it...which then "converts" colour of law to unlawful..
not theft if they 'intended to return the vehicle to the owner in the same condition as when borrowed"
but theft if they change the plates, colour etc intending/aiming/facilitating to deprive the owner of the vehicle permanently.
Yup that's their version of stolen Auto
I would love to be in court when she sues the towing company for all of this. That would be entertaining.
The idea of a GPS with a locator system built in that records to the address where it was moved from and where it was stopped, and moved again sounds like a good idea. The only thing better would be a kill switch you engage so it can not be driven.
I wonder if she can send a rental bill with a bunch of fees attached? something like, $500/day rental $3500 cleaning fee, $2500 insurance fee, $2000 court paperwork processing fee, etc.
Her fees to them should be MUCH more than what they charge her.
Should charge them a premium legal fee for representing them in court, getting tickets dismissed, etc.
They documented the car as being in the impound yard between two dates. The state documented it as being out and driven.
Grand Theft Auto?
The state gives them a little power, and greed comes crawling out and takes over.
Regarding tolls...Many places don't have staffed toll booths anymore. EZPass and the like are the norm. In several places along Interstate 90 there are toll booths that one is expected to either have the applicable electronic tag or to go online after one's trip and pay, plates and such are photographed as one passes through for enforcement.
In my state if you you loan your car and they get a camera ticket they send to car owner. You then must sign an affidavit stating you weren't the driver but you must identify who was. The ticket will then be sent to them.
It us kind of crazy to give car owners and not the drivers speeding tickets.
Some insurance companies base their rates on whether or not there are any tickets to my name.
I am a vanpool driver who had to prove there aren't any tickets in my name before being allowed to drive those vans.
If my kid was driving at the time I get a ticket, it's not as simple as letting her pay it, there could be other consequences.
I got a video toll charge while my car was being towed. I called and told them to bring up the picture and it will show it was hooked to a tow truck. They said it was my responsibility to tell the tow truck not to use the toll road. I said say time sending this to the collection agency send it straight to court and see what the judge thinks. Charge disappeared never heard another thing about it.
I guess that's why it's getting harder to reproduce keys these days. For my car it costs $1600 if the keys are lost. It's not uncommon to have thieves working at tow companies who'll steal personal possessions. I had a co-worker who's car was towed and the wheels were replaced with mismatched hide-a-spares and custom engine parts were missing. "Oh, it was like that when we towed the car."
You can get a key cut for under five dollars, that will the doors and trunk, but not start the car. Very handy to have if you lock your keys in the car.
When I was a probationary policeman I impounded a Porsche that had been stolen and the engine removed. I used the OPG (official police garage) tow service for my division. I filled out the impound report and noted that the vehicle had four new tires because the paper showing the size was still readable on the tread. The next day the Sergeant called me at home to tell me that when the owner went to pick up his Porsche it had four junker tires on it. I asked the Sergeant if he read my impound report and he said yes. I told him that I wrote "new" over the drawing of the four tires and noted that the tires were brand new and had less than 50 miles on them because of the paper was still attached to the tread. He said thank you and hung up. When I went to work that night I was advised that our OPG had lost their status and several employees had been arrested. Pretty stupid people. The tow truck driver got a copy of the impound report that said tires were new.
It's hard to remember when you're having your car towed, but if you can whip out your phone and take pictures, do a video walkaround, etc., you'll have useful evidence should you wind up with a dishonest tow/impound company. My local car dealer has begun having the mechanic do a video of problem areas before beginning work on my car. I've also taken a photo of the plastic piece that was not properly secured after the latest trip to their service center. Also, if you can remove as many personal belongings as possible before the tow, especially valuables, you don't have to worry about them being stolen. Not always possible, though, especially if you're being hauled away in an ambulance.
