Towing rules can haul away business if done wrong

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It’s one of those experiences that no one likes, like missing your flight and having to sleep on the floor of an airport or getting a really uncomfortable cleaning at the dentist while being subjected to Michael Bolton’s greatest hits.

Getting your vehicle towed, like the aforementioned stuff, is unalloyed misery. Indeed, there are few things as painful.

But parking in the wrong place, walking a few paces and turning around to see your car being towed or a boot being slapped on it and there’s nothing you can do to stop it? Well, that’s beyond painful. That’s enough to get you sent away with the screaming meemies, isn’t it?

In Charlotte, some people complain about having gone through that exact experience.

Some say tow trucks seem to stalk drivers, waiting for them to park where they aren’t supposed to — such as a spot reserved for another business — and then, before you can say “rachets and hooks,” haul their vehicles away, refusing to release them even if their owners catch the towers in the act and plead with them.

Call it tow truck tough love, I guess.

Apparently, the complaints about all this so-called “predatory” towing have made their way to the City Council, which was supposed to discuss changing the city’s towing rules Monday night, after this column went to press.

Whatever the council decides to do about the rules, it’s got a lot to think about. The towing rules, however they ultimately are reshaped — if at all — will have an impact on business and economic development.

If the council were to leave the rules unchanged, it would likely disappoint some business owners who are troubled that vehicles are being mercilessly towed.

Take Frank Scibelli, who owns Cantina 1511 restaurant on East Boulevard in Dilworth.

Scibelli, in a Mecklenburg Times story in December, said the current towing practices might scare off customers during busy hours when parking is hard to come by. Changing the towing rules — in particular, allow people to stop their vehicles from being towed as the towing is happening — might help business, he said.

“If someone parks their car and then realizes they should move it a minute later, they shouldn’t have to pay to get their car back,” he said.

So, clearly, the current towing rules are having a negative impact on restaurants, and it makes me wonder how many customers they are missing out on because of towing concerns.

But change the rules and you hurt another type of businesses: towing companies.

One suggested change to the rules is to limit the towing fee to $120. Some in the towing industry have said that limiting the fee and requiring towing companies to accept credit cards will hurt their profits.

And allowing a driver to get his vehicle back if he’s on the scene before it is put on the tow truck, well, isn’t that opening the door to abuse? After all, you could have just enough time to park in the wrong place, buy a cup of coffee and come back out to stop the tow truck.

Then again, if the rules are kept the same, and the “predatory” towing persists, how many tourists will never return to Charlotte because they are not used to our city and got towed?

Like I said, it’s a lot for the council to think about.

But no matter what the council does with its rules, this much it can’t change: People will always hate the tow truck, and you’ll always hear Michael Bolton at the dentist.

Thank God that saliva vacuum is loud.

Editor Deon Roberts can be reached at [email protected].