SD14 - Laws Relating to the Towing and Recovery Industry

  • Published: 1990
  • Author: Joint Subcommittee
  • Enabling Authority: Senate Joint Resolution 206 (Regular Session, 1989)

Executive Summary:
The present study is the result of the 1989 General Assembly's passage of Senate Joint Resolution No. 206 (SJR 206), sponsored by Senator Joseph V. Gartlan, Jr., of Fairfax. The resolution called for a general review of applicable law with emphasis on five subjects:

• Abandoned and unattended vehicles;

• Powers of local law-enforcement officers;

• Operation of motor vehicles responding to emergencies;

• Information gathering and dissemination policy of local and state governmental agencies; and

• Mechanics' and other liens.

The measure did not contemplate consideration of any scheme of licensure or similar state regulation of the towing and recovery industry.

Pursuant to its mandate from the legislature, the study subcommittee held six meetings, three of which were public hearings. In the course of its work the group heard from representatives of the towing and recovery industry, consumer groups, local governments, state agencies, law-enforcement agencies, and others.

The joint subcommittee found that the towing and recovery industry is performing a significant public service in safeguarding lives and property by responding to motor vehicle crashes and similar emergencies, by removing trespassing vehicles from public and private property, and by disposing of abandoned motor vehicles. The panel also found that, without changing the basic relationship of state or local government to the towing and recovery industry, certain changes in present law would (i) enable the industry to perform its services more effectively and efficiently and (ii) address some of the more frequently-voiced consumer complaints relating to towing and recovery operators.

The joint subcommittee recommended seven pieces of legislation (see Appendices I through VII) to:

• Exempt tow trucks at or en route to accident scenes from certain motor vehicle laws when operated under the direction of law-enforcement agencies;

• Immunize towing operators, when towing vehicles at the direction of law-enforcement agencies, from law suits alleging wrongful towing;

• Hold owners of trucks and tractor trucks liable for costs of towing, recovery, and storage in cases involving trucks, combination vehicles, and their cargoes, while preserving their ability subsequently to seek to recover all or portions of these costs from trailer, semitrailer, and cargo owners;

• Increase the limit on liens for storage charges from $150 to $300;

• Impose a civil penalty of up to $500 for abandoning vehicles;

• Require owners of Virginia-registered motor vehicles to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of the sale of their motor vehicles;

• Limit the charges which may be imposed for less than twenty-four hours' storage of motor vehicles; and

• Provide a definition of "towing and recovery operator."

BACKGROUND AND SUBCOMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

Recent consideration of alterations in Virginia's laws relating to the towing and recovery industry began in 1988 with the introduction of Senate Bill No. 266 by Senator Joseph V. Gartlan, Jr., of Fairfax. The measure was carried over to the 1989 Session in the Senate Transportation Committee. During the 1989 Session the Transportation Committee took no action on Senate Bill No. 266 but reported a similar bill, Senate Bill No. 737, offered in 1989 by Senator Gartlan.

While this measure was before the General Assembly, the legislature was also considering (and ultimately approved) a revision of the entire Virginia motor vehicle code (Title 46.1 of the Code of Virginia) in House Bill No. 1925, offered by Delegate J. Samuel Glasscock of Suffolk. Preferring to consider possible changes in the towing and recovery laws in light of the revision of Title 46.1, Senate Bill No. 737 was passed by indefinitely and a joint subcommittee was created (through the mechanism of Senate Joint Resolution No. 206, sponsored by Senator Gartlan) to study the matter and report to the Governor and the 1990 Session of the General Assembly.

In the course of its work, the subcommittee conducted an organizational meeting (where it was briefed by staff on the issues before it and formulated a work plan), held three public hearings (in Virginia Beach, Annandale, and Harrisonburg), and met for two working sessions to consider the evidence and prepare its report.

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

IDENTIFICATION, REMOVAL, AND DISPOSAL OF ABANDONED VEHICLES

In 1988 the Virginia Code Commission undertook a revision of Virginia's motor vehicle laws -- including the laws relating to abandoned vehicles. Legislation embodying the Code Commission's recommendations was enacted by the 1989 Session of the General Assembly. (See Chapter 727 of the 1989 Acts of Assembly.) This revision was limited, however, to reorganizing and simplifying existing law without making substantive changes. Accordingly, the Commission was limited in its ability to address the need for substantive alteration in the statutes relating to abandoned vehicles. Having worked with major portions of Virginia's abandoned vehicle statutes in the course of its study, the subcommittee felt that it would be appropriate for significant changes to be made in these statutes to eliminate conflicts and inconsistencies which the Code Commission could not address. However, the subcommittee also believed that such an undertaking was both beyond its present mandate from the General Assembly and too time consuming, given its required reporting date. The group felt it would be appropriate that further study of Virginia's laws on abandoned vehicles be made with the aim of proposing substantive revisions and clarifications.