[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Tuxedo 10-13-1981 by L.L. No. 2-1981; amended in its entirety 2-16-1999 by L.L. No.
1-1999. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The Town Board hereby determines that providing
regulations for the prompt and safe removal of disabled and abandoned
vehicles from public roadways within the Town is necessary for the
public health, safety and general welfare of residents and traveling
public within the Town. This chapter will not supersede any specific
orders issued by police agencies addressing specific situations (such
as vehicles impounded for criminal investigative purposes).
Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different
meaning clearly appears from the context, the following terms will
have the meanings indicated:
Any incident or occurrence in which one or more vehicles
contact each other or other objects, thereby causing personal injury
or property damage.
Any person driving a tow truck for hire upon public roadways.
Removal of debris from the scene of a motor vehicle accident
or incident at the point of impact as well as along the path of pre-impact
and/or post-impact, where vehicle disintegration and/or other property
damage occur as a result of the motor vehicle accident or incident.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
Any incident where a fee charge or other consideration is
directly or indirectly imposed for towing, carrying or removing of
a vehicle, including any case where any person makes repairs on a
towed vehicle for compensation, even if no charge is expressly imposed
for towing such vehicle.
The gross vehicle weight rating of a tow truck, consisting
of the weight of the unladen tow truck plus the maximum carrying capacity
recommended by the vehicle's manufacturer.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
GVWR of 26,001 pounds or greater and designed to tow or transport
large buses, trucks, trailers and heavy construction equipment as
well as passenger vehicles unable to be recovered by other means.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
GVWR of 8,600 to 26,000 pounds and designed to tow or transport
automobiles, pickup trucks, small vans, medium-size trucks, buses
and recreational vehicles, as well as smaller vehicles.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
The retrieval from areas off roadways, such as ravines, of
a disabled or abandoned motor vehicle entailing the use of specialized
equipment or tow truck, including but not limited to booms, dollies,
cranes/rotators and/or inflatable lifting apparatus.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
The control and direction of the use of vehicles for towing
for hire for places within the Town.
Owning, leasing, renting or controlling one or more tow trucks
for hire and driving or operating or causing any such vehicle to be
operated upon the public roadways.
Any individual, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership, association,
corporation or other organization, and the singular or plural, masculine,
feminine or neuter thereof, unless the contrary is clearly expressed.
The process of winching and/or lifting a damaged vehicle
back to a normal towing or loading position while preserving the condition
of the vehicle.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
Any person who, for compensation, is wholly or partially
engaged in the business of repairing or diagnosing motor vehicle malfunctions
or repairing motor vehicle bodies, fenders or other components damaged
by accident or otherwise and currently registered with the Commissioner
of Motor Vehicles according to the Vehicle and Traffic Law of New
York State.
A request for assistance from a tow truck which does not
involve towing but is limited to rendering emergency assistance for
such categories as battery charges, flat tires, lock outs or gasoline
supply.
Removal of debris from the scene of a motor vehicle accident
or incident at the point of impact, the final resting point of the
vehicle and the associated debris field.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
The moving or removing of disabled or abandoned motor vehicles
by another vehicle for hire. Towing includes recovery unless the context
indicates otherwise.
A motor vehicle for hire which is either equipped for carrying,
lifting and removing of any disabled motor vehicle or used in the
business of removing disabled motor vehicles.
The process of moving a motor vehicle by the use of additional
chains, nylon slings and additional lengths of winch cable from a
position that is not accessible for direct hook-up by conventional
means for towing and/or loading onto a tow vehicle. Except in instances
of recovery, winching is not considered the pulling of a vehicle onto
a flatbed carrier or lifting a motor vehicle by conventional means.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage
in the business of towing within the Town of Tuxedo unless a license
therefor shall first have been obtained from the Town Clerk as hereinafter
provided, except no license shall be required for persons whose business
consists solely of towing to and from registered motor vehicle repair
shops.
Except as herein otherwise provided, every person
who wants to operate a tow truck or otherwise engage in the business
of towing upon the public roadways within the Town shall apply to
the Town Board on a form provided by the Town Clerk. The applicant
shall subscribe the application under an oath and provide the following
information thereon:
A.
The name and address of the applicant and the address
of the place in which tow trucks are proposed to be garaged and dispatched.
For an unincorporated association, the application shall include the
names and addresses of each member thereof. For a corporation, the
application shall contain the names and addresses of each officer,
director and shareholder.
B.
