Please correct me if I am wrong in my interpretation, but I need to rant about something. Hawaii has a law about towing companies and being able to have your car unhooked from the tow truck FREE OF CHARGE if you show up on the scene. It is as stated: (b) Towing companies engaged by the owner, occupant, or person in charge of the property shall: (1) Charge not more than $65 for a tow, or $75 for a tow using a dolly, plus a mileage charge of $7.50 per mile towed and $25 per day or fraction thereof for storage for the first seven days and $20 per day thereafter. When the tow occurs between the hours of six oclock p.m. and six oclock a.m., from Monday through Thursday and from six oclock p.m. Friday to six oclock a.m. Monday, the towing company shall be entitled to an overtime charge of $15. If the vehicle is in the process of being hooked up or is hooked up to the tow truck and the owner appears on the scene, the towing company shall unhook the vehicle and shall not charge any fee to the owner of the vehicle. In the case of a difficult hookup, meaning an above or below ground hookup in a multilevel facility, a towing surcharge of $30 shall be applicable... Last night we approached the tow truck as it was pulling away and brought this up to both the driver and the police officer. Neither listened to us and the officer told the driver to just take the car to the lot. When I asked him why he would do that when we had the law in my hands (I pulled it up on my phone via Hawaii.capitol.gov for reference), he tried to make the claim that werent going to pay it and were just being difficult. He also said that because the car had been towed away from its original spot (like 5 stalls away) before my friend caught up with the truck and stopped it, the law doesnt apply because we didnt engage the tow truck driver on the scene. Now again, correct me if Im wrong, but there is NO operational definition for what on the scene means. Its not written in the law I searched, and the officer failed to produce a black-and-white copy of the definition on his own. This leaves the term open to interpretation, which isnt fair because those in charge will just define it however is convenient for them. If they want to properly enforce that law (and properly protect citizens from misinterpretations of that law), they need to define what on the scene entails--does it mean at the exact same spot the car is being hooked up, or on the premises, or in the parking lot? Or even just 5-10 feet away from original parking spot. If it is lawful to refuse to unhook the car free of charge once the tow truck moves the car PERIOD, the written law needs to explicitly state that. Am I wrong in my understanding of this issue?
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 20:45:20 +0000
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