# Help me fight a friend's ignorance re: towing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097 "2014-04-27T07:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/21 "2014-04-27T21:07:43Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > If his car gets towed, it will remain in the impound lot until he ponies up the cash to get it back. Around here, the tow lot attendants sit behind bullet proof glass for a reason. YMMV, but they will laugh behind his back. Possibly to his face, depends on how nice a town you’re in. Indeed. Nanaimo, British Columbia is the location. Personally, I wouldn’t mess with the tow truck guys around here. > [@njtt](#): > > I do not know what the law actually is where you are (or anywhere, come to that), but your friend’s reason #1 seems quite plausible to me. If that isn’t the law it ought to be. If my car got towed and there were no contact information on the relevant sign, I would certainly be in a quandary. This could be the case but the property manager could just say the new signs with the contact info are on the way but we had to have this car towed in the meantime. “Your sign is wrong!” might be a valid point against the property manager (assuming there is some way he can pursue it- I don’t even know who you would appeal that to around here) but won’t get his car off the hook. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I would think most places would have similar laws to keep towing companies from becoming parties to theft or malicious activity. I used to work at an answering service and we looked after one of Nanaimo’s two big towing companies. My experience was that people would find an empty spot where their car was and would freak out and call the cops. The cops wouldn’t even consider starting an investigation until the caller had spoken to both towing companies. > [@Ethilrist](#): > > How does he know this? He knows everything. > [@chappachula](#): > > Your friend is presumably young, has never held in a postion in management , and has never had any dealings facing government agencies or people with authority. > He needs to learn that sometimes it’s better to be smart, than to be right. And till then, he should keep a stack of bills within easy reach, large enough to pay for getting his car back from the guy who sits behind the bulletproof glass. He is one of those types that believes all law enforcement is corrupt and that they hold no power over you unless you let them. In other words all you have to do is stand up to cops, tow truck drivers, property managers, etc and they will back down because they have no actual power over anything. I think part of the reason he feels this way is because he was a property manager for a while and he had to evict some crackheads and they managed to force him to give their damage deposit back even though the place was damaged. So in his experience as a property manager he was powerless; therefore all property managers are powerless. > [@MarcusF](#): > > * * * > > It’s a Dope meme. See [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6241129&postcount=1) > **OpalCat** died last year and people have started using “Bye Opal” or “RIP Opal” instead of Hi Opal - others would rather they didn’t. I miss Opal too, no offense intended. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Lastly (so far), if the parking lot is so dangerous in so many ways, the landlord should be notified. Your friend should email him about all these things. Tell him about the poor lighting, trip hazards, rapists, people trying to sell him meth at night etc. I mean, he should fix these up just for his customers. > > Also, is your friend the only one being targeted? I’m guessing this was a blanket letter sent out to all the businesses in the plaza. That’s what I’m guessing. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him. The property manager has a chain of evidence. They can produce several letters in which they state YOU WILL BE TOWED. They can point to their faded sign. They can show that they provided a spot for employees to park. And what does my friend have? His “right” to park where he pleases. Has he written to them? No, and he won’t because he doesn’t want to park in the designated area regardless of what kind of shape it’s in. And yes, the notice did go out to all the businesses in the plaza. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/22 "2014-04-27T21:15:56Z")
Sounds like your friend is purposely being a jerk. In which case this thread could get interesting and we could all learn more about parking laws in British Columbia from actual experience. Please encourage him to continue his fight against the man for the sake of fighting ignorance and providing entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/23 "2014-04-27T21:18:30Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > He knows everything. > > He is one of those types that believes all law enforcement is corrupt and that they hold no power over you unless you let them. In other words all you have to do is stand up to cops, tow truck drivers, property managers, etc and they will back down because they have no actual power over anything. I think part of the reason he feels this way is because he was a property manager for a while and he had to evict some crackheads and they managed to force him to give their damage deposit back even though the place was damaged. So in his experience as a property manager he was powerless; therefore all property managers are powerless. Given this description, I don’t think there’s any way to convince him short of actually towing his car. I doubt you want to go that far. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/24 "2014-04-27T21:53:44Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Very true, but some of us miss her, and this is one way to memorialize her memory. I, for one, am not offended. Given that she herself disliked it, and that its original intent was to needle her for being excessively pedantic, I don’t think it’s a particularly good way to do so. But I don’t suppose there’s any way it’s ever going to go away. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/25 "2014-04-27T22:02:09Z")