@@robertheinkel6225 Yes and I carry one of those on my second keychain, except it cost $35... $150 to $350 for a full function key. But both require having the original key. I'd assume she left keys in her PU, which is odd if you are going on a months long trip out of town or else it's a very old vehicle. (I carry a spare since the day I locked keys in the car and had to take an Uber home for the spare set.)
The One thing a lot of individuals are lacking is integrity
Tolls are also automated now. I recently went through Chicago and all the tolls are paid online via your license plate.
I still don't understand how it is legal for all of these states in the NE of the US to charge tolls for driving on a Federal Interstate Highway and choose not to even bother hiring toll booth operators to collect the toll, but instead to just mail a bill ( usually at 2x or 3x the normal rate ) to the registered owner of the vehicle. They shouldn't even be allowed to charge a toll on an Interstate, but FFS, if you want a toll, hire someone to collect it or at least install a machine to take my money!
@@phillipsusi1791
Be grateful the Mafia coughed up the money to build those highways in partnership (yeah right) with the local and federal authorities....
in return for 50 or 100 years of tolls....
and that the process does not employ people on toll booths...
as the costs for manned booths would be 10x higher than the 2x or 3x toll tickets....
My friend had his car towed after totaling it but by the time he got to it the towing company had stolen everything of value that was left in it and refused to take any responsibility.
Ben is behind the owl head
FYI in Spain when you get an automated ticket they first send a notice to the owner with details of the infraction and obligation to state who was the driver and their contact details
Same here in the UK. After you stated that the car was in possession of dodgy towing limited they would write to them and ask who was driving. The towing company would then have to state who was driving or pay a bigger fine. If they did not name the driver and said it was not being driven the police would be investigating.
@@johnclements6614 Also the driver would be facing a criminal charge of "Taking without consent."
In my part of Canada the driver cannot be charged for automated ticket. Owner is charged with fine, and no points go to any driver's record, nor who was driving is being determined
Yes I've read the traffic cam ticket carefully. The say when the infraction was committed and with which vehicle.
@@johnclements6614 I would think all she need to do is notify the appropriate dept that the car was out of her possession from A date to B date, since I assume she has some record of the tow and recovery date, and sign a statutory declaration.
I've had parking tickets when my car was at my mechanics and that was all I needed to do.
Hey Steve, i live on the east coast off N.J. near the beach. If you check a map, you can see where Seaside, N.J. is. After our past storm, that tore thru the 20-30 miles of our beachs, a woman, who was NOT here during the storm, she has another home further up north, came down here to see forst hand the damage to her home at the shore. She was able to take pictures or a video of a tow company that was "approved" for towing damaged by the storm vehicles. They stopped at her driveway, looked at her vehicle, she just drove here from the city. They backef into her driveway,hooked up and towed away her perfectly good car. Later, the photos hit the press and the police dept. 2 low lifes were arrested for the tow and later checking their yard, many good problem free vehicles were towed by these 2. The company was suspended from towing
anything in NJ. It was later revealed that their tow company was kicked out of at lease 2 more towns for the same kind or theft. That was previous to Hurricane Sandy in our area ! How did they get approved with this kind of history ? You can guess !
I’d love an update on this one. I hope she won.
How is not criminal for a tow company to drive a vehicle they're towed???
A friend had an antique car, whose tire rim needed to be reattached. Someone from the repair shop decided to take it for a joy ride, but was unfamiliar with how a car from the 1920's handles. And totaled it. smh... Not sure how it was ever resolved.
Let me guess, surprised by the lack of steering assist? Wasn't ready to strong arm it through a turn?
Salute to USMMA! My best friend in high school went there . . . and now another neighborhood kid is there!
Interesting school. Easiest federal academy to get into, hardest one to stay in, IMHO. Fmr class of '96 here.
@@craigf6277 Class of '73 here. As well as the classes beside the beautiful Long Island Sound, I attended classes (sea year) in Vung Tau, Cat Lai, and Qui Nhon in the middle of a shooting war. (Went to some really nice places as well.)
