Engineer assails towing of his car

CEBU City Hall will look into the complaints raised by an engineer and Barangay Kalunasan resident against One Stop Towing Services, who towed his vehicle parked outside a hospital during an emergency last May 16.

Nestor Aviso Sr. complained to City Administrator Francisco Fernandez at City Hall yesterday morning about the towing, which he said happened in front of Cebu Doctors’ Hospital where parking is allowed after 7 p.m.


Aviso parked his car by the roadside at around midnight of May 16, before rushing inside the hospital to attend to his niece who was giving birth.

The baby died at childbirth while his niece needed to have blood transfusion. He had rushed to the hospital to help his niece.

He said that when he went out to get his valuables in the car, including a large sum of money, he was surprised to learn that his Mitsubishi Adventure was gone.

Thinking that his car was stolen, Aviso panicked but was later told by vendors that it was towed.

Aviso told Fernandez that he was surprised that the vehicle was towed when the street sign said that the area was a “no parking” zone from Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. only.

He also complained about the towing employees’ arrogance when he confronted them about the incident and explained why he parked there.

“I tried to explain to the people in the stockyard of One Stop Towing but nobody entertained me. When I chanced upon a tow
truck and asked about my vehicle, they denied that they were the ones who towed my car and they hurriedly left. The sheer arrogance of these people,” Aviso said.

He handed Fernandez his formal letter of complaint and a copy of the receipt for the P2,300 payment to City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom). Aviso said he will also submit a copy of his complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.

Aviso already complained to the anti-graft office but was told to write it down.

Decongest

“Their reason for towing is to decongest the traffic. What do they have to decongest on the wee hours of the morning?” Aviso asked Fernandez.

The engineer is the first to personally complain to the city administrator about the towing activities.

“This arrogance has to be looked into, and the way they transact business... The complaint is valid. We will act on it immediately. We’re very sorry this has happened. I know it’s too late but at least for now, we are allowing parking outside the hospitals,” Fernandez told the complainant.

Aviso also asked why there is no towing outside St. Peter’s Memorial Chapel at the downtown area, where they held the vigil for his grandchild.

“Outside the hospital, they will tow your car even during an emergency, but outside the funeral home, they won’t. Do you have to die first before these towing firms respect you?” he told Fernandez.

City Traffic Operations Management executive director Arnel Tancinco and Citom legal counsel Rico Abellanosa were also given copies of the complaint.

One of many

Aviso is just one of the many motorists who have complained about the towing companies deputized by Citom.

Last week, 32-year-old Freddie Teopez was mauled allegedly by employees of One Stop Towing after the tow truck rammed
into their motorcycle, when they refused to stop for fear they will be apprehended for not wearing helmets.

Earlier this month, One Stop Towing employees accused Tinago Barangay Councilor Joel Garganera of threatening them and stealing the memory card of their camera, after an altercation over a towing incident.

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Towing a Car

Everyone looks forward to the much needed summer trip. Enjoying your vacation days is important and necessary for stress reduction. Planning your summer trip is always fun. If you plan to bring your vehicle by towing it then there are some things you will need to know. Towing a car is a great way to have both a camper and a car with you while away from home. But you must make sure to tow it safely and properly to avoid accidents, injury or incident. Having a safe trip should always be your main priority. Tow your car safely so that you can focus on enjoying yourself.
You must make sure that the car you will be towing is put in neutral first. This is essential so that the tires do not lock up when you try to move it. If you make the mistake of leaving the car in park you could seriously damage it when you try to tow it. Of course you must make sure that nobody is inside the car at all. Do not leave animals inside it either. Make sure that the tow chain you choose to use is acceptable for this purpose. A weak or thin chain could break while towing.
It is often recommended that you alert fellow drivers to the fact that you are towing a vehicle. You can do this by placing a sign in the window so that they know to go around if they come up behind you. This will prevent people from tail gating while you are traveling. Towing a car requires that you go much slower than the rest of the flow of traffic. If you have a sign in the window it will help those traveling at the regular speed to easily identify you. This can help in the way of accident prevention and safety while traveling with a towed vehicle.
You should make forty-five miles per hour your maximum limit. To go any faster than this could place unnecessary strain on the chain and other towing components. This could lead to damage which of course in turn could lead to an accident. Be patient as you travel and do not exceed the limits that are safest for towing a car. Do not tow your car for too far of a distance. It is better to only go as far as you have to. If you wish to go an extremely long distance then perhaps you should seek a better way of transporting your vehicle.
Always look into all legal aspects involved with towing a car first. There are many states and provinces where this type of towing is illegal. It can come with a pretty heavy fine so do not make the mistake of assuming to know the law if you are not one hundred percent certain about it. Call local authorities before hooking your car up. Always follow safety procedures when towing your car. Do what it takes to avoid mishap while moving your car safely from one place to another.