All crimes, if any, in which the applicant, member,
officer, director or shareholder has been convicted, stating the name
and location of the courts in which convicted and the dates on which
such convictions were had and the penalties imposed therefor.
C.
The experience of the applicant or, if an unincorporated
association or a corporation, of its members, officers, directors
and shareholders in the towing of vehicles for hire.
D.
The number of vehicles proposed to be operated by
the applicant and a description of each such vehicle, including the
make, model, GVWR, year of manufacture, New York registration number
and vehicle identification number.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
E.
The name, address and driver's license number of each
driver employed by the applicant.
F.
The location and description of any and all registered
motor vehicle repair shops proposed to be used by the applicant, with
a photograph of each.
G.
Whether the applicant wishes his name to appear in
the towing roster for light/medium towing and/or heavy-duty towing
as detailed herein.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
H.
Proof of insurance in a form approved by the Town
Counsel and in the minimum amount of $1,000,000 single limit general
liability coverage naming the Town of Tuxedo as an additional insured.
I.
Proof of valid registration and inspection of each
tow truck to be operated.
J.
Any other relevant information which the Town Board
may require from time to time as it deems appropriate.
Within seven days after receipt of an application,
the Town Clerk shall refer the application to the Town of Tuxedo Police
Department for investigation. The Chief of Police shall cause an investigation
to be made of the applicant and of his proposed business operation
to be licensed. All applicants shall execute consents for release
of information as may be required. The Chief of Police may delegate
the inspection to an independent person, who may or who may not be
engaged in business in the Town, who shall be qualified by experience
and training to make such inspection and who shall report to the Chief
of Police. Within 14 days after referral, the Chief of Police shall
report to the Town Board the results of the investigation.
A.
Applicants for a license will be required to pay a
nonrefundable fee in the amount established by resolution of the Town
Board. A schedule of such fees shall be on file with the Town Clerk.
All fees shall be payable to the Town Clerk.
B.
As a minimum, all applicants must be able to demonstrate,
before issuance of a license, that they meet the following qualifications
as a prerequisite to obtaining a license:
(1)
The applicant owns, leases, operates or maintains,
or has a contract with, a bona fide registered motor vehicle repair
shop, as those terms are defined herein, within the Town of Tuxedo
or within a 2.50 mile distance, for light/medium-duty towers, or within
a twenty-mile distance, for heavy-duty towers, of the Town of Tuxedo
town line. If the applicant does not own the premises on which the
motor vehicle repair shop is situated, a written lease for use of
the premises, or for service from the motor vehicle repair shop covering
the term of the towing license, must be provided.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
(2)
The applicant maintains twenty-four-hour capability
to answer emergency calls regarding motor vehicles. The applicant
or one of its employees shall be reachable by phone at all times at
a designated phone number or numbers. Applicants must respond to all
calls for towing on a twenty-four-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week
basis, without exception.
(3)
Equipment. The applicant must have a minimum of one or more suitable towing vehicles, reasonably equipped as required by § 91-13 hereof to furnish emergency towing services. Towing vehicle(s), if not owned by the applicant, shall be under sole lease by the applicant for the term of the towing license.
(4)
An applicant must own or lease, for the term of the
license, a secure storage lot for a minimum of five cars. Such storage
lot shall be within 1/2 mile from the applicant's repair facility.
(5)
An applicant shall demonstrate the equipment in use
at the time of inspection is capable of two-way communication between
the point of incoming calls for assistance and the farthest point
in the zone. Either radio or mobile telephone shall be considered
adequate for this purpose.
(6)
Licensees are responsible for ensuring that they, their employees
and operators take such training course(s) as may be prescribed from
time to time by any applicable laws, specifically designed to educate
and familiarize them with customary safety standards.
[Added 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009[1]]
(7)
The applicant demonstrates an ability to meet all
other conditions of this chapter.
(8)
All applicants shall erect signs at their motor vehicle repair shops [see Subsection B(1)] and their storage lots [see Subsection B(4)]. Such sign(s) shall be of a size and location adequate to inform members of the public that the applicant has designated these facilities pursuant to this chapter. The applicant shall demonstrate the signage size and location in its application. The Town Board shall judge the adequacy of such signage. No application shall be valid unless such signs are erected. The applicant shall provide photographs of the signs in their locations and shall maintain them in such locations as a condition of their license.
[Added 3-22-2010 by L.L. No. 7-2011]
(9)
When any two or more applicants share both a motor vehicle repair
shop and a storage lot, such applicants shall share a place in the
rotation hereinafter provided.