Had a friend that fought for months over a Canadian toll road charge. He had not gone to Canada and refused to pay to which they said they would put out an arrest warrant. Fast forward 3 months and he was telling his brother-in-law the story and how crazy it was since he had not gone to Canada. The brother-in-law said remember 6 months ago when you let me borrow your car.......to go to a business in CANADA.....oops.
@@jaberwoky_ nah, it's a bot trying to scam people.
just ignore it
I've only had good dealings with tow truck people. I once got my car towed from Tampa, Florida to Suwannee County, FL for $30 (this was back in 1997.) He told me just to buy him lunch. So we went to Olive Garden on the way. Then I got AAA and even then: good dealings ever since.
Pretty sure being an ex-con is a prerequisite for owning a tow company.
I had a similar experience, I received CCJ "County Court Judgement" for purchasing something with a credit card in the UK whilst I was actually working overseas on a long term contract. The issue is known as identity theft.
This from Stockton, California. My ex called saying she was t-boned in an intersection. I rushed over & after the investigation drove the slightly damaged car to a legal parking spot nearby, locked it, & took her home. Later that day got a ride to go retrieve the car to find, no car. It had been towed. After finding who had towed it, the following day I arrived in an Italian rage, got their attention & our car.
This one is special to me. My dad graduated from Kings Point.
Chicago police department used to give me tickets though I was never in the city.
I finally just moved out of the State.
Police are little more than road pirates. As are governments!
Someone clone your plates?
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq - a particular chicago cop just kept filling out tickets with my plate on it
He just made it up.
I would be interested in hearing if the perpetrator of these traffic infractions finally gets caught and brought in front of a judge.
Steve I am wondering. If a tow truck company tows a vehicle in Seattle/ Shoreline area the day before Christmas and you call and ask if your vehicle is in that tow truck company's lot and they say yes and you give them your information are they obligated to send any notices to your residence or the residence of what's on the registration/ Insurance? This happened to me back in 2013. I am wondering if I can take legal action against the company or has it been to long? I had let the company know I wanted my vehicle back and was looking for someone that could help. But within 20 days they supposedly sold it at an auction with all my personal belongings in it.
Y'all should really be talking to a local lawyer on that, but if it's been 9 years, it's probably too late. In general, WA requires that you file suit within 3 years of the offending act, unless you're either incapacitated and unable to exercise your rights, or were injured in a long-term way which isn't readily apparent at the time of the injury (like asbestos-related cancer).
The "storage fees" should constitute criminal fraud.
In Quebec radar-camera fines never carry point penalties because the driver cannot be identified. Further the fine is less than if the police had caught you for that speed. They've also been thrown out due to there being no sworn officer as a witness. (New legislation covers this omission).
The legislators will need the death of one or more of them from a speeding drunken "unidentified" driver to happen a couple of times..and then suddenly the law will change to:
"You the registered owner did this...
or someone you loaned the car did this.
Your choice."
Quite the opposite in Australia. Camera offences carry the same fine, demerit points, plus "extra levies" as would be incurred if pulled over by a cop. We do get the option of naming the driver, if it wasn't the owner, and all is passed onto them.
@@Grumpy-sy7wr Very aware. My son spent a couple years in SE Asia/Australia including a year in the Melbourne area. He got a job driving delivery trucks and installing furniture for whatever the Australian IKEA equivalent is. Very tight tolerances for speeding. IAC, he quit that job and bought a motorcycle and headed off to Tasmania. About 2 months later, a company truck broke the limit somewhere in Melbourne - speed camera. The company claimed my son was the driver. My son fought it, from Taz (lockdown Covid period). I read the language on the VicRoads docs (where you tag it to someone else) - making a false declaration carried a heavy fine and was a criminal offense. Since my son could prove, unequivocally, that he was in Taz at the time of the ticket, the owner of the vehicle eventually had to cave. This took on the order of 2 months to get resolved.