Almost every time a thread title contains “Help me fight a friend’s ignorance” the first post should contain: > [@Enginerd](#): > > I don’t think there’s any way to convince him However, leaving the quote more intact, we might be able to convince other people of other things. Let’s try one… How can I convince my friend to stop forwarding Anti-Global Warming emails to me every.single.day? > [@](#): > > I don’t think there’s any way to convince him short of actually towing his car I bet that would work. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/26 "2014-04-28T05:52:12Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > 1. He thinks the sign has no legal authority because it lacks the phone number and address of the towing company. However, there are only two towing companies in this town so I hardly see how that is an issue. As far as he is concerned, it is a matter of law- no phone number/address, no legal right to tow. I found several cities in BC that have bylaws requiring phone numbers and addresses on tow-away zone signs, but I poked around the Nanaimo bylaws and found nothing saying that. (There is a bylaw saying that tow-away zones at _bus stops_ in Nanaimo have to have a phone number, but nothing about private parking lots.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/27 "2014-04-28T07:45:00Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > Don’t know local laws. But in San Jose, Ca the property entrances require a sign and the sign also has to have the phone number and towing company. California had a bad ugly history with predatory towing companies – commonly towing apartment dwellers’ cars off in the middle of the night. Everybody “knew” that the apartment owners got kickbacks for that. The state finally enacted laws to regulate such stuff, presumably due to a sufficient upwelling of mass outrage. There’s a looooooong list of rules restricting that stuff now. Personally, I question how enforceable a lot of that stuff is, but it looks good on paper. [CVC 22658](http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22658.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/28 "2014-04-28T08:05:51Z")
I have 10 internets that say the person behind the bullet proof glass won’t care a bit for any argument the OPs friend offers. Or will allow the OPs friend into the lot to get his car until the towing and storage fee have been paid. It seems to me the only way to resolve this conundrum is by experiment. So the first question that needs to be asked of the OP is this: “How good of a ‘friend’ are we talking about?” Is this a friend or some guy who works at the same place you do and you shoot the breeze with him now and then? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/29 "2014-04-28T08:27:52Z")
Well, as much as I’d like to see his persuasive powers in action, I feel like it wouldn’t be so great for him if he had to face this situation. I know he can’t afford it and wouldn’t be able to get to work without his vehicle, which would lead to him not being able to make the payments on it which I guess would lead him to not having to worry about it being towed. I also feel like he’d do something that would land him in jail and since he hates cops with a passion that would lead to a whole other host of issues. Still, while I won’t call it in to the property manager myself, I think his car lives on borrowed time because the last notice they sent was clear and unambiguous. All I was trying to make him understand is that no matter what he thinks his rights are, no matter what “laws” he has in his head, once the car is towed it is towed and no amount of angry bitching will change it. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/30 "2014-04-28T09:45:12Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I also feel like he’d do something that would land him in jail and since he hates cops with a passion that would lead to a whole other host of issues. And yet he wants to pursue a path that would put him in direct conflict with them? You would be best to tell him now that when his car gets towed that you will not haul him around to the tow yard or police station unless you want to expose yourself to arrest or an altercation yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/31 "2014-04-28T10:16:31Z")
How does anyone know which cars in the lot belong to employees and which belong to customers? Do employees have stickers on their bumpers? What if an employee simply doesn’t put his sticker on his car? Then how does his car look any different from any customer’s car? Does the landlord or somebody have a registry of all the license plates of all employees’ cars? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/32 "2014-04-28T11:05:27Z")
If the car gets there before business hours or stands there more than three or four hours, they will generally assume it’s not a customer. If it’s just a small strip shopping center (as opposed to a huge mall with hundreds of stores and restaurants), the signs will usually say something like “Customer Parking – 60 minute limit.” I remember once going on a business trip to visit a customer whose office was in a building attached to a large shopping mall. They told me it was OK to park my rental car in the mall garage. I got there before the stores opened. When I was done for the day, there was one of those obnoxious stickers glued to my window telling me that employees must park on the top level and that they recorded my license plate and next time I would be towed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/33 "2014-04-28T11:07:05Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > He is one of those types that believes all law enforcement is corrupt and that they hold no power over you unless you let them. In other words all you have to do is stand up to cops, tow truck drivers, property managers, etc and they will back down because they have no actual power over anything. Oh, my – he’s a bit young and naïve, isn’t he? Well, if he ever passes through my area and interacts with any of those folks he’s going to learn we do things a bit differently down here… even if we have epic corruption as well. From experience here\*, if it’s on private property here and there’s a sign stating unauthorized people will be towed it doesn’t require a towing company name or phone number. The cops _prefer_ that there be that information on the sign, but it’s not _required_. - The experience involved a very drunk woman whose “friends” referred to her as “Tracy, that bitch” who blocked the driveway of my building with her SUV then promptly started a fist-fight with someone from the bar next door. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/34 "2014-04-28T13:58:37Z")
