The purpose of this chapter is to provide standards, regulations, and rates for police-requested towing and storage services. The further purpose of this chapter is to regulate these services from a public safety perspective to affect the quickest response time in good or bad weather, minimize the waiting time for police officers and the public for removal of damaged, abandoned, or impounded vehicles from the scene, and restore the unimpeded flow of traffic on the highways, streets, roads, and public rights-of-way of the Borough; additionally to provide the Police Department, and members of the public whose vehicles have been towed, convenient access to stored vehicles.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given below. If not inconsistent with the context, all words in singular terms shall refer to the plural, and those in the plural the singular, words in the present tense include the future tense. "Shall" as used in this chapter is always mandatory and not merely directory.
ABANDONED VEHICLE A vehicle located on a highway, street, road, or public right-of-way, not in operation, with no operator or owner visible and as defined in Chapter
442 and Title 39 of the New Jersey Statutes.
APPROVED TOW OPERATOR LIST A list of tow operators who satisfy the requirements of this chapter, apply for, and receive approval by the Borough Council, on recommendation of the Borough Chief of Police, to perform police-requested towing in the Borough.
PERSON Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation or legally formed organization.
TOW OPERATOR A person engaged in the business of towing or storing motor vehicles or offering the services of a tow vehicle, tow truck, and storage services.
TOW VEHICLE or TOW TRUCK Those vehicles equipped with a boom or booms, winches, slings, tilt beds, wheel lifts, or underreach equipment specifically designed by their manufacturer for the removal or transport of motor vehicles, including flatbed vehicles, employed for the purpose of towing, transporting, conveying, or removing motor vehicles that are unable to be operated under their own power or may not lawfully be operated from one place to another. Each tow vehicle or tow truck shall display the name, address, and contact information of the approved tow operator. The tow operator shall disclose the vehicles to be used in carrying out police-requested towing in their application and shall update such information with the Police Chief in the event that equipment is withdrawn, supplemented, or replaced.
TOWING The services of a vehicle wrecker or towing service, including but not limited to holding, lifting, removal, hauling and transportation of any type of vehicle of any size from the highways, streets, roads, and public rights-of-way located in the Borough.
VEHICLE Any motor vehicle as defined by Title 39 of any type or size, including but not limited to a passenger vehicle, truck, trailer, heavy vehicle, and heavy equipment for on or off-road use.
The Chief of Police shall adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations for tow operators and is hereby designated as the Borough officer responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, in accordance with due process of law.
Any tow operator called to tow a vehicle at the request of the Police Department shall charge no more than the maximum fees allowed by statute and set forth in a schedule available at Borough Hall that is incorporated into and made a part of this chapter by reference. These maximum fees apply to all towing and storage requests initiated by the Borough, not just requests due to automobile accidents or stolen vehicles. The maximum daily storage charge applies to the entire period of time the vehicle is stored subsequent to a tow requested by the Borough.
Every tow operator called by the Police Department must keep a record of the name and address of the owner of the towed vehicle and must file reports, as required by the Chief of Police, which will include, but not be limited to, itemized towing and storage charges per vehicle, and disposition of the vehicle. Right after towing the vehicle to their storage area, the tow operator must search the vehicle in front of the owner or police officer at the scene and make a list of all personal property or after-market equipment in or on the vehicle.
Before a tow operator may receive Borough approval, the Chief of Police will direct an inspection of the tow operator's storage facility and towing equipment to verify compliance with this chapter.
Every person found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter may be removed from the Approved Tow Operator List.