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq Don't need legislation for that. Nobody is going to take the blame for someone else w/o a fight.
@@AlanTheBeast100
You are a "prospect" for an outlaw motorcycle gang.
One of the senior gang mebers gets a ticket in a "company" vehicle.
You are nominated by him as the driver.....
or
you have more money than the Bank of England.
You drive your Ferrari through town at 100mph.
CLICK.
You work for the multimillionaire on his yacht.
You don't need to drive, you will be employed on a good salary for the next three years and receive $150k tax free bonus....
if you accept you were the driver...
Reminds me of a photo I saw of a car being towed that was ticketed for speeding while on a flatbed tow truck.
In Europe your first notice on a speeding or other video tickets actually tells you that you are liable unless you submit the name and address of the actual driver. A husband and wife in England actually got into the papers because he was putting some of his tickets in her name so he could keep his license and the police proved somehow she was not behind the wheel .. another case involved a rental company moving tickets from their drop off and pick up drivers to the customers from overseas licenses
Yes. And automated speeding tickets require that picture of the driver is recognizable. ( In Finland. In many other countries the license plate is enough.) And if driver, let's say is a young female and owner of the car is an old man, ticket is off course void, in owner protests. Police can investicate who driver was. If driver is a close member of the family by law owner need not to assist in investication nor wittness against a family member. (In Finland. I bet the law is similar in Sweden, Norway, Denmark too.)
So most of tickets that have no valid picture are dissmissed...
And here is not a good idea to pay the tickets that you get as owner of the vehicle, because it is considered admitting the guilt. A father got automated speeding tickets for he's vehicles driven by familymembers. They paid the tickets on his name. When enough tickets had accumalated on "his license" even he was not behind the wheel, he lost temporary his driving license. Even he tried to appeal later and pictures wittnessed that he was not driving. The time of appeal (30 days normally) had run out...
@@mikaturunen2354 in France an England you have sixty days to give the details of the driver if it was not you, or you as car owner must pay the ticket- if the car is a company owned car, the managing director is liable for the tickets (and points)...
I stopped a mechanic for a local shop ( btw suspended). He was on a date in the customer’s car.
I bet he said he had permission.
@@mexicanspec He said he was test driving it. On the other side of town with a date? I patrolled a neighborhood of mostly undocumented. One of the local tow companies was always trying to screw them over. I don't want to see anyone, especially the poor, get screwed over. Got sued in federal court by the tow company for trying to shut them down. They would have one of their employees dress up like apartment security. Caught them moving a car into a red zone, taking a poloroid and then towing it. The list goes on.
@@BirdDogey1 I lived in Las Vegas for 10 years. You want to talk about tow scams? They are all there and it is big business.
That's really trucked up. Audience wishes her all the best. Cheers!
Steve, did you say the conversion lawsuit is worth up to 3 times the value of the item?
In the UK, whenever a ticket is sent to a vehicle owner, a document is to be completed requesting the name of the driver operating the vehicle at the time of the offence. It is NOT assumed that the owner is automatically guilty unless the form is completed where the owner admits to driving the car at that time.
Lincoln Park Towing. All of our drivers are friendly and courteous because they are recent graduates of the charm school in Joliet.
The charm school at 1125 Collins Street, in Joliet?..... LOL......( I lived in Channahon IL for a while in the 70's).....
@@patriotlightning4699 I just looked up the state prison, apparently they closed it in 2002. Is there anything there now?
The Steve Goodman song to which I was referring was from 1972.
@@joshuarosen465 My bad--- a poor attempt at humor on my part~ Yes, the prison was closed in 2002, but it was in The Blues Brothers, Prison Break, and a few other movies. I'll have to look up that song!
Recently in New York the state owned Toll Roads have become automated, we no longer have Toll Booth employees, just cameras.
