QuestionThis is the experience i had last week:
Last week, i was in an accident on highway 60 going through the "bad lands" toward Riverside in the rain. I caught a patch of water and my car hydroplaned directly to the right into the side of the mountain. I was grateful that nobody was injured. My passenger and I survived without any injuries. My car, on the other hand did not. It was raining pretty hard and I was trying to gather some of my tools and belongings from the road where we had tumbled that came from the trunk of my car.
Before long, the fire department, ambulance, chp, and a tow truck arrived on the scene blocking traffic on the 2 only lanes of the highway. I was quite upset and shook up from the accident and while getting a bandage put on the cut I had on my right hand, my car was being put onto a tow truck.
I signed the release form for the ambulance stating that i did not want to be taken to the hospital, and then exited the back of the ambulance. I saw the highway patrol officer still sitting in his vehicle( staying out of the rain). I walked over to his car expecting to be asked to provide my license, insurance, etc....
I told him that I had been trying to call a friend that works for a tow service in Riverside but my phone had died and I had no way to charge it. Apparently, he told the driver to get it off of the highway. He handed me a big envelope and said I could go file the paperwork about my accident and then he left. I was surprised that I never had to show anyone my driver's license or that nobody even really looked at my vehicle up close ,etc... The officer never got out of his vehicle.
I asked the tow driver why he had hooked my car, and he replied that the highway patrol ordered him to remove it. My friend and I got into the tow truck and started to try and make some calls to get help with the situation. I had most of the numbers on my phone, and his was about to die.
Once the driver got into the cab with us, he allowed us to use his cell phone. I called my boss at home and told him what was going on. He immediately told me not to let them tow it to their yard. I didn't have any cash on me, but knew I could withdraw some at an ATM. I told the driver that i lived in Riverside, and asked how much he would charge to tow it there. He replied $280.00. I'm sure that he heard me tell my boss that I had about $200.00 or less in the bank.
He exited at Gilman springs and proceeded quite slowly on a street that ran along side of the freeway going back the opposite way (toward Beaumont)
going toward his yard. I then, asked how much it would cost if he took it back to his yard, but left it outside the gate. He replied, $260.00. I told him that i couldn't afford that so how much to take it off the truck right where we were, he said, " about $210.00"
At the time, I was getting quite frustrated and and looked at the floor board in between the 2 front seats and noticed a bottle of Jose Cuervo !800 tequila. It was sitting right next to an opened 12 pack of soda that he had offered us some of earlier. I started to pay more attention to his mannerisms and continued to discuss different possibilities and asked him why he didn't just take us off the freeway and let my car down there. He said that the minute my car was on his truck, that it would be $175.00 and the fees would add up from there. I took my cellphone that had died, and powered it on. I knew it wouldn't last to make a call, but I managed to take several pictures of the alcohol bottle and the driver before it turned off.
While I was busy taking pictures, the driver was talking to my friend and he mentioned something losing his drivers license before over drunk driving , etc...
Don't know how that came up, but it sure didn't make me feel any better.
I asked him to call his supervisor so that i could talk to his boss about working something out. He said there wasn't anyone there because it was Sunday.
I began to feel like I was being forced into letting him take my car that i had just wrecked and maybe totaled so I became angry and asked him to take me to the nearest place with an ATM. I said that I wanted him to leave my car there and that I would pay for it once I withdrew the money. I also told him that i wasn't happy to see a bottle of hard liquor in the vehicle and that I was highly upset about the whole situation. The driver stopped talking at that point and drove us to the parking lot of a bank in Beaumont. I got out of the truck and told my friend to stay there and keep an eye on the driver and mentioned that I had taken pictures of the alcohol bottle on the floor board.
I went to the ATM and discovered that I could only get $160.00 out because my balance was only $176.00.I went back to the tow truck and asked the driver what we could do about getting my car off his truck. I asked him to call a supervisor or someone that I could talk to about the situation that wasn't drunk . He kept telling me that nobody would be available until monday morning.
I never authorized my car to be put in the tow yard, although he said that he couldn't leave it unless I had all the money right then. I became very angry and asked him for my keys because I needed my house keys that were attached.
He left the parking lot with my car on his truck and my friend and I hurried into a gas station to get out of the rain. I tried calling the tow company on his business card and reached a recording that gave a number to call in an emergency. It was the drivers cell phone that I reached. I asked him if he was the driver that had just left and he said yes. I told him that i intended to report him to his employer and that i was very angry about being ripped off.
We walked across the street to a mexican food place and got something to eat.
While waiting to be served, and charging my cell phone in one of their outlets, I noticed the tow truck with my car still on the bed pulling back into the parking lot where he left us. I was already on the phone with a friend and told my friend to go see what the driver wanted. ( It was obvious that he came back looking for us ) I assumed that he was nervous about getting into trouble and decided to come back after thinking about it for 20 minutes or so. I really didn't want to look at him after the way he behaved , so I stayed inside the restaurant.
