Towing Issues: towing laws in San Antonio, TX, tow truck driver, small claims court

Question
My son had a wreck in San Antonio.  He was off the road in a church parking lot and had called our roadside assistance.  The tow truck driver was on the way when the San Antonio police arrived and told him that there is a law in San Antonio that the city has to do the towing in any accident.  He had to pay $85.00 to have his vehicle towed by the person the police officer called when he had free towing available to him.  The tow truck driver who arrived from our roadside assistance had to leave the scene.  This sounds like a rip-off to me.  Is that legal?  My son is only 18 and this was his first accident.  Is there anything we can do?

Answer
I have been studying this issue for a while as San Antonio has been involved in a long legal battle with its towing issue...

YES the city had an "exclusive contract" with Texas towing, where they did all the towing for tows in the city which were ordered by the police department... But they have been fighting in court over this issue for a while along with the city council wanting to go to contracts with more companies to do the work...  

Also Texas has changed the rules on a state level regarding towing vehicles from private property (non consent tows) and "emergency - incident" tows... This took effect September 1st...

But back to your question, if the police were involved due to damage levels ($$$) then they would have to do a report and call for a tow...

But I still believe that a "private request" for a tow would be honored... It does sound like you were denied your rights that way...
What to do, well first of all I would talk to the police department (work your way up) and keep good notes... See what you can find out and if they will do anything for you... Your insurance company might help with this also, and if anything they should refund you "some, all or none" of the fees paid for the tow...

If you do not get any results there is always the small claims court route, or you can go to the new "state agency" who is regulating the towing industry now...  I am not sure how to get ahold of the "TDLR" agency yet, and I am still reading thought the 100 pages or so or regulations which were changed...


Good luck, and I hope this helps.