by Guest » Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:37 pm
I got towed (I'm pretty sure illegally) a while back, and so I did alot of research on the subject.
Turns out, there are ALOT of detailed laws regarding who can tow and when.
The laws bore down in detail to the size of the lettering of the sign as well as the position of the sign relative to the entrance of the parking lot.
Also, towers have to be 'licensed'
(tho that seems to be a joke since each of the times I or one of my friends where towed, the guy we had to deal with was some redneck inbreed straight out of deliverance).
But as long as all of the lawful towing qualifications are met, I don't think there's much that can be done to prevent it.
I have heard that they can't tow the car if you're in it...and I've heard someone suggest that, if you ever see your car getting towed, to run over and get in.
Kind of a funny solution...but who knows how well it'd go over in reality.
Also, I seem to remember that there were some details in the docs I found regarding cost to retrieve your car...but I don't remember what they were....and I'm pretty sure $150 is within the limits unfortunately.
I'm sure if you poke around enough you can find the legislation docs I did....its texas state legislation, so I bet if you started at [url]http://www.state.tx.us/[/url] you could find something if you wanted to read through it.
All in all, I completely agree with you Grimm...towing is fucking stupid and I think it should be much more restricted than it is.
Plus, regardless of how many laws there are...the fact is, even if the tower breaks one of these laws, you're going to HAVE to pay them to get your car back....and then you'll have to go through the whole process of taking them to court just to prove the tow was illegal and get the money back.
There are a few situations where it might be warranted...but I think that most of the time, it really isn't.
And the pricing, regardless off the situation, is fuckin absurd.