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Towing Without a Caravan Stabiliser

A caravan stabiliser is not a required item for towing but it does add an extra layer of safety to your caravan outfit. Before caravan stabilisers however people still towed trailers successfully and without incident on many journeys. They achieved this by having a good knowledge of trailer packing for the journey and how best to take care of the towing rig so it performed to its best while on the road.   There are 3 simple points for you to consider when towing a caravan that, with or without a stabiliser will increase your safety and comfort while towing. 

First and the most important point to consider is getting the car and caravan combination right. Small cars with relatively large engines are more than capable of pulling a caravan behind them but if the caravan is heavier than car then many problems can occur. When buying your first caravan it is often tempting to seek out the caravan that you find most luxurious and has all the internal niceties you want for your break. This however may lead you to getting a caravan that is unsuitable for your present car. Don't forget what car will be pulling the caravan and do your research into what caravan is suitable for your car. The best place for this information would be the caravan dealer or manufacturer but you can also get good information on the internet from places like forums on your favourite caravan magazine website. 

Second point to consider in the search for safe caravan towing is having a properly loaded caravan and car. When loaded up ready for the journey your caravan weight should be no more than 85% of the total weight car towing it. With this in mind you should always try and have heavy items secured safely in the car boot. After that you should have the remaining heavy items as close to the caravan axel as possible. Simple common sense should tell you that heavy items should be stored low down and never in overhead cupboards. If at all possible there should be no item, especially heavy ones, which can move about if you had to break suddenly in an emergency. If you do all this right and have the weight evenly distributed the caravan should tow behind you level or very slightly nose down. 

The third and final point is so simple but for many it is often overlooked. Ensuring the tyre pressures of your caravan are correct not only improves the handling and therefore safety of the caravan being towed it will also help reduce you fuel consumption and help a tank of fuel go further. If your tyre pressures are 25% too low, your fuel consumption is increased by 2% and also have an adverse effect on braking distances of your caravan and car. Tyre pressures should be checked when the tyres are cold and make sure you are using the correct loaded pressures as manufactures often have two recommended pressures. 

You could be forgiven for thinking that if you take care and always follow the three points mentioned above you would not need a caravan stabiliser. In fact you are correct and with all things equal you could easily tow a caravan without a stabiliser attached. Unfortunately things are never equal and external forces will act upon your caravan rig and make it react in ways that you are unprepared for. With lots of experience you may be able to overcome these external forces, but with a caravan stabiliser you will be adding an extra layer of safety that has been designed and improved to help you increase the safety of towing caravans. 











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Rama and the car towing issue

ACTING Mayor Michael Rama is right. One who parks his car illegally knows the risk. He therefore deserves no further notice or warning before the vehicle can be towed.




An exception should, however, be made for people who are responding to or are involved in an emergency. It is unchristian to punish a driver who, in his rush to have a loved one receive immediate medical attention in the hospital emergency room, leaves his car in a no-parking zone.



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But that is the practice today as a local judge found out to his dismay and frustration. When he came back from the ER, he found that his car was gone, towed by the Citom, according to bystanders.



