Towing Issues: Towing & Personal belongings, personal belongings, tow company


Question
QUESTION: I was recently in a 2 vehicle accident directly in front of my residence in NH. As the vehicles were littered across the road bringing traffic to a halt in peak hour traffic, my vehicle was towed. My discrepancy with the towing scenario is that my car was towed to the company's compound without any interaction with myself (not injured) or the "legal owner" (not present). I do not understand why I was not told where the vehicle was going or even given the option to have it dropped directly at my residence? It cost $110 to tow to the compound and another $65 to have towed back to my residence. On a related note, the next day I went to retrieve my personal items and find out how much was owed and was told that I can only retrieve pharmaceuticals and nothing else. After a little research and advice I am told that I was able to retrieve more. The tow company called the police and they basically backed the tow company up and further retrieved my house keys, which needed to be removed from the key ring. I have researched best I can to try and understand my rights but as always am having a little trouble interpreting them. I found this article here: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Towing-Issues-1411/2009/2/New-Hampshire-Towing-1.htm which seems to refer to the laws surrounding my situation. I am inclined to refer more specifically to 262:35-a(III) but don't know where to look for law regarding removal of the vehicle without consent considering I was at the scene and it could have been moved back up the driveway. Am I in the right ballpark here? Thanks for your help

ANSWER: First was the vehicle driveable? Second, was it local law enforcement, County or State that worked the accident? As for the articles you quoted, it appears that they deal primarily with abandoned vehicles.

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QUESTION: The vehicle was un-drivable and it was the local town police that worked the scene.

ANSWER: I would contact the local law enforcement agency and ask them if they have a policy when towing for a private request and why you were not given this option.

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QUESTION: I already did a the time of requesting my personal belongings and inquiring about the towing fees the morning after. The local law enforcement (3 cars) that attended the tow yard that morning after basically told me that the vehicle was towed due to the above situation mentioned. No one could explain why I wasn't given the option at the accident scene, and I was told directly by the local police officers that as soon as the vehicle hits the tow trucks bed, he holds a lien against the vehicle and everything in it besides pharmaceuticals....It seems that I was given some sort of "special" treatment to be able to have the house keys returned via one of the police officers. To me it seems that the towing company and the local police do not know the law regarding post accident treatment and especially the towing company have taken advantage of me and I am sure many others in such unfortunate circumstances.

Answer
I would contact the state attorney general's office. Most departments have to honor a "personal request" for towing as long as the towing company is licensed in the state/county/city and meets the requirements for insurance, etc. I can find nothing in NH law that would contradict this.