I was driving to work yesturday and when I was merging onto the freeway I was stuck behind this lady who was putting on her make up as she was trying to merge onto the freeway at like 40 mph. Coming up behind us were 2 semi trucks, so what I did was spead up to merge onto the freeway and pass the lady. I say I went up to about 76 mph at max, then I slowed down to about 71-73 mph because the speed limit is 65.

A cop pulled me over saying that I was speeding (even though I didn't go that fast but I was above the speed limit) so I didn't complain. The bad thing is that I have an expired drivers license which I made an appointment with the DMV to renew it the next day. They said that I was speeding and driving with an expired drivers license so they impounded my car.

To make things worse, I asked them when they called the tow truck company to ask for a flat bed because our Evo has to be towed on a flat bed. They just ignored me and my Evo was towed with it's two front wheels off the ground.

When I got my baby back today, the smelled like burnt oil. I new then that the tow guys must had driven it around the block once or twice really hard. Not just that, the ACD was having problems. All of the lights were lited. I can't select to single mode.

Oh by the way, I spent about $500 for the processing fee and impounded fee. The speeding ticket is yet to come also. Freaking sucks man.

 

I imagine that dragging a 4wd car by two wheels is just *asking* to break ****.

 

Sue the tow company...they should know better not to tow an AWD vehicle by two wheels

 

can you sue the police department for damages to the car? get it inspected and get the inspector to see if the cause was the way it was towed

i hear lots of cops do that ****.

 

why they impound ur car anyway ..... it is u in trouble , not the car. as long as there's insurance , u cant call a friend / family to drive it away ? u cant call ur own tow truck and tow it back home? strange CA

 

I 2nd that motion

 

That really sucks ... I'd suggest attempting to get the city to reimburse you for any repairs that the car may need because they ignored your request and caused the improper tow. I'm not sure how you'd get something like that started ... I guess with a lawyer call. Worth it if the diff is damaged I guess.

I hate to say it, but my brother had a similar issue with his Jeep. the tow truck driver hooked the safety chain around his rear shock and wenched it down. The shock had to be replaced but he got no reimbursement from the towing company.

My Dad actually owns a towing service, and I know for a fact towing companies are often held responsible for damages. An honest company will work with you.

Good Luck.

 

if tow company dun pay u back , file a police report at once in case u r suing them

 

All the lights turn on from the ACD when it is messed up, it is a warning indicator.

You should definatly get the city or tow truck company to pay for the damages, it's going to be hefty.

Also in my state you are alowed to go up to 10 mph over the posted speed limit to pass; i'm not sure about you state but i would look for a similar law and fight the ticket.

And they impound your car if your drivers lisence is 1 day expired? That seems a little harsh, jeeze...

 

I agree, but no towing company would swap trucks or pass up the tow if happened to not bring a flat bed. They should have at least disconnected the driveshaft. I've had to do that before when stuck towing with a lift.

I bet the officer called in the truck and just said it was a Mitsubishi or, at best, a Lancer. The company probably had no idea it was AWD until they showed up with the wrong truck.

 

Wow, some of the police in this country really scare me. I would have done the same as you in that position, since the CO driver's handbook and my own country's laws (UK) say that it is OK to exceed the speed limit to safely pass another vehicle.

As for the tow truck driver, where do you stand on that? I have noticed that a *lot* of organisations seem to enforce their own rules on other people to distance themselves from blame. The tow truck driver probably knows how to tow an AWD vehicle but was closed minded enough to assume that only SUVs are AWD.

Since the police hired a company who criminally destroyed your property, I would say you have a watertight lawsuit there. You never signed anything that gave away your rights.

Of course, I am not a lawyer and don't know the ins and outs of US law, but I would say that even if you committed a crime, it does not give anyone, even the police or their contractors, the right to destroy your property.

 

Man that sucks. I would call a lawyer and see what the best course of action is.
Good luck

 

Thanks guys for the suggestions. They towed my car because they said that I was driving on an expired drivers license.

When they pulled me over, there were two motorcycle cops. They can just back each other up and say that I never made such request or anything.

I want to do something about this matter more then anyone else but the simple fact is that there isn't much I can do. The car has an alignment problem and it vibrates above 65 mph. I can take it to the inspector, but what if the towing company says that they don't know anything about, or what if it was like that before. I can sue them and stuff like that but it's going to be a time consuming matter which I can't afford to take anymore days off of work.

When they towed my car away, they just left me stranded. I had to call my friend to come and pick me up. That day I didn't come to work because I had to go to the DMV. Today when I went to the Police station. I was there for a few hours because they said that the record wasn't in the file yet. The impound lot is like a day care center. The lady was busy taking care of 4 babies while trying to do the paper work so it took another 45 min.

Well there's always Karma, what goes around comes around.

By the way, Thanks for giving your input and I hope that nothing like this will happen to you guys.

 

I agree. This has lawsuit written all over it (at least for the damages to the car)

 

It doesn't matter if they say that you didn't request a flatbed. The onus is on the tow driver to tow the car properly. He didn't, and he borked the ACD. They are completely in the wrong.

Also, if you were still at the scene, why would you let them 2-wheel tow it? You'd have to arrest me and cuff me before I'd even consider letting the tow truck do that.