[HN Gopher] Connecticut legislature overhauls towing laws to red...
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Connecticut legislature overhauls towing laws to reduce 'predatory
towing'
Author : noleary
Score : 55 points
Date : 2025-06-04 18:01 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.propublica.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.propublica.org)
| themanmaran wrote:
| Got curious about the "century old statute" and looked it up.
| Original text [1]
|
| > Section 1. Whenever any motor-vehicle is found abandoned upon
| any public highway... and said vehicle is not of a value
| exceeding one hundred dollars... said officer may cause such
| motor-vehicle to be removed
|
| > Section 2. If such motor-vehicle is not reclaimed within
| fifteen days after such removal, said officer shall sell the same
| at public auction...
|
| [1] https://books.google.com/books?id=gktNAQAAMAAJ&hl=en
| doubled112 wrote:
| Do they adjust for inflation? I have a hard time getting a tire
| for $100 now, never mind a whole car.
| themanmaran wrote:
| Apparently the new number is $1500. But it's at the tow
| driver's discretion so they can _estimate_ the value at
| $1,499.
| kulahan wrote:
| I'm not sure this makes a huge difference if the goal is to
| get obvious pieces of junk off the highway? Does a $1600
| car really matter that much more than even a $1500 car?
| jjk166 wrote:
| I think the point is that somebody can look at a brand
| new mint condition bugatti and say "that looks like it's
| worth less than $1500 to me" and then take it. It's not
| good to rely on people to be honest when it is in their
| financial best interest not to be.
| doctorwho42 wrote:
| For reference, I have a used car from 1998. Kind of a
| junker, but has a fun v6 in it (manual). But the point is,
| my city values it at $1500 and hasn't let that value go any
| lower for city vehicle tax purposes.
|
| So I'd imagine most cars ever if old junk piles are still
| worth $1500 to the state.
| datadrivenangel wrote:
| "Connecticut's law allows tow companies to begin the process to
| sell vehicles after just 15 days."
|
| New law updates it to 30 days, except for vehicles worth under
| $1500 which is still 15 days, which may be an interesting
| opportunity to see how towers do time value of money decisions on
| so many $1499 cars.
| Gibbon1 wrote:
| The law should just require the cops move the offending car to
| a different location and issue a fine. There shouldn't any
| private towing and impound at all.
| JumpCrisscross wrote:
| > _law should just require the cops move the offending car to
| a different location and issue a fine_
|
| Who pays for all that parking? Security? Customer service?
| kelnos wrote:
| Usually the people who want their cars back end up paying
| it.
| jjk166 wrote:
| Presumably the fine should cover it. The customer service
| costs are pretty constant regardless of impound duration,
| and you locate the impound in a place where a big empty lot
| with a fence is not expensive. If space needs to be made,
| the decision of when a car can be removed should be made by
| someone with no financial stake in the outcome.
| trollbridge wrote:
| There is vast amounts of free parking in America. A small
| amount extra for storing towed vehicles doesn't seem like
| that big of a deal.
| noleary wrote:
| Related context: How a Connecticut DMV Employee Made Thousands by
| Selling Towed Cars
|
| https://www.propublica.org/article/connecticut-dmv-employee-...
| lenerdenator wrote:
| Kansas City, MO recently did the same thing[0], accompanied by
| the indictment of a tow operator in two different counties for
| falsifying state forms to make it appear as if the vehicles they
| had wrongfully towed had been towed according to the law, then
| abandoned by the owners, allowing for the operator to claim
| them.[1]
|
| While these are nice developments, arguably, it's worse than bank
| robbery; in much of the country (Kansas City in particular), if
| you're without a car, you're screwed. No doctor appointments, no
| school, no grocery shopping, no social life, no job. Treat it as
| such. If you take someone's car without permission, you should
| face a significant fraction of a decade in prison, per vehicle.
|
| [0] https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-ordinance-cracks-
| do...
|
| [1] https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-towing-company-
| unau...
| Cerium wrote:
| Towing cars is the modern equivalent of taking horses and
| boots.
| gambiting wrote:
| How come towing vehicles is so common in the US, but not so much
| in the UK? I've literally _never_ heard of anyone getting their
| vehicle towed away over here, but it sounds like in US you can
| get it towed for something as minor as not paying for
| parking(which just results in getting a fine here).
|
| Genuienly curious.
| imglorp wrote:
| It's common for people to ignore parking fines until they pile
| up. A city might "boot" the car to disable it, or they can tow
| it; either way extorting the owner to pay. Also, private
| parking areas contract with tow companies which incentivizes
| the tow companies to patrol proactively looking for violators
| and tow anyone without a permit or whatever. So a market was
| created.
| masfuerte wrote:
| Moderately recently (maybe ten years ago?) the police got the
| power to seize and destroy abandoned vehicles. This was
| intended to address the occasional obvious wreck you see at the
| roadside. Flat tyres, broken windows, full of rubbish, etc.
|
| But there have been a few cases of people going on holiday for
| a fortnight and returning to find that their old but taxed and
| insured car has been taken. And they have no legal redress!
|
| This does seem to be very rare though.
| gambiting wrote:
| Is that in the UK or US? Sorry just isn't clear from the
| post.
| masfuerte wrote:
| Sorry, England.
| tzs wrote:
| How do you handle it in the UK if you arrive home and find that
| someone has parked in your private driveway without permission
| which prevents you from parking your car on your property?
| gambiting wrote:
| I don't know, I've never heard of that happening to anyone.
|
| But a quick google says if that were to happen to you it's
| best to just leave it and wait for the owner to come back,
| it's not illegal(it's only a civil offence so you'd need to
| sue the person who did it), if you get it towed you have to
| pay for the tow and you'd be responsible for any damages that
| happen to the car in that time.
|
| Again, that sounds purely theoretical, I can't imagine it's
| actually common.
|
| Is that a common issue in the US?
| healsdata wrote:
| > After weeks of negotiations, lawmakers said they came to a
| compromise with the towing industry.
|
| Maybe just phrasing, but I hate the idea that we have to
| compromise our laws with private companies that only have to
| maximize shareholder value. If a law that treats the public
| fairly also puts tow companies out of business, so be it.
| hydrogen7800 wrote:
| >[It] does all of this without undercutting the essential work
| that ethical and professional tow operators do each and every day
| for us
|
| Very clever words directed at tow operators here. If you aren't
| doing anything unethical, you should have no objections, right?
| FuriouslyAdrift wrote:
| Nothing compared to the old Chicago Lincoln Park Pirates...
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Towing_Service
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(page generated 2025-06-04 23:02 UTC)