# Anybody beaten a tow? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297 "2009-06-19T14:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/61 "2009-06-22T13:20:48Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I’ve heard very few stories of anyone beating a tow because most of the time the tow companies are in the legal right. > > Furthermore I find the “criminal” characterization in **Sailboat** ’s post to be a bit off. A tow truck driver isn’t towing you as some sort of act of law enforcement, he is just exercising (as a third party) a property owner’s right to remove unwanted objects from their private property. Well, except for the fact that the property owners wanted my car there. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/62 "2009-06-22T18:58:00Z")
Back in the day, my now-husband returned from a night of clubbing to find his car towed. No problem, you see they don’t tow it back to the lot right away - you can sometimes walk around and find it. In order to save time and get as many cars as possible, the tow company would tow the cars to a street a few blocks away and then the flatbed would come and pick them all up at once. They got into the car and drove away. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/63 "2009-06-22T19:14:30Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Well, except for the fact that the property owners wanted my car there. I don’t think you actually read my post. A tow truck driver generally isn’t towing someone as an agent of law enforcement. They are doing it as a private entity. They aren’t “investigating a crime scene” or anything of that nature, your characterization of towing as some sort of criminal enforcement action is just simply not accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/64 "2009-06-23T03:45:03Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > We once had a very aggressive tow company in town . Someone firebombed their office and burned it down. The cops said “we have about 10,000 suspects” meaning anyone who had their car towed by those guys. I don’t recall if the crime was solved. I’ve got [one more suspect](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzQAoeRjGZ0). ---
**Author:** ![Ffperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ffperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ffperson)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/65 "2009-06-23T12:13:24Z")
is it illegal for towing trucks to knowingly tow a car with someone inside? I heard an urban legend where a “friend of a friend” saw his car being ready to be towed, asked the tow truck driver if he could get something inside. He then jumped in the car and locked the doors. Daring the tow truck driver to tow his car with him in it, because it is illegal. ?reckless driving? kidnapping? So it is a waiting game, where the tow truck driver decides it’s better to find another car to tow, and just unhooks the car. Good story, but wondering if it could be true and useful to know. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/66 "2009-06-23T13:39:24Z")
> [@Ffperson](#): > > is it illegal for towing trucks to knowingly tow a car with someone inside? > > I heard an urban legend where a “friend of a friend” saw his car being ready to be towed, asked the tow truck driver if he could get something inside. He then jumped in the car and locked the doors. Daring the tow truck driver to tow his car with him in it, because it is illegal. ?reckless driving? kidnapping? So it is a waiting game, where the tow truck driver decides it’s better to find another car to tow, and just unhooks the car. > > Good story, but wondering if it could be true and useful to know. I’ve heard that also. But has anyone else heard the story about the tow truck taking away a car that had a baby inside. It was one of the cases where the mother was going into a store for just a minute, and when she came back the car was gone. The driver had apparently not seen the baby in there. I seem to recall it happened a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/67 "2009-06-23T22:39:07Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > One of the city councilman ultimately called the towing company and informed them that the church in question was having video surveillance installed on their parking lot and that the presence of any vehicles from their company on said lot, at any hour of the day, would be considered criminal trespass and that any removal from said lot would be investigated by the police as auto theft. “Would be”? It already was. ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/68 "2009-06-23T22:47:52Z")
I stubbed a toe once, but I’ve never beaten it!! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/69 "2009-06-24T17:59:47Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I don’t think you actually read my post. > > A tow truck driver generally isn’t towing someone as an agent of law enforcement. They are doing it as a private entity. They aren’t “investigating a crime scene” or anything of that nature, your characterization of towing as some sort of criminal enforcement action is just simply not accurate. Oh. Well, in this part of my post: > [@Sailboat](#): > > They lacerated a tire towing the car, and tore some of the weatherstripping jimmying the lock, but they (and the police) said “there’s no way to be sure it wasn’t like that before it was towed,” so we’re SOL. I don’t really understand that – if that’s their standard, how can they be sure about ANY crime scene, and how do they get any jury to convict under that standard? I was discussing how do the POLICE get any convictions from a crime scene, or a towing, or frankly anything else, if the police’s standard of evidence is “we arrived after it happened and take no sides because we didn’t see it.” That’s the part of my post that used the term crime scene. In _this_ part of my post, > [@Sailboat](#): > > Turns out the decision as to whether you are breaking the law is made by the tow truck driver on the spot, at which point he alters the crime scene and removes the evidence. The presumption is that he’s always right. > > The legislators have willingly ceded this ability to make (or make up) the law, enforce the law, and interpret the law in court (remember, the tow truck driver is presumed right in the court) – all three branches of American government – to a for-profit enterprise with an inherent conflict of interest. I admit that I did characterize tow truck drivers as exercising power to determine if a law was broken. But that’s because they actually do get to make a determination that I have or have not broken the law, and they actually do get to make it stick. Someone might, to make himself feel better, deny that that constitutes police powers, but if I randomly take property from people based on determinations I make, you can bet that I’ll be treated differently…because I don’t have police powers. They may be representing a private entity – poorly, in the case I describe above, since they are working against the interests of the entity they represent and said entity’s guests, and only in the interest of their own profit – but while so doing, they are exercising real police powers. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/70 "2009-06-24T18:10:07Z")
I wouldn’t characterize towing a car as “police powers”. They’re not detaining you - they’re removing your property from a place where the property owner doesn’t want it to be. If someone came by and left a couch on your front lawn, would you be exercising “police powers” if you removed it? I get that the situation you were in (tenants gave you the wrong tag) sucks, but look at it from other side - if they don’t tow for expired parking tags, what’s to prevent people from giving away their old guest tags to allow more people than are permitted to park in the lot? They’ve got a deal with the property owner - any car displaying a valid parking tag has permission to be there, any other car, including one with expired tags, is not. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/71 "2009-06-24T19:47:03Z")
If you wish to follow through my advice is to pay to get your car back then file a small claims suit. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/72 "2009-06-25T00:48:39Z")
My friend was parked across the street from my apartment overnight once and her car was towed. The spot she was in was in front of another apartment building and there were no visible signs saying not to park there. She did have to pay to get her car back, but then she sued the person who had it towed (the manager of that apartment complex) and won because of the lack of signs, but the judge still only ordered the manager to reimburse her for half of the cost. I, on the other hand, had to pay $300 towing and storage fees for my stolen car that was recovered and the cops couldn’t/wouldn’t wait a half hour for me to get there (it was the middle of the night and I had no car!) or leave it parked somewhere. Quite the scam the police have going for them with that (I believe they get kickbacks from the towing company). Don’t get me started on that! ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297/73 "2009-06-25T01:55:55Z")
My friend ‘beat’ a tow. After paying $75 in tow truck charges they unhooked and let her drive home. Her car was parked on the road, she was at my birthday party (in February). The law is “no overnight parking, November 1-March 31”. But it was 10 o’clock at night! All the signs in town say “no overnight parking”, with no real times stated. For some reason the town was trying to plow and her car was in the way, even though the road was plowed clear and it hadn’t snowed in days. I guess it was some late night clean up deal. The tow truck guy was nice enough to charge her the minimum show up charge, maybe because we called the police to help. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-beaten-a-tow/500297.md?page=3)