As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
BASIC TOWING SERVICE
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 from any other object
within the right-of-way or berm.
TOW VEHICLE
Only those vehicles equipped with a boom or booms, winches,
slings, tilt beds, wheel lifts or underreach equipment specifically
designed by its manufacturer for removal or transportation of motor
vehicles.
A licensee must comply with the following requirements:
A. Any person, company or corporation requesting this
license must have had a towing business for a minimum of one year
and must be of known good reputation in the field of wrecking, towing,
etc.
B. The licensee shall be available to provide service
24 hours per day, seven days per week.
C. The wrecker/tow truck shall have a passenger seat
to transport the driver of the vehicle to be towed, under appropriate
circumstances, at no additional cost to the owner of the vehicle.
D. Wreckers/tow trucks shall have paging capabilities
with their dispatching center on a twenty-four-hour basis.
E. Calls must be answered within 20 minutes of the Saddle
Brook Police Department notice to licensee to respond to a call, unless
a mutually agreed time is approved.
F. The licensees shall provide each wrecker/tow truck
with a shovel, broom and other equipment necessary to clean up broken
glass and debris from the scene of an accident to which it is summoned.
The driver of such wrecker/tow truck shall be responsible for such
cleanup.
G. All wreckers/tow trucks used and employed in towing
of vehicles shall be kept in a clean, good working condition, and
the name, address and telephone number of the licensee shall be conspicuously
displayed on each vehicle.
H. All licensees shall be required to comply with all
state and local laws and be licensed, as required.
I. The licensee shall, when performing under this license,
follow the lawful directions of the officers of the Saddle Brook Police
Department, agents or representatives of the Township of Saddle Brook.
J. A person retrieving his vehicle shall be able to transact
all business, including the pickup of the vehicle and payment of fees,
at the same location.
K. There shall be no piling of vehicles.
L. Vehicles shall be towed and stored in a safe manner
so as to prevent any damage to such vehicles.
M. The licensee shall provide a clean waiting room for
the public with a restroom and access to a public telephone.
No license shall be granted to an applicant
unless and until he has appointed the Township Clerk as his true and
lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service out of any
court of competent jurisdiction served against the applicant.
The licensees must have the following equipment
operating at all times and ready for call to a location within the
boundaries of the Township of Saddle Brook when dispatched by the
Saddle Brook Police Department pursuant to the terms of the license
and for the full term of said license:
A. At least one tow truck and one flatbed vehicle for
the purposes set forth in this chapter.
B. Equipment for jump starts, changing of flat tires
and portable heavy-duty lifting.
C. Each wrecker/tow truck must also be equipped with
a shovel, broom and other equipment needed to clean up broken glass
and debris.
D. Each wrecker/tow truck must have emergency flashing
lights in accordance with N.J.S.A. 39.1-1 et seq.
E. Any person convicted of a crime, as enumerated in §
191-4B(1) of this chapter, is forbidden to tow for the Township of Saddle Brook.
F. At all times, at least one employee with an articulated
driver's license or commercial license shall be available to operate
the above-required equipment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including
holidays.
Applicants shall agree in writing to assume
the defense of and indemnify and hold harmless the Township, it elected
officials, boards, commissions, officers, employees and agents from
all suits, action, damages or claim to which the Township may be subjected
of any kind and nature whatsoever resulting from, caused by, arising
out of or as a consequence of the provision of towing, wrecking, storage
and/or emergency services provided at the request of this Township
pursuant to this chapter. Official towers shall in turn to a hold
harmless agreement in a form to be prepared by the Township Attorney
prior to being included in the official tower's list.
Any person and/or licensee who shall violate
the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be
punishable as provided below:
A. Be prohibited from receiving a license for a period
of three years from the date of said conviction. Upon the second or
subsequent conviction and in the discretion of the Municipal Judge,
said person shall be prohibited from receiving a license for a period
of 10 years from the date of the second or subsequent conviction;
and
B. Be subject to imposition of the general penalties
set forth in the Revised General Ordinances of the Township of Saddle
Brook.
Upon determination by the Township Council of
a proper basis for the revocation of a license, notice of the hearing
for revocation of a license shall be given to the licensee, in writing,
setting forth specifically the grounds of complaint and the time and
place of the hearing. Such notice shall be mailed by registered or
certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the licensee
at his last known address, at least five days prior to the date set
for hearing.
This chapter shall not prevent the occasional
operation at the scene of an accident, upon the request of an owner
or driver of a vehicle, of a wrecker or tow truck which is owned by
a person not regularly engaged in the business of operating wreckers
or tow trucks within the Township of Saddle Brook.