[Added 3-22-2010 by L.L. No. 7-2011]
Upon the adoption of a resolution by the Town
Board approving the application, the Town Clerk shall issue a license
to the applicant, a copy of which must be kept in all towing vehicles
at all times while conducting operations under the license. All licenses
issued hereunder shall expire on the 31st day of December next succeeding
the date of issuance, unless sooner suspended or revoked by the Tuxedo
Town Board as hereinafter provided. Licenses are not transferable,
delegable or assignable.
No license shall be issued or renewed which
shall permit the use of any vehicle as a tow truck unless or until
the Chief of Police has inspected and certified it as conforming to
the requirements of this chapter and having been duly inspected as
required by the Vehicle and Traffic Law of New York State.
On each side of every truck, the owner shall
display, by painting, magnetic sign or other similar means, the name,
address and telephone number of the licensee by letters and numbers
of not less than three inches high. Leased trucks must also have the
licensees' name, address and telephone number similarly affixed to
each side of the truck.
Any license issued hereunder may be renewed
annually for an additional one-year period upon filing of an application
containing all the information required by the provisions of this
chapter for original applications, upon payment of the required fee,
and upon satisfactory completion of the required inspections and investigations.
No person shall drive a tow truck who is under
the age of 18 years and who has not in his possession a CDL A, B,
C or Non-CDL C class driver's license with a tow truck endorsement
duly issued to him to operate a tow truck vehicle in the State of
New York.
A tow truck license hereunder shall be issued
subject to the following conditions:
A.
Licensees, their agents and servants shall keep and
maintain towing equipment which is adequate to perform such towing
in a reasonably competent manner.
B.
Each licensee hereunder shall record the details of
each disabled vehicle towed, serviced or transported by him or his
agents or servants or employees, with full information concerning
the details surrounding the hire, the name of the owner of the towed
vehicle and the name of the patron engaging him, which records shall
be kept open for inspection at all times to a duly authorized representative
of the Police Department of the Town or of the Town Board.
C.
Insurance and indemnification. The licensee shall
assume all responsibility and liability for damages to persons or
property that may accrue during the operation of any of the licensee's
vehicles through the negligence of itself, its agents or employees,
or from any other cause, and agrees to hold harmless the Town of Tuxedo.
For such purposes, the licensee shall obtain and maintain, at the
licensee's own cost and expense, for the term of the tow license,
protective liability insurance in accordance with the minimum requirements.
This insurance is to protect the Town of Tuxedo and all employees
of the named insured. There shall be no coinsured parties covered
by this policy. The policy shall cover liability of the named insured
for damages for any actions resulting from the use of the license,
including omissions and supervisory actions of the Town. The subscribing
company shall agree that no policy insured shall be changed or canceled
until 30 days' notice has been given to the Town. Failure to maintain
proper insurance on file with the Town will result in immediate suspension
or termination.
D.
The licensee must furnish and use an invoice in a
format approved by the Town, which shall include a rate schedule.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
The tow trucks of licensees shall be equipped
at all times with the equipment required by the Department of Transportation
(DOT), including but not limited to emergency flashing amber lights,
fire extinguishers, a winch with steel cable, DOT triangular road
reflectors, red railroad-type flares, a broom, a shovel, an approved
first aid kit and all other equipment prescribed by law and/or standard
industry procedures for light/medium-duty towing and heavy-duty towing,
as applicable. All equipment shall be maintained in good condition
and in satisfactory working order.
Every licensee who wants to add to the number
of tow trucks he is duly licensed to operate shall pay to the Town
Clerk the required fee established by the Town Board and file a written
application, under an oath, with the Town Clerk, stating:
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
A.
The Town Board of the Town of Tuxedo hereby authorizes
the establishment of a light/medium-duty towing roster and a heavy-duty
towing roster to coordinate service calls and the towing of disabled
and/or abandoned motor vehicles from the streets and highways of the
Town.
B.
The Town Board hereby authorizes and designates the
Chief of Police of the Tuxedo Police Department to control and administer
each towing roster. The rosters shall be operated on a per-day or
per-week rotational basis furnished to the Tuxedo dispatchers for
police calls. The rosters shall be posted in the Town of Tuxedo Police
Department.
A.
Any licensee, upon request, shall be placed on the
applicable towing roster to be called in rotation to remove vehicles
from scenes of accidents, disabled vehicles or vehicles otherwise
left in violation of law, if he complies with the following requirements:
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
(1)
The licensee swears under an oath that he has a contract
with or owns, rents, operates or maintains a bona fide, legally permitted
registered motor vehicle repair shop within a twenty-minute daytime
and twenty-five-minute nighttime response time to all parts of the
Town.
