2006 Code of Virginia § 46.2-1217 - Local governing body may regulate certain towing

46.2-1217. Local governing body may regulate certain towing.

The governing body of any county, city, or town by ordinance may regulateservices rendered pursuant to police towing requests by any business engagedin the towing or storage of unattended, abandoned, or immobile vehicles. Theordinance may include delineation of service areas for towing services, thelimitation of the number of persons engaged in towing services in any area,including the creation of one or more exclusive service areas, and thespecification of equipment to be used for providing towing service. Thegoverning body of any county, city, or town may contract for servicesrendered pursuant to a police towing request with one or more businessesengaged in the towing or storage of unattended, abandoned, or immobilevehicles. The contract may specify the fees or charges to be paid by theowner or operator of a towed vehicle to the person undertaking its towing orstorage and may prescribe the geographical area to be served by each personproviding towing services. The county, city, or town may establish criteriafor eligibility of persons to enter into towing services contracts and, inits discretion, may itself provide exclusive towing and storage service forpolice-requested towing of unattended, abandoned, or immobile vehicles. Suchcriteria shall, for drivers of tow trucks and towing and recovery operators,be no less restrictive than those established pursuant to Chapter 28 (46.2-2800 et seq.) of this title and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

Prior to adopting an ordinance or entering into a contract pursuant to thissection, the local governing body shall appoint an advisory board to advisethe governing body with regard to the appropriate provisions of the ordinanceor terms of the contract. The advisory board shall include representatives oflocal law-enforcement agencies, towing and recovery operators, and thegeneral public.

"Police-requested towing" or "police towing request," as used in thissection, includes all requests made by a law-enforcement officer of thecounty, city, or town or by a State Police officer within the county, city,or town pursuant to this article or Article 2 ( 46.2-1209 et seq.) of thischapter and towing requests made by a law-enforcement officer at the requestof the owner or operator of an unattended, abandoned, or immobile vehicle,when no specific service provider is requested by such owner or operator.

If an unattended, abandoned, or immobile vehicle is located so as to impedethe free flow of traffic on a highway declared by resolution of theCommonwealth Transportation Board to be a portion of the interstate highwaysystem and a law-enforcement officer determines, in his discretion, that thebusiness or businesses authorized to undertake the towing or storage of thevehicle pursuant to an ordinance or contract adopted pursuant to this sectioncannot respond in a timely manner, the law-enforcement officer may requesttowing or storage service from a towing or storage business other than thoseauthorized by such ordinance or contract.

If an unattended, abandoned, or immobile vehicle is towed as the result of apolice-towing request, the owner or person having control of the business orproperty to which the vehicle is towed shall allow the owner of the vehicleor any other towing and recovery business, upon presentation of a writtenrequest therefor from the owner of the vehicle, to have access to the vehiclefor the purpose of inspecting or towing the vehicle to another location forthe purpose of repair, storage, or disposal. For the purpose of this section,"owner of the vehicle" means a person who (i) has vested ownership,dominion, or title to the vehicle; (ii) is the authorized agent of the owneras defined in clause (i); (iii) is an employee, agent, or representative ofan insurance company representing any party involved in a collision thatresulted in a police-requested tow; or (iv) is a person subject to a securityinterest in another person, is entitled to the use and possession of thevehicle, including a lessee under a lease intended as security, but notincluding a lessee under a lease not intended as security. It shall beunlawful for any towing and recovery business to refuse to release a vehicleto the owner as defined in this section upon tender of full payment for alllawful charges by cash, insurance company check, certified check, moneyorder, at least one of two commonly used, nationally recognized credit cards,or additional methods of payment approved by the Board.

The vehicle owner who has vested ownership, dominion, or title to the vehicleshall indemnify and hold harmless the towing and recovery operator from anyand all liability for releasing the vehicle to any vehicle owner as definedin this section for inspecting or towing the vehicle to another location forthe purpose of repair, storage, or disposal.

(Code 1950, 46-5.1; 1956, c. 114; 1958, c. 541, 46.1-3, 46.1-3.02; 1960,cc. 75, 204; 1966, c. 297; 1972, c. 267; 1974, c. 142; 1977, c. 666; 1980, c.551; 1978, c. 282; 1984, cc. 64, 190, 381; 1985, c. 91; 1988, c. 520; 1989,c. 727; 1993, c. 405; 1999, c. 78; 2006, cc. 874, 891.)