Towing in Arkansas: An overview
Regulating the towing industry is primarily a local issue in Arkansas. Localities have the power to regulate the industry and enforce those regulations. Let’s face it, not all jurisdictions have the personnel or resources to enforce the law and that problem goes to the heart of this area of the law. Units of local government often rely upon residents and motorists to bring infractions to their attention and when neither local government nor those in the general public call the police, the towing companies, without the fear of consequences, are more likely to bend the rules.
That said, a few state laws do cover the towing industry. For example, the Arkansas Fair Business Practices Act affects all towing . Arkansas Code Annotated § 4-88-101 et seq. The Act sets forth general guidelines designed to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or unconscionable trade practices. Regarding tows, the act prohibits:
· Failing to provide a vehicle owner with the name of the towing company and whether the vehicle is in storage;
· Storing a motor vehicle at a facility that charges a storage rate that exceeds the lawful rate; and
· Failing to return property from a motor vehicle to the registered owner after a tow if the property is found and requested by the owner, but this does not apply to items that are evidence of a crime or that are otherwise illegal to possess.
What situations allow for vehicle towing in Arkansas?
Vehicles in Arkansas can be towed under a number of circumstances. For example, your vehicle can legally be towed if you are illegally parked. If you park in front of a private driveway, your vehicle will usually be towed unless you’re allowed to be there, or your vehicle’s being there is not causing a parking problem. You will also be towed if you’re in a fire lane – a narrow area reserved only for trucks fighting fires – or if you’re parked in the regular parking spaces at a hospital or any other facility that includes some designated spaces for the handicapped.
If your vehicle is abandoned, it can be towed. Abandoned vehicles are usually defined as those left unattended and unmoved for a predetermined period of time, usually a week to a month, depending on state or local laws. A vehicle may also be abandoned if the owner has somehow relinquished possession and control over it. If your vehicle has been institutionalized by the authorities for whatever reason – even a blown tire – and you want to get it back, the towing firm will want you to sign a release, and you will have to pay all the applicable fees. Failing to pay your storage fees may result in your vehicle being sold or auctioned off by the firm or an auctioneer. In addition, The Arkansas Crime Victims Reparations Board may instigate a lien to help pay for the property crime perpetrated on you.
If your vehicle violates private property regulations, such as being parked on someone’s lawn, your vehicle is fair game for a tow truck. Such vehicles usually belong to people who think it’s okay to park anywhere they want.
Vehicle owner rights in towing cases
The rights a vehicle owner has can vary, depending on the circumstances of the tow. In Arkansas, once your vehicle is towed, you have the right to retrieve it from the person or company that towed it. The tow company is required to provide you with information regarding how to retrieve the vehicle. That information must include: Vehicle owners are also entitled to dispute wrongful tows. If your vehicle was towed and you believe that the tow was not justified, you have a right to demand proof of the facts or circumstances that made the towing justified. Upon receiving that demand, the owner or operator of the towing company has 30 days to send you the necessary documents to prove that the tow was valid. If they cannot provide the proper documentation to prove that the tow was justified within the allotted time, they must return your vehicle free of charge.
Arkansas towing company obligations
When the vehicle is to be towed individuals, including owners of privately owned lots, have some responsibility to others who may be affected by the towing. In order for the towing company to charge those responsible for the vehicle, the tow truck driver must follow certain rules when taking possession of the vehicle. Their adherence or failure to retain of all subpoena evidence of the tow can make a significant difference in any subsequent lawsuit. Some of the rules which must be followed include: All lots must have a sign, the content of and height of should at least meets the requirements of Arkansas statute. Sign must be at least 2 feet by 3feet reprint in bold lettering that is at least one inch in height and located at least three feet above the ground. The sign may not be in a position to block visibility of oncoming traffic and must provide adequate notice for prospective business customers of the operator. If signage exists prior to the towed vehicle parked there, many factors must be taken into consideration. If the vehicle IS unoccupied, either by license plate stickers for unattended vehicles or any other means, this information may suffice. A sign with substantially identical content of a sign placed on property by the property owner at least 24 hours before the towed (if was unattended) was to be towed. Signage must comply with the requirements for unattended vehicles under A.C.A.58-11-205(e)(2) and may be the same as provided in A.C.A. 58-11-205(e)(1), but must indicate that parking is prohibited and subject to being towed. It is only the signage that may be provided by the property owner (as long as it complies with the law), not a contract for towing upon a person’s property that must be entered into with the towing company. It is not necessary for a property owner to enter into a contract with a towing company which includes the consent of the vehicle owner or operator. The property owner has the option simply to post a sign that is larger than those of unattended vehicles or smaller than individually assigned parking lots. An addition signage should be posted, indicating that the parking of such vehicles is prohibited and subject to being towed as well. If no sign exists, then 48 hour written notice is sufficient under the law. The 48 hour notice is considered ample for all manner of vehicles and does not require any specific type of signage or notification of unoccupied or without a license plate vehicles. It is also important to note that the property owner or operator of the lot does not have to be the one to call the tow truck, if there is evidence (photographs, notes etc.) that there was proper authorization to the towing company by way of contract if the owner/operator.
