Flickr.com PhotoThere is no end to the predatory towing abuses in Oregon, which recently included a domestic violence victim "re-victimized" by the infamous "Retriever Towing" outfit. Fortunately...
...Oregon has Sean Cruz, who stays on top of these issues and constantly brings up the need to ban "patrol towing" in Oregon, like California and Washington State have already banned the practice. Sean's recent blog post, click here, included a bunch of URLs with information about the ongoing saga with Retriever Towing.
(I've encouraged Sean to use "live links" with his blog, a practice which requires only a slight bit of technical know-how)
Here are some highlights from Sean's material which I'd like to highlight:
* According to an article in the Oregonian, click here, there was a "predatory towing uprising" incident, which included an angry crowd and an attempt to set fire to the tow truck, with the vehicle owner under arrest. My blog has been attempting to document these uprisings, like the one in at Abbey Court in Carrboro, North Carolina, which seems to have been the Lexington and Concord of this widening rebellion.
This type of citizen-led "direct action" seems to be picking up steam at the same time the public becomes more enlightened about the concept of "predatory and abusive towing" through efforts like those of Sean Cruz and Towing Utopia.
I do not advocate violence. I certainly do advocate protest.
* Sean Cruz wrote about another incident, reported by KATU, in which a driver for Sergeant's "tow jacked" the car of a woman in labor, click here for article.
The comments section of this article is quite notable, with some individuals actually emailing the company in question and then posting the response on the comments thread. This is a great example of the sub-blogosphere in action, and actually adding useful information to public discourse...for a change.
* Sean Cruz points out "the 2007 Oregon Legislature, under the leadership of Senator Avel Gordly, imposed regulations on patrol towing that have yet to be fully implemented, particularly by local governments."
Towing Utopia says: WAKE UP, LOCAL OREGON GOVERNMENTS! REGULATE PATROL TOWING!!!!
* Cruz points out two truck drivers must provide "their prospective victims" with a printed rate sheet so there is "no confusion about the amount of ransom demanded." If this isn't happening, folks in Oregon need to notify the Oregon Attorney General's Office.
* In wording very similar to the "manifest" of this very blog, Sean points out "the towers demands are often confiscatory in effect. Loss of vehicle is a penalty far beyond what is just for the 'offense' that may or may not have been committed by the vehicle owner."
Indeed. That is why citizens should be going into court and suing to have whole bodies of state towing laws overturned on constitutional grounds, whether state or local. YES, there is a time and a place for non-consent towing. But it must be regulated and transparent, with emerging technology used across the spectrum of the "towing life cycle" to make sure nobody needs to say "Dude, where's my car?" and not have an answer for days.
Note: the photo above is of a tow truck driver in Oregon, but is for illustration purposes only. No implication is intended that the driver was engaged in abusive towing practices.
1 comment:
You people just dont get it, you want to whine and cry about how towers tow cars, but if someone parks in your drive way your the first one to call to have it removed. You want to be pro active and change it, stop whining about it and tell people to rad the signs posted before just parking where ever they want, and cry babies like Mr. Cruz who was ILLIGALLY parked in his neighbors spot all four times needs to get a life and get over him self. Getting the laws changed will not stop the towing, there are still hundreds of people like you who just brake rules and lie just so you look good. No matter what the law reads there will always be towing and impounds. Good luck what your puny life, and I say stop your crying!
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