[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Saugerties 4-29-2014 by L.L. No. 1-2014. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 232.
It is hereby declared and found that it is of vital importance
to the traveling public that disabled vehicles and/or vehicles disabled
as a result of a motor vehicle accident be removed from the highways
as promptly as possible, that delay in removal results in retarding
the movement of traffic unnecessarily and causes street accidents
and that the towing of disabled motor vehicles in the streets of the
Town of Saugerties is a matter affecting the public interest and consequently
should be subject to supervision and administrative control for the
purpose of safeguarding the public against fraud and exorbitant rates
and similar abuses.
Unless otherwise expressly provided, the following words, for
the purpose of this chapter, shall have the meanings herein indicated:
Any person driving a tow truck upon public highways for hire.
Includes any incident where a fee, charge or other consideration
is directly or indirectly imposed for towing, carrying or removing
a vehicle, and it shall include any case where any person makes repairs
on a towed vehicle for consideration, although no charge is imposed
for towing such vehicle.
Any place of business which is not in violation of the existing
Zoning Ordinance or Building Code of the Town of Saugerties, and,
as a substantial source of its activity, engages in the repair of
motor vehicles and provides on-premises parking for their storage.
Any incident or occurrence in which one or more vehicles
come into contact with each other or other objects hereby causing
personal injury or property damage.
Includes the control and direction of the use of vehicles
for towing from places within the Town for hire.
Includes a person owning or leasing or controlling one or
more tow trucks and driving or operating or causing any such vehicle
to be operated upon public highways for hire.
Includes an individual, partnership, any incorporated association,
a corporation or any other entity.
As defined in Article 12-A of the Vehicle and Traffic Law
of New York State.
The moving or removing of disabled or abandoned motor vehicles
by another vehicle for hire.
The corporate area of the Town of Saugerties.
A motor vehicle that is either equipped for the purposes
of carrying or lifting and towing a disabled, illegally parked or
abandoned motor vehicle or a motor vehicle involved in an accident.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business
of towing within the Town of Saugerties from the Town rotational tow
list without having obtained a valid license issued hereunder or to
operate a tow truck in the course of such business without having
displayed thereon a valid sticker issued hereunder, except that no
license or stickers shall be required for persons whose business is
not being conducted from the Town of Saugerties rotational tow list.
A.
Every license issued hereunder shall remain in effect for one year
from the date of issuance unless revoked, as hereinafter provided.
B.
Every person, firm or corporation who desires to operate from the
Town of Saugerties rotational tow list, except as herein otherwise
provided, shall be duly licensed as a tow truck operator in the Town
and must make written application annually under oath providing the
following information:
(1)
The name and address of the applicant, address of the place from
which tow trucks are proposed to be garaged and dispatched, specifying,
in the case of any unincorporated association, the names and addresses
of each member thereof and, in the case of any corporation, the names
and addresses of each officer.
(2)
All crimes, if any, of which the applicant or any member thereof
has been convicted and, if an unincorporated association, or a corporation,
that any officer thereof has been convicted, stating the name, if
any, and location of the courts and the dates on which such convictions
were had and the penalties imposed therefor.
(3)
The experience of the applicant, or, if an unincorporated association
or corporation, of its officers in the towing of vehicles for hire.
(4)
The number of tow truck vehicles proposed to be operated by the applicant
and a description of each such vehicle, including the make, model,
year and manufacture, New York State registration number and vehicle
identification number.
(5)
The name, address and driver's license number of each driver
employed by the applicant.
(6)
The location of any and all depots and terminals proposed to be used
by the applicant.
(7)
The licensee shall provide proof of insurance in the minimum amount
of $300,000 personal liability and $50,000 property damage liability
covering each tow truck and/or place of business. Coverage limits
must be maintained throughout the duration of the license. Coverage
shall also be provided for the towed vehicle. Said proof shall be
provided.
(8)
The licensee's insurance policy must include an endorsement
naming the Town of Saugerties and its agents, officers and employees
as additionally insured. An endorsement providing for 30 days'
advance notice before cancellation or material change of coverage.
The notice is to be mailed to the Town of Saugerties Police Department,
4 High Street, Saugerties, NY 12477.
(9)
Proof of valid registration and inspection of each tow truck to be
operated.
(10)
Any other relevant information that the Chief of Police may
require.
The Chief of Police and/or his designee shall accept all applications
for licenses from persons desiring to engage in the business of towing
on such forms as shall be provided. Upon certification by the Chief
and/or his designee that the applicant has complied with all applicable
provisions of law, the Chief of Police and/or his designee shall issue
a license to the applicant along with a sticker for each vehicle listed
on the application specifically identifying the vehicle to which each
sticker is to be affixed and the license under the sticker is issued.