Wanting to make money is not bad per se. But car towing companies-–the ones that the duly-elected mayor favored with the franchise business of towing-–seem to have forgotten the public interest side of their being along the way. The purpose of towing is to clear the streets of obstruction, not to make some people rich or richer.



Rama should also clarify whether car towing is a penalty or simply a tool to enforce a penalty for a traffic violation. This is not hair-splitting. There have been cases where the owner arrived when the towing crew was trying to hook his car to the truck. In one of these cases, the owner-–a lawyer-–offered to just pay the penalty for his violation in exchange for his car’s release. The Citom refused.



Why? Is it because Tomas Osmeña’s accredited car towing companies would not make money if the fine was paid right there and then? Or is car towing now a separate penalty, independent of the fine, under the city’s traffic ordinance?



Rama knows that his time as mayor is borrowed. Osmeña can return anytime. It was therefore brave of the acting mayor to order a review of the car towing setup. It would, however, take more bravery on his part to include in his review the system of awarding car towing contracts. The regular mayor has brushed aside claims that the contract can be awarded only upon public bidding.

Rama is a lawyer. But it takes more than just knowledge of the law to get things done correctly. It also requires courage. Let’s see if Rama is up to it.

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Rama wants to improve car towing measure

Rama wants to improve car towing measure



ACTING Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants City Hall consultants to simplify the guidelines on the car towing of vehicles to make sure the City will no longer be bombarded with complaints from motorists.



For Rama, all vehicles that are a public nuisance or obstruct traffic should be towed, including the units of drivers who disobey traffic laws.



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He also wants to do away with the provision on the need to warn erring drivers through a public address system or siren, as recommended by city consultants.



“When it constitutes nuisance per se, there is no need for an announcement,” Rama told a news conference yesterday.



A member of the opposition, however, dismissed the accomplishments reported by Rama during the inaugural session. Barangay Tinago Councilor Joel Garganera focused his criticism on Cebu City’s towing ordinance.



An ad hoc committee composed of City Hall consultants submitted to the City Council last June 17 its recommendations regarding the car towing of vehicles, as well as guidelines on the operations of private car towing companies.



But yesterday, Rama said the guidelines should be reviewed and simplified before the council drafts and approves a new towing ordinance.



This time, some city councilors and City Traffic and Operations Management (Citom) officials were asked to help simplify the guidelines and ordinance.



The council, he said, will fine-tune the guidelines and the towing ordinance, which will be one of the important legislation they will work on before the final year of their term ends.



“We will work on the guidelines on car towing, and the ordinance that will clearly spell out the car towing procedures, that is effective and enforceable and will leave no room for (people) to make their own interpretation,” said Rama.



The acting mayor said he requested the consultants to revise the guidelines and recommendations they proposed, which are still being reviewed by the council committee on laws.



“The report says there are 34 bases for the car towing of vehicles under the existing towing ordinances... We have to simplify it so that when we implement, wala na’y away ang driver and enforcer. We have to revisit the ordinance and simplify the situation when car towing will be applicable,” he said.



Challenge



The recommendations and guidelines were made after a thorough review of all towing ordinances by the committee, following the numerous complaints raised against the operations of private towing firms.



Rama said the ad hoc committee’s report was not supposed to be tackled by the council yet since he still had to review it.



But the report was inadvertently included in the council session agenda last June 17.



Yesterday, Garganera questioned the accomplishments reported by Rama, saying he based the report on ventures such as the South Road Properties (SRP) and not on the improvement of basic services.



Garganera said yesterday that he is giving Rama and the councilors a year to prove that they are not “lapdogs and stamp pads.”



Garganera said that last week, initial findings of the Commission on Audit 7 indicated that the car towing companies violated government laws for not submitting a report on its earnings to the city government. (LCR/With JKV)



I never wanted the car towing company they hired because they dont care about what car they are towing.