I just hope all your toll roads in the state have the same system. In California and Florida (and probably other places), the toll systems are different everywhere. So if you get a transponder for one place, it won't work in the others, or if it does work but you're not signed up for the other place, then you'd have to pay your bill separately. And they don't all allow you to pay over the Internet, after the fact, if you don't have a transponder. It's a real nuisance for people like me who rarely use those roads.
Well that’s BS
ive only recently come across your channel, but I am glad I did. Its the perfect channel pointing out all the broken and corrupted systems of the world and how money seems to be a leading fact of said corruption getting worse.
how is any of these thing acceptable and why is it allowed to continue?
guess we just wait for the 15 year cauldron to finish boiling then we get to see humanity going extinct due to its own willful ignorance.
This happened to a friend of mine. She was arrested for DUI one night while driving her pickup truck.
She went to jail. Her truck was towed.
The next day she asked me for a ride to go get her truck from the tow yard. So we went over there, presented to paperwork and they could not find her truck.
So she called the sheriff’s department. They confirmed it was the right company and sent a deputy over.
So we wait. The owner was being a real jerk too. Just as the deputy shows up we see her truck come wheeling down the road at high speed and come flying into the parking lot. Behind the wheel is a teenage boy. In the bed is a car engine. The deputy raised his eyebrows.
The owner comes flying out of the office and starts screaming at the kid. He tells him that he was not supposed to take that truck and they he was in real trouble.
The kid got really pissed off and told the owner to go f**k himself. He said that the owner ordered him to take the truck to go fetch an engine from across town. He was not going to be made the scape goat.
Turns out the kid had no drivers license. No insurance. Was working under the table for the tow company.
Then the owner started making excuses. The deputy was really pissed off and was having none of it. He told us to take the truck and leave and he would deal with the tow yard.
I wish I knew what the outcome was.
Hate to say, but deputy likely came over right away as knew they were scammers/related.
Outcome - Cop took a bribe and left?
In Alberta, and elsewhere, the photo radar tickets are applied to the car - regardless of who was driving. Legislation was enacted to allow for this. A ticket issued by a police.officer would be issued to the driver, not the owner. But photo radar is considered something different
I own a towing company here in Birmingham AL, Steve..... I worked for someone else's towing company for 13 years before I bought my own trucks and started my company; There are tons of dishonest operators out there, and they give us all a bad name......Kind of like the way Michael Avenatti makes lawyers look bad, right?.....LOL..... but we are not all like that. Like with any business, I want to be compensated fairly, but "fair" is always subjective, right?
the towing company in the story need to be shut down
This is what happens when you give people the tiniest bit of power, but no oversight.
Edit: Spelling
As long as they are over the site..
if you can see them you have sight???? (Oversight)
The thing you said about tolls getting paid right then depends on the state. Case in point Colorado and E-470. They have automated systems that capture your license plate and you get the toll fee at a later date.
When me and my brother were young and still living at home in Florida we both had a car in the driveway with no tag . One I had just bought and was going to get tagged over the weekend. The other was a project car my brother owned . I came home to 2 municipal tickets for the cars not being tagged even though they weren’t on the road in my name. I thought they’re just tickets so I made my brother give me the money for his car ticket, again a ticket in my name and I went paid them both. What I didn’t know until a couple years later was they are actually misdemeanors ! Sucks !
Tolls are automated as well...
in Germany, you get a letter by mail "A driver did this infraction. Name the driver please or just pay the infraction" or, if it is too fast just a "Name the driver. Here's a photo of them." There's a fill-in box to name who it is, and in this case you could write "an employee of XYZ Towing" - at which point those get mail.
Yes she is being penalized without actually doing anything. If it's a part of old Is crime family though she aint got much room to talk.
in days of old and dinosaurs roamed the earth while at University I drove a tow truck. We were heavily regulated by the parish.
You left Louisiana eventually though, right? Never went back?
@@BlackJesus8463 Oh yeah. I'm hesitant to even pass through.
@@nucleargrizzly1776 Yeah, that place is a mess.