(2)
The licensee agrees to submit to the Town Board for
its approval a statement of charges which may be imposed for towing
services, and those charges for towing services will not exceed the
approved posted charges for such services. No licensee or his agents
or servants shall solicit or demand from any person any pay, commission
or emolument whatever, except the proper fee authorized for transporting
the disabled vehicle in accordance with the schedule of service rates
as established by resolution of the Town Board and filed with the
Town Clerk. The schedule of service rates may exclude regulation of
fees which may be charged for service calls and discretionary, voluntary
towing services.
B.
If more than one licensee is needed at the scene of
an accident, the dispatcher shall call the next licensee in rotation.
Each licensee at the scene shall assist the police in clearing the
motor vehicles from the public highways toward the shoulder of the
highways.
C.
A duly qualified licensee shall have but one place
on each towing roster, as qualifications permit, although he maintains
several licensed tow trucks in the Town of Tuxedo.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
A licensee who does not answer a call for assistance
or who fails to arrive at the designated location where assistance
is requested within the required twenty-minute daytime and twenty-five-minute
nighttime response time, or who is otherwise unavailable when called,
shall lose his turn on the towing roster and must wait for the roster
to be called in its entirety before he is eligible to be called again.
It shall be unlawful for any person who is not
designated from the towing roster, or who does not have the prior
consent and direction of a police officer at the scene or the owner
of the vehicle, to tow away any motor vehicle which has been involved
in an accident. The police officer at the scene of an accident will
determine when a vehicle shall be removed. If no police officer is
present at the scene of an accident, no vehicle shall be towed unless
a police officer has been notified or has been at the scene.
It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit
towing or body work at the scene of any motor vehicle accident on
a public street or highway or on private property within the Town
of Tuxedo. It shall be unlawful for any person to drive along any
public street or highway within the Town for the purposes of soliciting
towing work.
Each towing firm responding to a call for service
must supply the owner/operator of the vehicle who is at the scene
with a card containing the towing firm's business name, address, phone
number, hours of operation and a written summary of the expected charges.
Nothing within this chapter shall prevent a
vehicle owner from choosing to call a tower who is not on the Town
towing roster; provided, however, that should that tower be unable
to respond in what the police officer at the scene feels is a reasonable
period of time, and the police officer at the scene has safety concerns
regarding the vehicle's location, the officer may supersede the desires
of the owner and call a tower based upon the roster.
A.
The owner or driver of any disabled vehicle shall
have the right to require the services of any available tow truck,
and it shall be unlawful for any owner or driver of any licensed tow
truck to refuse to render such services.
B.
Licensed tow truck owners and drivers, when required,
will answer all communications received from the Town Board or the
Chief of Police.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any owner or driver to refuse
to surrender a license or licenses to the Town Clerk, upon demand,
after such license or licenses have been suspended, revoked or expired.
D.
Any complaint about the application or enforcement
of this chapter by any owner or driver of a tow truck directed at
the Town of Tuxedo Police Department shall be made in writing, stating
the particulars thereto, and presented to the Chief of Police. It
shall be the Chief of Police's responsibility to notify the Town Board
of all such complaints.
A.
No licensee on either towing roster may charge for towing services
(excluding off-road recovery and extended site cleanup), standard
site cleanup or storage covered by these regulations more than the
schedule of charges established and/or approved by the Town Board.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
B.
A licensee shall not require that a vehicle be towed
to any particular shop for repairs but shall tow the vehicle to any
location designated by the operator of the towed vehicle.
C.
A licensee shall bill the operator of the disabled vehicle using an invoice approved in format by the Town according to § 91-12D hereof. No other invoice may be used.
D.
No licensee shall induce or require any operator of
a motor vehicle being charged for towing or other services to execute
a waiver of liability for damages to his vehicle caused by the licensee,
and no such waiver of liability shall be legally enforced. This shall
not apply in cases of off-road recovery or lockouts.
E.
