In 2014, All Star Enterprises and Collision Center, Inc. (All Star) parked a rollback tow truck on a city street in Salem, Massachusetts. The truck was parked in violation of a city ordinance prohibiting the overnight parking of large commercial vehicles (over 4 tons) on certain residential streets. That evening, Dillon Renard was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by an intoxicated person. Renard was killed instantly when the vehicle collided with the rear of the illegally-parked tow truck. 

Towing companies engaged in law enforcement towing, private property impoundment, or any other type of towing that results in the impoundment of vehicles, should be familiar with the towing lien laws in their respective states.  A lien law allows a towing company to maintain possession of an impounded vehicle until the towing and storage fees are paid. The lien law also sets forth the procedure for disposing of an unclaimed vehicle.  Typically, if a vehicle is not claimed, the towing company can sell the vehicle at auction to recoup those fees (or at least part of them). But what do you do with the personal items in an unclaimed vehicle that is going to auction or the crusher?  

Summertime is rapidly approaching. That means hundreds of thousands of tourists will be descending upon the 63 beautiful national parks located across the nation. In addition to the national parks, there are 360 other areas in the national park system, including national monuments, parkways, battlefields, historic sites, and recreation areas. Most of those tourists will be traveling by car or RV, and many of those vehicles will suffer breakdowns or accidents while in one of the many park areas.  

Any towing company owner that performs law enforcement towing is familiar with the term “owner’s request,” or OR. In the event of a vehicle accident or breakdown, before the investigating officer dispatched a tow truck, the owner or driver of the vehicle who is on the scene is usually given the option of indicating his or her preference for a towing company. An OR overrides the normal rotation list or contractual agreement the police agency has made for towing service.

A TowLawyer.com subscriber recently informed me that one of his tow truck driver-employees had taken a trip to the beach with his adult daughter and her family.  After he had been back to work for a few days, the driver found out that his daughter had been diagnosed with COVID-19.  The driver felt fine and was not displaying any symptoms of the coronavirus.  The TL subscriber asked, “What should I do?  What can I legally do?  Do I have to send him home?  Can I require him to be tested for COVID-19 infection?”  Those are important questions in these trying times.

Generally, under what is known as the “American Rule,” all parties to litigation are responsible for paying their own attorney’s fees. But a state legislature can, by statute, require the losing party to a lawsuit to pay the winning party’s legal costs in some circumstances. That is referred to as a “fee-shifting” statute.  Under Illinois law, the loser in an unlawful towing case may be required to pay the vehicle owner’s attorney’s fees. In Roberto Lopez v. Rendered Services, Inc., an Illinois appellate court had to decide who the loser is in a successful wrongful towing case.