How to prevent having your car towed
To avoid having your vehicle towed, be aware of the most common rules and regulations that people violate when parking or driving. Some of the steps you can take to ensure that you don’t get your car towed include:
Parking Prohibited: Learn where you cannot legally park a car or how long you can leave it in a particular area. Usually, no parking signs designate areas where cars cannot be left, but there are also time restrictions in some places. Even in large parking lots, there are usually signs indicating which spots are off limits, such as tow away zones and spaces reserved for employees.
Fire Hydrants: No one wants to stop a fire truck from doing its job, so don’t block a fire hydrant because you see a parking space nearby. Fire hydrants are strictly off-limits to cars, and if you block them, you will likely be cited .
Handicapped Spaces: Handicapped parking spots should only be used by those who have the required permit displayed in their windshield. If you don’t have the no-parking sign for handicapped parking areas in your own car, don’t use someone else’s or park in a handicapped spot – you’ll be ticketed for it.
No Parking/Standing Zones: Knowing the difference between parking, standing and stopping is important. Standing means that you stop your car momentarily and leave the engine running until the passenger or cargo gets in or out, and then you’re on your way. You can’t do this near a fire hydrant, crosswalk, bus stop or those tow-away zones previously mentioned, but it’s otherwise legal. Sometimes, though, areas will be posted no standing, so if you see those signs, keep driving.
How to deal with a towed vehicle
The immediate thing to do if your car is towed is call the local police department and get the name of the towing company and its phone number. Until you get the name of the towing company from, it will most likely be impossible to determine where your car is being held. Three major towing companies operate around this area.
Once you have the name of the towing company, you can call it and ask for the address where the car is being held. Most towing companies in Little Rock/Saline County charge a release fee of more than $100 for the first day in their lot, so it is important to quickly arrange to pick the vehicle up. Most of the time, a vehicle will be towed at night or on a weekend and left for the next business day. However, many people delay a day or two thinking the car will be towed to a lot where they can retrieve it without any difficulty.
When calling the towing company, ask for the hours of operation. The fees are typically $25 or more for each additional day that the car is held. It is a good idea to keep some extra cash on hand for this purpose. Many individuals do not carry more than $20 in their wallets and when they need to pay a fee, it is very inconvenient.
Most towing companies do not charge any fee for retrieving a vehicle on Sunday. Some of them do, however, charge as much as $50.
Retrieving a vehicle from greater Pulaski County may be challenging. Most of the towing lots are extremely congested in the mornings and even in the early afternoon because they tow an average of eight vehicles on a daily basis. Therefore, if it is not possible to retrieve the vehicle before noon, it may be difficult for the towing company to locate the vehicle until later in the afternoon or evening.
When turning over a vehicle to the owner, the towing company does its best to document any existing blemishes. A written disclosure of this pre-existing condition is given to the owner, but in many instances, the owner is asked to sign a document acknowledging that there was a problem prior to towing the vehicle. If you are handed one of these papers, do not be afraid to not sign it. At the beginning of the system, such documents were given to vehicle owners as positives, negatives or damages. Today, some companies have abandoned this practice, because of "truth in lending" regulations.
Disputes and remedies
In some cases, the injured parties may choose to go the litigation route. Often, a more amicable solution is possible in rural areas where everyone knows everyone else. If all parties are in accord with what has happened and agree as to the violations and damages, the charges can usually be settled and the process can be over with fairly quickly and painlessly.
There are instances, however, when the injured parties remain adamant that the tow was wrongful. An injured party retains an attorney that sends a proper notice of claim to the tow company, but the tow company remains intractable. The injured party then agrees for his or her attorney to file suit, which will usually help to resolve matters. Most defendants know that the court and trial costs start to accumulate rapidly, so those who have violated the law and see that they will have to answer for their actions often prefer to settle out of court .
Classic examples of situations in which an injured party might choose to litigate are if the injured motorist believes that the towing company did not follow the law in connection with the work performed, if the towing company refuses to admit that parts of the work were illegal, if the injured motorist disagrees regarding the amount of damages caused as a result of an illegal tow, or if a non-vehicle owner believes that he was wrongfully fined by the towing company for a violation of which he is clearly not guilty.
If the injured person chooses to litigate, he or she may be entitled to the following damages:
Again, the injured party is always encouraged to use common sense and reason and to seek a solution without judicial intervention. Many times a simple phone call will solve what looks to be an intractable situation. In general, the party with the most to lose is not the plaintiff but the defendant, who very likely has to pay for attorney’s fees, litigation costs, and oftentimes, most importantly, for the towing company’s own attorney’s fees (which can and often do add up to be very substantial).