National City Municipal Code Ch. 11.56 Tow Truck Regulations

A "tow car" or "tow truck" is a motor vehicle which has been altered or designed and equipped for, and exclusively used in the business of towing vehicles by means of a crane, tow bar, tow line or dolly or is otherwise exclusively used to render assistance to other vehicles.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

It is the intent of this chapter to prescribe the basic regulations for the operation of tow cars, or tow trucks in police emergency situations in the removal of and towing away of motor vehicles which are illegally parked, apparently abandoned or involved in an accident, or which constitute an obstruction to traffic because of mechanical failure. It is the purpose of the council in enacting the ordinance codified in this chapter to provide a fair and impartial means of selecting private operators to engage in said business in the interest of the public as well as in the interest of efficient policing operations for the removal from the public streets of said vehicles.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

The city council shall, from time to time, by resolution, adopt policies for the selection and designation of tow car or tow truck services which shall be permitted to engage in emergency police towing upon notification of the need for such services by the police department. Any and all tow car or tow truck operators not so selected and designated pursuant to the policy of the city council are hereby prohibited from removing from the public streets and towing away any vehicles involved in the situations as set forth in Section 11.56.020 provided, however, that the owner of the vehicle so involved may designate any towing service to be used for the removal and towing away of such vehicle. The police department shall strictly adhere to the policies adopted by the city council and any administrative regulations instituted to efficiently carry out said policies. However, in the event that a towing service is contacted by the police department to perform said services, and performs said services in a manner not in accordance with the policies as established, the police department is held harmless from any and all liability or damages arising therefrom and shall not be accountable for, nor investigate, complaints of negligence and deviations from the policies unless said deviations are shown to be of a repeated and frequently recurring nature, and any complaints received from the tow car or tow truck services selected and designated to carry out such police towing operations and any complaints received concerning the quality and standards of service performed by said operators shall be deemed sufficient cause for cancellation and termination of any contract or operating agreement entered into for the performance of such service.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)