Except in instances of official inspections by authorized police
or insurance company personnel, no yard charges will be assessed for
moving of stored vehicles while in the licensee's possession. Whenever
possible, vehicles involved in an accident will be stored so as to
allow adequate room for official inspections to be conducted. In the
event that a vehicle must be moved for official inspection, a written
report must be prepared containing a detailed description of the location
of the vehicle prior to inspection, and a statement of the reason
for the need to move the vehicle, specifying in detail the manner
in which and the equipment used in the moving of the vehicle. Each
such report shall be signed by a licensee and by a representative
from the police and/or insurance company attesting to the validity
of the report. Vehicles must be available for release at the rates
approved by the Town Board between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00
p.m., Monday through Saturday. Extra charges may be imposed upon the
motorist for the release of a vehicle after those hours as well as
Sundays and the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day,
Independence Day (Fourth of July), Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and
Christmas Day. No such extra charges shall be imposed in an amount
that, in the discretion of the Town Board, are considered to be exorbitant.
In the event that the Town Board receives a complaint of an overcharge
by a licensee and, after consulting with the licensee, deems that
an overcharge has in fact been made, the licensee shall be required
to provide a refund of the overcharge to the motorist.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
F.
Extraordinary emergency response reimbursement.
[Added 3-23-2009 by L.L. No. 4-2011]
(1)
In any case where more than two hours elapse from the arrival of
the licensed tow vehicle to the completion of the removal of a vehicle
requiring heavy-duty towing, there shall be a charge payable by the
vehicle towed, equal to 5% of the total towing fee permitted under
this chapter.
(2)
The licensee shall collect on behalf of the Town, in addition to
the towing fee, 5%.
It is hereby found that the presence of abandoned
motor vehicles on roadways within the Town is a public nuisance and
danger and a potential traffic hazard. All licensees shall be obligated,
at the direction of the police, to remove any and all abandoned vehicles
and secure the vehicle in its impound lot until disposition is made
pursuant to law. The Town shall not be liable to the licensee for
the cost of such towing, storage or impounding. The licensee agrees
to accept, as total compensation for any and all obligations resulting
from towing, storage and impounding such vehicles, the rights granted
to the Licensee under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Disposition of
all impounded vehicles shall be according to the Vehicle and Traffic
Law. Any vehicle impounded by order of the police shall not be released
to the owner without written authorization from the Police Department.
The Police Department shall have the power to
require tow trucks to remove vehicles where:
A.
There is obstruction of a public right-of-way or private
property.
B.
A vehicle has been vandalized or presents a fire or
safety hazard or an attractive nuisance.
C.
An abandoned vehicle bears no discernible registration
or identification data.
D.
An abandoned vehicle is not licensed or operable.
E.
A vehicle is violating any emergency no-parking provisions
as set forth in the Town Code.
F.
Any other condition where permitted or required by
law.
[Amended 1-12-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009]
A licensee called to the scene of an accident must, if deemed
necessary by the police officer on duty at the scene, perform standard
site cleanup or extended site cleanup, provided that he is furnished
with police protection against moving vehicles at the scene. A licensee
may recoup from the vehicle owner/operator any expenses incurred in
connection with the disposal of hazardous wastes and the reasonable
labor costs for extended site cleanup of the site, provided that such
labor charges are not more than the schedule of charges established
and/or approved by the Town Board.
A.
Any license issued hereunder may be suspended by the
Town Board if the licensee thereof shall violate any provision of
this chapter, any rule or regulation adopted hereunder or any local
law of the Town or if the licensee is convicted of the violation of
any traffic law, ordinance or regulation of the State of New York
or of any municipality of the State of New York or of any crime or
is guilty of making a false statement or misrepresentation in his
application. Any license issued hereunder may be suspended, pending
a hearing for revocation, by the Town Board if the holder thereof
shall be convicted of the commission of any crime or offense.
B.
No license shall be revoked by the Town Board hereunder
without a hearing thereon.
A.
Notice. The Town Clerk shall give notice thereof,
stating the name and address of the applicant or licensee concerned,
the subject matter of the hearing and the date, place and hour designated
therefor, by mailing a copy of the notice of hearing to the applicant
or licensee concerned at the address shown upon the most recent application
of such applicant or licensee at least 20 days before such hearing,
by certified mail.
B.
Rights of parties. Upon any hearing, the applicant
or licensee involved shall be entitled to be represented by legal
counsel and to present such competent and material testimony or other
evidence in his own behalf as may be relevant to the subject matter
of the hearing.
C.
Examination of witnesses. All witnesses shall be sworn
and examined under oath.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not
to exceed $250 or by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 30 days,
or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each violation of any of the
provisions of this chapter and each day there is a violation thereof
shall be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct offense. In
addition, the Town Board, after a hearing, may revoke or suspend any
license issued hereunder or may refuse to renew any license previously
issued hereunder for violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.
