Unless otherwise expressly stated, whenever
used in this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings
given to them by this section:
ABANDONED VEHICLE
Any vehicle which is unattended or obstructing traffic and
which, in the judgment of the Police Department, shall be removed.
ACCIDENT
Any incident or occurrence where one or more vehicles come
into contact with each other or another object thereby causing personal
injury or property damage.
DAY
A twenty-four-hour period from time of tow.
[Added 2-18-2014]
DISABLED VEHICLE
Any vehicle that requires towing because of an accident or
because it is unable to proceed under its own motive power.
DRIVER
Any person driving a tow truck for hire upon the public highways.
FOR HIRE
Includes any incident where a fee, charge or other consideration
is directly or indirectly imposed for towing, carrying or removing
any vehicle, and shall be inclusive of repairs made on a towed vehicle
for a consideration, although no charge is expressly imposed for the
towing of such a vehicle.
OPERATE
Includes the control and direction of the use of a vehicle
for hire for towing from places within the City of Middletown.
RESTRICTED LICENSE
That license, issued to the owner of a towing truck authorizing
the holder thereof to engage in all tow car operations, except that
the holder will not be permitted at scenes of accidents unless specifically
called by the person in charge of the disabled vehicle and will not
be placed on the preferred tow truck list at Police Headquarters.
SCENE OF ACCIDENT
Includes any area of a street to which a vehicle is removed
to prevent the obstruction of traffic, and will remain so until the
vehicle or vehicles is removed, either under its own power or by a
properly licensed tow car.
TERMINAL
Any place of business in the City of Middletown which is
a registered repair shop certified by the New York State Department
of Motor Vehicles and which is not in violation of the existing City
zoning or building codes, and which, as a substantial source of its
activity, engages in the repair of motor vehicles.
[Amended 2-4-2020]
TOWING
The moving or removing of disabled or abandoned motor vehicles
by a tow truck for hire.
TOWING ORDINANCE
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Towing
Ordinance of the City of Middletown."
TOW TRUCK
A motor vehicle for hire which is either equipped for the
purpose of carrying, lifting, pushing, pulling or otherwise removing
any motor vehicle or motor vehicles, or which is used in the business
of removing such vehicles.
UNRESTRICTED LICENSE
That license, issued to the owner of a towing truck, permitting
the holder thereof to be placed on a preferred roster of tow trucks,
which roster is located at Police Headquarters, in addition to being
permitted to do all normal towing.
WINCHING AND DOLLY WORK
Work above and beyond that required of a normal tow service.
Winching and dolly work is work used to remove a vehicle that is not
in a position to be towed by normal means that may be off the roadway.
Winching a vehicle onto a flatbed shall not be considered a winching
under this statute.
[Added 2-18-2014]
[Amended 1-7-2008]
It shall be unlawful to operate a towing car
for hire in the City of Middletown unless the owner thereof shall
have obtained a license from the Clerk of said City.
[Added 2-4-2020]
Event towing shall be restricted to events for
which vehicles are required to be towed to clear the streets for the
purpose of a race, parade, festival or other event and for which such
street closing has been approved by a resolution of the Common Council
or by a directive of the Chief of Police.
[Amended 5-23-1994; 12-22-2008; 1-26-2009]
Applicants for an unrestricted license will
be required to pay a nonrefundable fee of $150 per year for each of
the first two vehicles and $25 per year for each additional vehicle,
and in addition to normal towing privileges will be placed on a preferred
roster of tow trucks which will be available at the communications
desk at Police Headquarters. When a vehicle owner or other authorized
person at the scene of the accident requests the police officer at
the scene for a specified tow truck owner, the police officer shall
so inform Police Headquarters, and the requested tow truck owner,
if available, shall be notified of the request. In the event that
no request is made or in the event that the requested tow truck owner
does not respond, the desk officer at Police Headquarters shall notify
the next successive tow truck owner on the preferred roster in rotation
after the last-called owner, and, upon failing to get a response,
shall call the next succeeding tow truck owner on the preferred roster
until the tow service is accepted. The desk officer at Police Headquarters
shall keep a record concerning the date and the acceptance or refusal
of each call made. Each licensed tow truck owner on the preferred
roster who fails or refuses to accept a tow service when called in
his proper turn on the roster shall be deemed to have forfeited that
turn on the roster. In order to qualify for an unrestricted license,
the licensee must:
A. Own and/or operate and maintain a bona fide terminal, as defined above in §
440-1, within the City of Middletown.
[Amended 2-4-2020]
B. Be available or on call on a twenty-four-hour basis
to tow disabled vehicles.
C. Agree to abide by the fees contained in this chapter.
D. Agree to clean up debris from any vehicle accident,
by sweeping debris from the accident scene into the gutter, except
for those pieces which are too large to sweep into the gutter, and
those must be removed from the scene and disposed of by the licensee.
The requirement to clean up debris does not include the cleanup of
oil, gasoline or water which spilled as a result of the accident.
E. Agree not to release police impounds without written
impound release from the Middletown Police Department.
[Added 11-24-2003]
F. An owner/operator may not assign his or her turn in the police roster
to any other tow company, nor shall he or she substitute any tow vehicle
for one not consistent with the application on file with the Police
Department.
[Added 2-18-2014]
[Amended 5-23-1994; 11-24-2003; 1-26-2009; 2-18-2014]
No license shall be issued unless the applicant
agrees to charge no more than a maximum of $60 per day for outside
storage and no more than a maximum of $75 per day for inside storage.
All vehicles must be stored on the premises of the licensee in a gated
or locked secure facility, whether indoors or outdoors, and shall
not be permitted to be parked or stored on City streets.
All licensees shall be required to post in their
garage, terminal, or service station a schedule of the maximum rates
for towing and storage as herein set forth.
It shall be unlawful for any licensee to demand
or receive any payment in excess of the rates permitted by this chapter.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to solicit towing work by any means whatsoever from any
person at or near the scene of an automobile accident within the City
of Middletown. It shall be unlawful for any tow truck to proceed to
the scene of an accident or disablement without having first been
requested or notified to do so by the vehicle owner or a police officer;
and the operator of any tow truck so doing shall be deemed to have
committed a violation of this chapter.
[Amended 11-24-2003; 1-7-2008]
Each tow truck operated hereunder shall be registered
with and assigned an identifying numeral(s) or letter(s) by the City
Clerk. Each tow truck operated hereunder shall have inscribed on the
side of such vehicle the trade name and business address of the owner
and the identifying numeral(s) or letter(s) issued by the City Clerk
in letters/numerals not less than three inches in height either painted
or otherwise securely affixed in a conspicuous place as herein provided.
It shall be unlawful to tow away any motor vehicle
which has been involved in an accident, disablement or abandonment
without the prior consent of the owner or of the police officer at
the scene of the accident.
No license shall be issued unless the depot
or terminal of the tow truck or trucks shall be located within the
City of Middletown.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply when the owner of a damaged car specifically requires the car to be taken from said City by an unlicensed tow car from outside of said City. In any instances where automobile insurance is utilized for the payment of towing and/or storage fees, the restrictions set forth in §§
440-6 and
440-7 of this chapter shall not apply.
[Amended 2-18-2014]
An offense against any provision of this chapter
shall be a violation of the ordinance, which shall be punishable by
a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 for individuals, nor
more than $500 for corporations.