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CAR TOWING in Cebu

Hello Guys,

           What can you say about our CITOM police here in CEBU with their car towing operation and without any second chances even if you right there to ask them to stop and get your vehicle so it would'nt be towed, I have seen once a PIZZA HUT delivery motorvehicle being towed by their towing truck and was on its way to the impound station.

Towing ordinance amended

The Pekin City Council voted 5-to-2 to make one change to the city’s towing ordinance to protect individuals whose cars are towed because of a rare error by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office.

Pekin Police Department Deputy Chief Ted Miller said that the department has also modified its internal procedures regarding the ordinance over the last several months.

“When the officer himself has a concern whether or not the ordinance fits the spirit of the law, he or she would call over a supervisor,” he said. “Then they would go over again ... whether the owner or the interest holder of the vehicle is legally accountable for the conduct given rise to the impoundment ...

“We’re doing everything we can to make this as fair as fair can be.”

Called “Seizure and Impounding of Vehicles,” the ordinance establishes a $500 fine — in addition to any towing bills or storage fees charged by the impound yard — when anyone in a vehicle is arrested for possession or delivery of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia, DUI, driving on a revoked or suspended license, or unlawful use of a weapon.

There have been occurrences when the Secretary of State’s Office, due to clerical or computer errors, has provided inaccurate driver’s license information to law enforcement officers during traffic stops and indicated that someone’s license is revoked or suspended. The error has caused a small number of impounds in which the driver was later proved to have a valid driver’s license, according to city documents.

Monday night’s amendment to the ordinance allows the police department to reimburse the owner for towing and storage fees, up to seven days, if such an error occurred.

Council member Barb Strand said that after initial concerns and several months’ consideration, she agrees with the ordinance and Monday’s change.

“When you look at the figures, every month, it’s almost entirely people who are driving on suspended and revoked licenses and people under suspicion of DUI,” she said. “And quite honestly, I don’t want those people on the street and I don’t think you do either.

“I think that the thing that we have put in place, that if somebody is wrongfully brought in, that yes, they should get not just their impound fee back but any other charges. And also the safeguard that the officers are doing internally ... I think those are covering the bases of the things I was concerned about.”

Council member Chad Schmidgall voted against the item and said that he wanted vehicle owners to have some recourse written into the ordinance giving them a way to recover fees from a person who caused the car to be impounded.

He said that drivers don’t have the right to — and shouldn’t have to — search passengers for contraband that could lead to the car to being impounded.

Miller said the internal procedures would allow the department to use its discretion not to impound a car if, for instance, a grandparent picked up a child whose friend, unbeknownst to the driver, held contraband in a pocket and that contraband was discovered by police during a traffic stop.

Council member Tom Blanchard said he aimed to make the ordinance “as fair as possible” and that he didn’t think Monday’s change did enough. In May, the council discussed a series of options, ranging from no change to amendments more substantial than what was proposed for Monday.

“The driver’s license issue was talked about at that meting as a concern of reimbursement for maybe all of about two minutes,” he said. “The true conversation was, anybody found innocent after having their cars towed would be reimbursed. Why should an innocent person have to pay anything?

“This whole thing is not making it more fair.”

Council member Laurie Barra said that everyone in town that she has spoken to about the ordinance said they do not want it changed further.

Mayor Rusty Dunn said any “innocent driver” clause in the ordinance would remove its “teeth.”

“If the driver has contraband somewhere in the vehicle that’s discovered somewhere during a stop, a driver (could) say I didn’t know there was a gun under the seat,” he said.

Dunn said he believes the review process already written into the ordinance is adequate.

Blanchard proposed an amendment to Monday’s item asking that the police procedure described by Miller be included in the city ordinance verbiage.

All other members of the council voted no, and several said that they did not want to dictate police procedure.

Blanchard said he didn’t think his amendment dictated police procedure because it was procedure already determined by the police department.

I haven't tried that the car towing police towed my car but I was being clamped.

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