Illegal Towing by Your City Police Warning

Can your vehicle be towed off your private property just because “It’s a nuisance”?! Discover the surprising excuses some cities resort to in what car owners are saying are illegal towing practices by their police.

Towing Tales

Begin any discussion about experiences with towing companies and it is almost always never favorable, ranking towing companies and the service they provide near equivalent to some chain vehicle lube centers and timeshare salesmen.

Part of the problem are reports of vehicle towing services often causing additional damage to cars following an accident that are difficult to prove who caused the damage, or how and when the damage happened.

One example is that of when creative tow hook insertion is applied on the underside of a vehicle causing damage that is not detected until after the car has been towed into a garage for repair following an accident.  For all the mechanic may know, the damage is accident-related and not tow truck-related.

However, this is not to imply that ALL towing companies are bad---just that like when it comes to having your vehicle serviced, you also have to take some precautions when having your vehicle towed.

Illegal Towing Adds to the Problem

If the aforementioned rift car owners have with towing companies isn’t bad enough, consider how bad the scenario is when the vehicle should not have been towed in the first place!

A good related example of adding insult to injury with towing experiences was recently reported in a Steve Lehto YouTube channel episode where it turns out some municipalities---like the City of Calverton Park, Missouri---are facing a class action lawsuit amid claims that the police are ticketing and towing cars on private property based on expired plate and community tags WHEN THE CARS ARE NOT BEING USED due to repairs or an owner’s current economic state.

In fact, it gets even much worse when it turns out almost any “infraction” such as tires touching grass on your yard is cause enough in the eyes of the law to have your vehicle towed.

FOX2 St. Louis News

Here’s the news report that caught Steve Lehto’s attention showing what the problem is and the officials involved that would be comical if only it were not a problem that can happen to anyone…including you.

Calverton Park faces lawsuit on towed cars and temp tags

For additional towing related articles, here is one you need to know about: Towing Threat Reveals Problems within the Industry

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on  “Zen and the Art of DIY Car Repair” website, the Zen Mechanic blog and on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites  and Facebook for daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

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