[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Muttontown 7-1-1973 as Art. 4 of the 1973 General Ordinance. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
Except as provided in § 169-10 hereof, no person or persons, firm or corporation shall operate a towing car for hire within the limits of the Village unless a permit therefor shall first be obtained from the Board of Trustees, signed by the Mayor and countersigned by the Clerk, as hereinafter provided.
No such permit shall be issued unless an application
therefor shall have been filed with the Village Clerk upon a form
prescribed therefor by the Board of Trustees, which shall include,
in the case of towing car owners:
Every permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall expire on the 31st day of December following the issuance thereof. The permit fee payable for each such permit or renewal thereof, which permit may cover one or more towing cars operated by the same owner, shall be in the amount as required by § 67-7, and amendments thereto, of Chapter 67, Fees and Deposits.
The applicant for such permit shall file with
the Board of Trustees a schedule of the maximum prices to be charged
for towing and storage of disabled motor vehicles. Such charges shall
be based on the distance that each disabled motor vehicle is to be
towed and shall not be based on availability of towing car facilities.
No towing car owner or operator or other person employed by the owner
shall base any charge upon estimation.
It shall be unlawful for any person to tow away
any motor vehicle which has been involved in an accident without the
prior consent of the owner or the police officer at the scene of the
accident, and no car shall be removed from the scene of an accident
where the police officer requires or requests that it be impounded
for an examination.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive
along any street or highway in the Village for the purpose of soliciting
towing work or to stop a tow car at the scene of any vehicle accident
or near a disabled vehicle without first having been specifically
requested to do so by the owner of the vehicle or a police officer.
On each side of every towing car for which a
permit has been granted, there shall be legibly inscribed, in letters
not less than three inches high, the name and address of the owner
of such towing car or of the person having the permit therefor and
the permit number assigned to such towing car by the Village Clerk.
The Mayor, with the approval of the Board of
Trustees, is hereby empowered to promulgate and prescribe rules and
regulations for the proper administration and enforcement of this
chapter.
The Mayor shall have power to suspend any permit
issued pursuant to this chapter for the violation of any rules thereof
or of any rules and regulations promulgated by him or for the failure
of the owner or operator of any towing car to render services to the
owner or driver of a disabled vehicle who is able and willing to pay
the fee prescribed in the schedule of prices filed as hereinbefore
provided for or if the owner or operator of any towing car shall collect
or attempt to collect a fee in excess of the maximum fee for such
services prescribed in the schedule of prices as hereinbefore provided.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply
to cases where, without solicitation, the owner of a damaged car shall
have specifically requested that the same be towed by an unlicensed
tow car.
