REPORT TITLE:
Towing Companies


DESCRIPTION:
Requires all towing companies, not only the ones being called to
tow a vehicle, to have sign on vehicle doors with the name and
telephone number of the towing business etc.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2725
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO TOWING COMPANIES. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 290-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
 3      "(b)  Towing companies, without regard to whether they are
 
 4 engaged by the owner, occupant, or person in charge of the
 
 5 property, shall:
 
 6      (1)  Have permanently affixed on each door of the towing
 
 7           vehicle a sign with the name and telephone number of
 
 8           the towing business.  The letters and numbers used in
 
 9           the sign shall be no less than two inches in height;
 
10      (2)  Maintain insurance coverage sufficient to protect
 
11           owners of towed vehicles in the event of vehicle loss
 
12           or damage due to towing;
 
13      (3)  Charge not more than $50 for a tow, or $60 for a tow
 
14           using a dolly, plus a mileage charge of $5 per mile
 
15           towed and $15 per day or fraction thereof for storage
 
16           for the first seven days and $10 per day thereafter.
 
17           When the tow occurs between the hours of six o'clock
 
18           p.m. and six o'clock a.m., the towing company shall be
 
19           entitled to an overtime charge of $15.  If the vehicle
 

 
Page 2                                                     
                                     S.B. NO.           2725
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           is in the process of being hooked up to the tow truck
 
 2           and the owner appears on the scene before the vehicle
 
 3           has been moved by the tow truck, the towing company
 
 4           shall be entitled to an "unhooking" fee of not more
 
 5           than $50.  In the case of a difficult hookup, meaning
 
 6           an above or below ground hookup in a multilevel
 
 7           facility, a towing surcharge of $25 shall be
 
 8           applicable;
 
 9      (4)  Determine the name of the legal owner and the
 
10           registered owner of the vehicle from the department of
 
11           transportation or the county department of finance.
 
12           The legal owner and the registered owner shall be
 
13           notified in writing at the address on record with the
 
14           department of transportation or with the county
 
15           department of finance by registered or certified mail
 
16           of the location of the vehicle, together with a
 
17           description of the vehicle, within a reasonable period
 
18           not to exceed twenty days following the tow.  The
 
19           notice shall state:
 
20           (A)  The maximum towing charges and fees allowed by
 
21                law;
 
22           (B)  The telephone number of the consumer information
 
23                service of the department of commerce and consumer
 

 
Page 3                                                     
                                     S.B. NO.           2725
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1                affairs; and
 
 2           (C)  That if the vehicle is not recovered within thirty
 
 3                days after the mailing of the notice, the vehicle
 
 4                shall be deemed abandoned and will be sold or
 
 5                disposed of as junk.
 
 6           Where the owners have not been so notified, then the
 
 7           owner may recover the owner's car from the towing
 
 8           company without paying tow or storage fees; provided
 
 9           that the notice need not be sent to a legal or
 
10           registered owner or any person with an unrecorded
 
11           interest in the vehicle whose name or address cannot be
 
12           determined.  Absent evidence to the contrary, a notice
 
13           shall be deemed received by the legal or registered
 
14           owner five days after the mailing.  A person, including
 
15           but not limited to the owner's or driver's insurer, who
 
16           has been charged in excess of the charges permitted
 
17           under this section may sue for damages sustained and,
 
18           if the judgment is for the plaintiff, the court shall
 
19           award the plaintiff a sum not to exceed the amount of
 
20           the damages and reasonable attorney's fees together
 
21           with the cost of suit.
 
22                If a tow operator fails to comply with the
 
23           insurance requirements of this section, no charges,
 

 
Page 4                                                     
                                     S.B. NO.           2725
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           including storage charges, may be collected by the tow
 
 2           operator as a result of the tow or as a condition of
 
 3           the release of the towed vehicle.  Any person,
 
 4           including the registered owner, lienholder, or insurer
 
 5           of the vehicle, who has been injured by the tow
 
 6           operator's failure to comply with this section is
 
 7           entitled to sue for damages sustained.  If a judgment
 
 8           is for the plaintiff, the court shall award the
 
 9           plaintiff a sum of not less than $1,000 or threefold
 
10           damages sustained by the plaintiff, whichever sum is
 
11           the greater, and reasonable attorneys fees together
 
12           with the costs of suit;
 
13      (5)  Provide, when a vehicle is recovered by the owner
 
14           before written notice is sent by registered or
 
15           certified mail, the owner with a receipt stating:
 
16           (A)  The maximum towing charges and fees allowed by
 
17                law; and
 
18           (B)  The telephone number of the consumer information
 
19                service of the department of commerce and consumer
 
20                affairs; and
 
21      (6)  Accommodate payment by the owner for charges under
 
22           paragraph (3) by cash and by either credit card or
 
23           automated teller machine located on the premises."
 

 
Page 5                                                     
                                     S.B. NO.           2725
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 2.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 2      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 3 
 
 4                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________