When my friend came back inside, he said that the driver told him that he wasn't trying to be a jerk and that he didn't write the rules. My friend asked why he hadn't removed the car off his truck yet, and he replied that he needed to let me know that we could call his boss the following day and that maybe they would keep my car for the tow charges, etc...
I was quite upset and should have called the police at that moment, but I was too busy wondering how I was going to get home as well as get my kids to school without a car,etc...
I spent the next 8 hours in Beaumont trying to get a way home and a way to pay for my car to be released. It has been a very long week and a half, and I have had trouble getting to work, dealing with the cost to get my kids to school and myself to work, and thinking of who I could contact regarding the tow laws and if there is something that can be done about the way my car was taken for being in an accident. I called the tow company and spoke to the owner the next day and explained that i never authorized anyone to put my car in their lot. I never authorized the tow truck to hook my car on it either. I told him about his driver being drunk and that he was putting us in danger by drunk driving, and that i didn't agree with my car being stolen by them. I told him that i had taken pictures of the alcohol bottle and he said that the bottle was sealed. I asked him to release my vehicle and he said pay all the charges first. I told him that i would report him to the CHP and have him removed from the rotation list, and he said for me to let him see the pictures. I said he could see them when the highway patrol shows them to him.
I had a friend call their office today to get the total of the fees and they said that the cost would be $702.00. as of today 2/12/2008. When they asked what they thought about the car or if it would be worth getting out of there., the guy said that it was totaled. He said that they could take a couple hundred off of the fees if I decided to sell it to them.
My friend asked him why would I want to sell it to them if I still had to pay $500.00 without getting it back? He replied, " she will end up getting sued for $5000.00 at the end of thirty days. How do they come up with this figure?
I still have the photos and I would like to know if there is someone that I can turn them over to. I realize that the driver was scared about something because he returned to look for us before dropping my car off. I think that he was going to work something out with us but when I didn't want to talk to him,. he changed his mind.
Can you please let me know what the laws are regarding towing vehicles after an accident? As well as the laws about having alcohol inside the cab?
i know that i can not afford to pay for my car, but i don't want this to happen to someone else. If there was something that happened that day that was not properly following the rules and regulations for towing, I'd like to help out the next victim. Besides, I might even save a life.
I just made a call to ask pricing on towing a car from Beaumont to Riverside at Rubidoux Blvd tonight and the driver said $300.00 but that it would be cheaper tomorrow during the day. He said he was next on the rotation list and couldn't tow that long of a distance tonight, but that he could tow it for $195.00 tomorrow during the day. He then, referred me to another tow company named KC towing and to ask for Terry.
I politely asked for his name and he said, "Harvey". Imagine that? It was the same driver that was towing my car that day!!!
If you have any suggestions as to what I can do to report this to the correct people and have someone explain what the rules are for towing on the rotation list, I would appreciate it very much.
By the way,
The accident occurred around 10am. I was quoted $280.00 to tow it from Gilman springs road offramp to Main st in Riverside.( 2 exits before the exit at rubidoux Blvd )
Somehow, it seems strange that the same driver could quote almost a hundred less to tow a car a further distance than what he quoted me after my accident.
Is there a special pricing when they tow on the rotation list?
I can't help but feel like I was ripped off. Not only did I damage my car, but I also can be sued later for up to $5000.00 at the end of 30 days for not paying them the fees that day. I haven't even been able to have someone look at the car and tell me if it can be fixed or if I should try to get it back. It isn't very easy to find transportation to and from work, much less all the way to Beaumont.
Please feel free to contact me regarding this matter.
I live in Riverside, CA
The tow company in question is:
* M&M Auto Wrecking & Towing Center
* Phone: 951-845-4315
* Beaumont
AnswerWow my head hurts after reading all of this...
First of all it sounds as if CHP ordered the tow, and in a nut shell they have specific rules, regulations and such governing tow trucks, tow truck operators, and the like...
But I am going to point you to CHP first to deal with the issue of the driver and his "condition". But this far after the fact, it might be hard to do much as they have to see the problem also.
Second, check your insurance and see if they will do anything at all with the vehicle or what ever.. They might help there, but even if you do not have full coverage you might get some guidelines as to what to do...
Yes you should of been able to have your friend come get you and tow the vehicle (if it had not taken to long or if it was not totally blocking the roadway)
But like anything, it sounds as if the CHP was really busy and as such was doing the best it could the fastest it could do it...
But this whole issue has me wondering what happened and why the driver or company would do what they did...
Now when you call around to tow company for rates, you are given the rates for "non emergency" towing which they can kind of schedule to do when they can, not like the "drop everything go now" CHP call.
Yes the rates are spelled out by CHP but you do have some leeway at times... I am confused here also, and as such really can not answer this question much.
