QuestionQUESTION: I parked my auto, a New Beetle in January this year on the north side of Palm east of Ocean in Lauderdale by the sea. I parked between the entrance and exit to the Holiday Inn. I was parked over 100 feet from the intersection. There were no signs or markings at this location. Palm westbound has two lanes. Holiday Inn did not complain but some vehicle towing a trailer complained to the local police saying I was obstructing him from making a right turn onto Palm. I was towed from said location. I used to be a police officer and there would no way I could be towed under this circumstance. The driver of the complaining vehicle should have had to wait until he had passed me to make that turn. Is there some law in Florida that other states do not have to allow this? (towing off the street) I was not tagged with any offence but received a towing bill of over $200. I tried to get info on this from the Broward Sheriffs Department but I was told that they could tow and he offered no reason why, which I had asked. Who can help me on this situation?
ANSWER: wow I really have no idea of how to answer this question...
Street parking issues are hard to answer as I was not there, I am not familiar with the location and while a police officer did respond and determine the vehicle should be towed, as a former officer you also know that a lot of latitude is given to the officer in order to determine if its legal or not..
As to who can help on this, will if the Sheriff's department did not answer it correctly, I know there are supervisors and higher ups who might... Then of course there are attorneys who deal in issues like this, and there is always the ultimate answer, go to court about the issue and present the case to the judge...
But as to how to provide you with an answer, I have no idea...
Yes it seems that the vehicle towing the trailer might been able to drive a bit differently but I wonder if he was still there when the police officer arrived and if he had to wait till the vehicle was removed before he could go down the road as he wanted and needed to.
That is something which I would be interested in knowing the answers to..
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QUESTION: I am looking into Florida state parking regulations and the mailing address for this and the superior you were mentioning. As a former police officer I do not agree that there is a lot of latitude given. It is either right or wrong. A police officer has to operate within the laws an that is what I am trying to find out. What are the laws and where can I direct this complaint.
AnswerI understand what you are asking, but I do not know the SPECIFIC PERSON to contact, as I was Generalizing the answer in talking to the supervisors and stuff...
I am in Alabama and do not know the actual people and such in Florida...
As to the laws, well street towing would be under the municipal codes of the cities.
here is the link to the municipal codes for Lauderdale by the sea...You can check it out and see if you can find "SPECIFIC INFORMATION" on your issue..
http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=14431&sid=9