Wholly private property is a different thing. It would be unreasonable that residential driveways including tow notifications. It’s not unreasonable that quasi-public places - particularly commercial parking lots or common residential lots like apartment complex lots - have posted towing notices. [Florida law certainly requires quasi-public lots to have tow notices that identify the tow company](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statuTes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0715/Sections/0715.07.html) (among much else). The rationale is pretty obvious: how else are you going to find your car at 2 a.m. when everything is closed? The OP might consider looking at BC law rather than the town’s ordinances because the issue may be addressed there. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/35 "2014-04-28T14:07:14Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > And yet he wants to pursue a path that would put him in direct conflict with them? You would be best to tell him now that when his car gets towed that you will not haul him around to the tow yard or police station unless you want to expose yourself to arrest or an altercation yourself. An even better idea is to tell him to park in the designated parking lot and let someone else ‘fight the good fight’ and let him know how it goes down at the impound lot. ETA, WRT everyone talking about BC’s laws about the tow company’s number being on the sign, I say ‘so what’. Let’s say their number does have to be on the sign and OP’s friend calls the landlord and tells him that. Then what. Then the landlord has a new sign made that’s up to code and he’ll _still_ have to park in the designated lot. It’s a whole bunch more legwork for the same result. I’m not saying it’s wrong, it just seems like a lot of stress for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/36 "2014-04-28T14:20:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Wholly private property is a different thing. It would be unreasonable that residential driveways including tow notifications. It’s not unreasonable that quasi-public places - particularly commercial parking lots or common residential lots like apartment complex lots - have posted towing notices. The incident I related in post #33 did, in fact, take place on a “common residential lot” for our apartment building. It’s still private property. Definitely this is going to vary by jurisdiction, but I’d ask a police officer or other reputable source rather than taking the word of a hot-head with parking issues. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/37 "2014-04-28T16:17:48Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Opal died, it’s time this meme did too. No. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/38 "2014-04-28T16:24:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How does anyone know which cars in the lot belong to employees and which belong to customers? Do employees have stickers on their bumpers? What if an employee simply doesn’t put his sticker on his car? Then how does his car look any different from any customer’s car? Does the landlord or somebody have a registry of all the license plates of all employees’ cars? At the hospital where my Ex-MIL works you have to register your license plate with them. On top of that they must periodically look through the lot. At one point her and her husband had swapped cars. She parked in the remote lot where she was supposed to but he had a meeting at her hospital and parked in the patient/visitor lot and she ended up with a ticket for parking her car there. Also, when you pull into the patient/visitor lot there a person there just watching for people pulling in wearing scrubs (nurses). ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/39 "2014-04-28T17:38:41Z")
Your friend is welcome to test what he thinks the law is or should be. It’s not going to work out well for him even if he’s right. The car will still get towed and impounded. If the law is in his favor he might be able to come out ahead and be reimbursed for any towing or impound fees. In the interim he might not have a car or a way to get to work. It could take the court months to find in his favor. Picking questionable legal fights is never a good strategy when the people you’re fighting have time and money on their side. In addition to the consequences of having his car towed does the employer have and opinion on this guy parking in the customer parking spaces? When I worked in retail management people were fired for refusing to park in the designated areas. Even the unemployment office didn’t find in their favor. Those people thought they had clever arguments too. ‘Can’t prove it’s my car’ ‘I’m not on the clock when I’m parking’ ‘Legally they can’t tell me where to park’ etc. In the end the truth is it is employment at will, when management tells you not to park in the spaces closest to the building and you insist on doing it anyway you’re going to be out of a job. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097/40 "2014-04-28T17:43:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Definitely this is going to vary by jurisdiction, but I’d ask a police officer or other reputable source rather than taking the word of a hot-head with parking issues. Towing is a civil matter. Police officers are not likely to have more knowledge of the applicable law than anyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-fight-a-friends-ignorance-re-towing/687097.md?page=3)