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Today my wife got in a wreck. She was rear-ended, the offender drove away, your classic "hit and run." The car was off the road in the parking area of a business. I wasn't there, but she tells me the police called so & so wrecker to get the car out of there, not giving her the option of us calling our towing company, we have wrecker service for that sort of thing.
I tracked down who it was, and even if we were to have gone today with a tow truck to claim it, they wanted some $400 for "storage," for not even but half of a day. However, if we surrender the title to the vehicle, they won't charge anything. (The car was totaled, and as it was a 2004 we paid $1600 for, there was no collision.) When I asked how come the police had this done vs giving my wife the chance to call the wrecker, he stated the police do what they do and don't give you a choice.
(1) Is it true that in that situation you have to just tolerate the police choosing whomever they please, you have no say in the matter? I mean it's YOUR CAR, and it's not on the road, it's off the road out of the way. What's the rush, so long as you don't leave it there for days on end? Why would a person want some other outfit towing your car off if they have towing service they'd paid for and can use for that?
(2) Why in the WORLD would we have to pay some $400 for claiming it on the same day? That's a TREMENDOUS amount of money.
(3) Does this practice sound "par for the course?" This sounds like a rip-off, you're hit by a hit and run driver, the police tow it without giving you a chance to call your own service, and then you have to pay $400--all at a time when you were minding your own business and were hit by someone else.
Unfortunately, it does sound like par for the course. Unless she got a license plate # from the offending car, I wouldn't have even reported it to the police and just called for a tow. Given the situation you're in, just give them the pink slip and go buy another car.
Yes, I'm kind of mad at myself because I violated one of my own ethical rules--always being available for your spouse if they call. She had tried calling me, but I'd worked the late shift and was sleeping in, with my phone on vibrate. (Then again, she'd been known to call me at such times about frivolous things and disrupt my sleep, which made me feel like I had to set it up that way.) Had I known, I'd told her to tell the police when they showed up that towing was on the way and then hung right up and called towing. She doesn't have the forethought to think of such things, even during occasions less "frantic" than a car accident. She's rather gullible in such instances, if the police officer had told her that she needed to sign over custody of our kids and have her eyes gouged out, she'd absolutely done it and later said "he told me I had to."
That seems unusual but if it's blocking traffic or creating an unsafe obstacle (as in blocking an entrance or lane in the parking lot) they will have it towed. If the owner of the lot wants it gone, they will have it towed. Didn't she get a license plate number?
1) your city police department has a standard set of working contracts for towing services. Generally, there will be a "pool" of tow providers/impound yards that the city dispatcher calls in rotation. The contracts specify the maximum rate that can be charged for tow services and the daily storage/impound fee.
2) unless your wife has already called "our towing company" and has a wrecker enroute, the cop doesn't have time to mess around with cleaning up an accident scene. Typical protocol is to clean up the scene, which typically requires to tow away the vehicles that aren't roadworthy. Your totaled car needed to be towed as part of the accident clean-up. The cop was doing his job to secure and clean-up.
It's a public safety issue. There could be fluids spilled, fuel, car parts, exposed torn sheet metal edges, or all manner of public safety hazards which need to be safely secured. There's the potential of a fire hazard if the electrical system still has power, too. Securing the site isn't as option. Neither the cop on the scene, nor likely your wife is a pro at evaluating the public safety risks. The solution is to remove the vehicle from the scene to a yard where the risks can be managed.
3) $400 does sound high. But it's likely within the contracted range of charges per the city. Best to call the city and find out what the contracted rates are for their tow services.
4) Yes, it sounds like "par for the course". Not unusual for towing and impound fees to add up to the value of a vehicle within days.
PS: you made the financial decision to not get collision on this $1,600 vehicle, and assumed that risk. After the fact, you can't second guess this choice. The car got totaled and you don't have someone to go after ... either insurance or the other driver. So be it, you've had the car 11 years. What would collision insurance have cost during that time frame?
If the car is totaled let your insurance company take care of it. Unless you're not covered. When my wife's car was totaled the police had it towed away, we called the insurance company and they took care of everything. Actually I think they just let the tow company keep it for salvage purposes?
Police want wrecks off the road immediately, they don't want people rubber necking and causing more wrecks.
BTW< tow companies want to get paid immediately, they don't want to take a chance with scofflaws that disappear.
There's not a whole lot you can do. Tow companies are one of the last racketeering bastions in the US.
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