[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Borough
Council of the Borough of Rocky Hill 3-19-2018 by Ord. No. 3-2018.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 185.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch. 178,
Towers and Towing, adopted 10-16-2006 by Ord. No. 7-06, as amended.
This chapter shall be known as the "Towing and Towers Ordinance
of the Borough of Rocky Hill."
A.
The purpose of this chapter is to establish towing and storage fee
schedules for the reimbursement of towing charges and storage charges
for all private passenger automobiles that are police impounded, damaged
in accidents, or are recovered after being stolen.
B.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all persons who provide
towing and storage services for the Borough for private passenger
automobiles that are police impounded, damaged in accidents, or are
recovered after being stolen.
C.
In order to protect persons who operate motor vehicles inside the
Borough, it is desirable and necessary to adopt this chapter to ensure
proper licensing, storage, availability and other controls over persons
and firms licensed to provide wrecker service.
Any person desiring to perform towing work at police request
shall submit an application for a wrecker service license, in duplicate,
to the license officer. These forms shall include the name of the
owner; home and business address, home phone number, and name under
which the person does or will trade; the location, size and security
features of the storage lot on which towed vehicles will be stored;
the location to which the public must come to claim stored vehicles;
a statement of willingness to provide wrecker service on a continuous
twenty-four-hour-a-day basis each day of the year; a complete listing
of the insurance policies, carriers and agents the owner would place
into effect upon license approval; a statement that the wrecker owner
will indemnify and hold harmless the Borough in the event that any
claim or recovery is made against the Borough arising out of the towing
service or storage of vehicles, along with a description of the place
to be used to adequately protect the property left towed or stored
vehicles; and a description of communications to be used on each wrecker
and a description of the type of communications system utilized at
the office where calls are received.
All applicants for a license shall obtain an application for
a wrecker service license and shall forward the application to the
Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough for investigation of the truth and accuracy
of the information contained therein. Upon completion of his investigation,
the Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough shall forward a copy of the application to
the Borough of Rocky Hill Council, along with a recommendation for
approval or disapproval of the license and the reasons, if any, for
disapproval. Upon receiving the application for wrecker service license,
the Borough Council shall determine whether or not the applicant has
complied with the requirements of this chapter. If the applicant is
found to be qualified, then, upon the payment of an annual license
fee of $100, a license shall be issued to the applicant and the applicant's
name placed at the end of the towing list. All licenses shall expire
on December 31 annually.
A.
No wrecker license shall be issued until the applicant has deposited
with the Borough Clerk a garage liability policy covering the operation
of the owner's business, equipment, or other vehicles for any
bodily injury or property damage. This policy shall be in the minimum
amount of $500,000 for any one person injured or killed and a minimum
of $1,000,000 for more than one person killed or injured in any accident
and an additional $50,000 for property damage.
B.
Each policy must contain an endorsement by the carrier providing
90 days' notice to both the Borough and the insured in the event
of any change in coverage under the policy.
The owner shall provide continuous twenty-four-hour-a-day service
each day of the year and shall provide an attendant or answering service
for the purpose of receiving calls for service. The owner shall be
available to release stored vehicles during the hours of 8:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. each day except Sunday and holidays. The owner shall
assume all liability and shall indemnify and save the Borough harmless
from such liability for damages sustained by vehicles while being
towed or stored and for all personal injuries occurring to any of
the wrecker's employees or other persons and shall maintain the
required insurance policies. The wrecker owner shall not release any
vehicle directly impounded by the Borough without authorization by
the Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough.
A.
Minimum equipment to be maintained or available for service shall
include:
(1)
Two tow vehicles with dolly equipment; or
(2)
One tow vehicle and one flatbed truck including dolly equipment;
and
(3)
All units must have a fire extinguisher, safety chains, stiff push
broom, slings, warning lights (with permits), and the necessary equipment
to provide a complete service to tow vehicles below 3/4 ton capacity
with two axles.
All costs incident to towing and storage shall be paid by the
owner or person in charge or possession of the towed and stored vehicle
to the owner of the wrecker company and a receipt for payment shall
be issued to the person. The Borough shall assume no liability or
responsibility for any vehicle removed from any place without the
authority of the Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic
enforcement services to the Borough. The wrecker owner shall maintain
approved records and claim check system to assure release of vehicles
to the rightful owner or authorized person. Such records shall be
open to the Police Department providing traffic enforcement services
to the Borough for investigation of specific complaints and for compiling
surveys under this section. The owner of any wrecker service shall
permit any person appointed by the Chief of the Police Department
then providing traffic enforcement services to the Borough to inspect
his wreckers, vault, security form or storage area at such times as
the Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough shall deem appropriate.
A.
Towing services shall rotate on a weekly basis. The week will start
at 8:00 a.m. on the first day of the week and will conclude at 7:59
a.m. on the first day of the following week. During the week that
the towing service is assigned, all calls for service requested through
the Police Department providing traffic enforcement services to the
Borough will be accepted. Refusal or inability to respond will automatically
result in the next wrecker on the list being summoned. Response time
must be reasonable [20 minutes will be deemed reasonable], and Police
Officers providing traffic enforcement services to the Borough may
cancel and reassign the call when response time is unreasonably long.
The Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough shall not call or cause to be called any wrecker
not licensed with the Borough of Rocky Hill unless all such wreckers
are unavailable. It is specifically permitted for the Chief of the
Police Department then providing traffic enforcement services to the
Borough to call a wrecker out of sequence where proximity to the wreck
and estimated response time make it more practical to do so. Failure
to comply with this section will result in removal from the list by
decision of the Borough Council, after a full disclosure of the facts
by all parties involved.
B.
A wrecker that cannot respond when called shall not have another
wrecker company, whether on the rotation list or not, respond in their
place. The next wrecker called shall be at the charge officer's
discretion.
C.
Any wrecker unable to respond to four or more requests per month
will be subject to removal from the approved list for the next rotation
week of being on service. The Police Department desk providing traffic
enforcement shall allow the phone to ring 10 times on any call before
going to the next wrecker on the list. Any wrecker using a paging
system will be granted a five-minute wait period to respond before
the Police Department desk providing traffic enforcement calls the
next wrecker on the list.
A covered facility shall be provided for the security of automobiles
impounded by the Police Department providing traffic enforcement services
to the Borough for death by automobile or crime incidents. The covered
facility must be on the grounds of the towing service or meet the
approval of the Police Department providing traffic enforcement. No
one shall release an impounded vehicle without permission of a representative
of the Police Department providing traffic enforcement services to
the Borough.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A private passenger vehicle type that is owned or hired and
is neither used as a public or livery conveyance for passengers nor
rented to others with a driver; and a motor vehicle with a pick-up
body, or delivery sedan, a van, or a panel truck or a camper type
vehicle used for recreational purposes owned by an individual who
is a resident of the same household, not customarily used in the occupation,
profession or business of the insured other than farming or ranching.
An automobile owned by a farm family copartners or corporations, which
is principally garaged on a farm or ranch and otherwise meets the
definitions contained in this chapter, shall be considered a private
passenger automobile owned by two or more relatives resident in the
same household.
The removal and transportation of an automobile from a highway,
street, or other public or private road, or a parking area, or from
a storage facility, and other services normally incident thereto,
but does not include recovery of an automobile from a position beyond
the right-of-way or berm, or from being impaled upon any other object
within the right-of-way or berm.
The Borough of Rocky Hill.
The Chief of the Police Department providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough or designee.
An occurrence in which a private passenger automobile comes
in contact with any other object for which the private passenger automobile
must be towed or removed for placement in a storage facility. This
includes all situations, even if they were caused by the intentional
acts of a perpetrator.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, or organization of any kind.
The maximum allowable amount to be charged by a storage facility
for a twenty-four-hour period or fraction thereof. A new twenty-four-hour
period begins at 12:01 a.m.
A vehicle storage facility that is secured providing sufficient
security measures to protect the automobile towed.
Only those vehicles equipped with a broom or brooms, winches,
slings, tilt beds, wheel lifts, or under-reach equipment specifically
designed by its manufacturer for the removal or transport of private
passenger automobiles.
The towing operator's principal place of business where
the tow vehicle is stationed when not in use.
A list maintained by the Police Department providing traffic
enforcement services to the Borough containing the names of those
wreckers licensed by the Borough of Rocky Hill to respond to requests
for the towing of vehicles made by the Police Department providing
traffic enforcement services to the Borough.
A specially adapted vehicle used to remove motor vehicles
from one place to another.
A.
The fees set forth on the schedule for towing rates are the maximum
charges that shall apply to a private passenger automobile (for basic
towing services) rendered as a result of police request, an accident,
or theft recovery.
(1)
The towing rates shall be calculated based on the total distance
traveled from the tow vehicle's base of service to the job site
and return, by way of the shortest available route. Fractions shall
be rounded up to the nearest whole mile.
(2)
Tow vehicles transporting multiple passenger cars at one time shall
receive the applicable fees for each vehicle transported.
(3)
When towing services are required, the day rate shall apply when
the vehicle is transported (pickup to delivery) entirely between 8:00
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except New Jersey state
holidays. The night, weekend, and holiday rate shall apply otherwise.
(4)
The fees set forth on the schedule for storage fees are the maximum
storage charges per twenty-four-hour period that shall apply to a
private passenger automobile that is stored by a person.
(5)
The responding tow operator or licensee shall be responsible for
cleaning the scene of an accident of broken glass, metal, or debris
by sweeping the road surface to the satisfaction of the officer in
charge of the scene.
Wreckers are required to have copies of established rates available
for the vehicle owner or driver at the time of tow.
This chapter does not deny the right of a motorist to request
or summon a tow operator of their own choosing, provided the Police
Officer at the scene determines that the tow operator to be summoned
can arrive at the scene in a time limit as specified herein, has the
proper equipment to clear the scene and the safety of persons or motorists
will not be jeopardized by the time involved. No police officer will
be required to accept a towing service unknown to the police officer
when the safety of the public is potentially threatened by a disabled
or wrecked vehicle.
All grievances by licensees or the public shall be brought to
the attention of the Police Department providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough and the Borough Clerk. Complaints of any violation
of this chapter may result in the suspension of the wrecker by the
Chief of the Police Department then providing traffic enforcement
services to the Borough until a hearing can be arranged by the Borough
of Rocky Hill Clerk. If it is found that a violation of this chapter
does exist, the Borough Council may terminate the wrecker's license.
All decisions made by the Borough Council shall be considered final.
This chapter shall not apply to vehicles towed at the request
of the State of New Jersey Police.
Every person found guilty of violating any of the provisions
of this chapter may, in addition to being removed from the towing
list, be liable to a fine of not more than $2,000.