All licenses and tow truck vehicle stickers expire on the 31st of
December each calendar year.
Each license and sticker issued hereunder shall not be transferred
from one person to another nor from one vehicle to another.
Applicants for a license will be required to pay a nonrefundable
fee of $100 annually. The fee shall be paid at the time application
is made, and annually thereafter, no later than December 15 of each
calendar year immediately preceeding the year of issuance of the license.
The licensee will qualify, provided that:
A.
The licensee owns, operates or maintains a bona fide towing service
in the Town of Saugerties.
B.
Such applicant maintains twenty-four-hour capability to answer calls
for service off the Town of Saugerties rotational tow list.
C.
Such applicant must have at least one conventional tow truck equipped
with a lifting boom on the rear of the truck to tow vehicles and at
least one flatbed tow truck that is equipped to carry vehicles. Each
registered tow truck must have a minimum three-ton power winch, equipped
with 75 feet of three-eights-inch steel cable, a dry chemical fire
extinguisher with a minimum of 10 pounds of pressure, three Department
of Transportation approved (triangular) road reflectors and three
Department of Transportation approved road flares, a broom, a hacksaw,
an ax and a shovel.
D.
The licensee and tow truck operators possess a valid New York State
driver's license with at least a CDL A, B, C or non-CDL C class
license with a tow truck endorsement.
Every applicant for license shall, at the time of submitting
his/her application, submit a complete current schedule of fees for
all services in connection with the towing and storage of motor vehicles
that the applicant charges.
All applicants shall execute such consents for releases of information
as may be required.
On each side of every tow truck for which a sticker has been
issued, the owner shall prominently display, by painting, magnetic
sign or other similar means, the business name and address of the
licensee, together with the business phone number, by letters of not
less than three inches high.
The Chief of Police or his agent may, in his discretion, before
the issuance of a license, require the applicant and any others having
knowledge of the facts to submit to an examination under oath and
to procedure for the adducing of evidence relating thereto and shall
hold a hearing upon such application, as hereinafter provided.
Every owner licensed hereunder who desires to add to the number
of tow trucks he is duly licensed to operate shall file a written
application under oath with the Chief of Police or his agent stating:
Any license and sticker issued hereunder may be renewed annually
prior to the 15th day of December each calendar year; said license
and sticker will be in effect for that calendar year expiring on December
31 of that calendar year. Renewal can be made upon the submission
of an amendment to the original application or subsequent amendments
containing all the information required by the provisions of this
chapter for original application.
No license or sticker shall be issued or renewed annually which
shall permit the use of any vehicle as a tow truck unless and until
it has been inspected and certified annually by the Chief of Police
or his designee as conforming to the requirements of this chapter
and has been duly inspected as required by the Vehicle and Traffic
Law of New York. Annual inspections must be completed by December
15 of each year.
Motor vehicles not involved in accidents but which are otherwise
disabled and which are disrupting the flow of traffic and whose owners
do not otherwise request assistance from a licensee, or motor vehicles
which are to be impounded for other reasons, shall be towed away by
licensees after being contacted from the Town of Saugerties rotational
tow list.
Any licensee who agrees to abide by the following requirements
shall be placed on the Town of Saugerties rotational tow list to be
called in rotation to remove vehicles from scenes of accidents, disabled
vehicles, abandoned vehicles or vehicles otherwise left in violation
of law, provided that:
A.
The licensee swears under oath that he owns or rents and operates
and maintains a bona fide legally registered towing service in the
Town of Saugerties.
B.
Such towing service maintains twenty-four-hour capability to answer
calls for service from the Town of Saugerties Rotational tow list.
C.
Form of payment. The licensee must accept, at a minimum, the following
forms of payment from a customer: cash and/or Visa/Master Card/Discover
Card.
The Chief of Police of the Saugerties Police Department or his
authorized agent is hereby authorized to designate licensees on the
Town of Saugerties rotational tow list on a rotating basis for the
purpose of towing motor vehicles to the place of business of the tow
truck applicant, except elsewhere at the request of the vehicle's
owner/operator. The rotational tow list shall be filed with the Town
Clerk for availability to the public and shall be amended on the first
working day of the month only in the event of an addition or deletion
of a licensed applicant.
The licensee shall furnish twenty-four-hour telephone numbers
for the licensee, his business and/or his designated agent. The telephone
numbers provided shall not be a pager system, but have an actual answering
service or person answering the call. If a licensee or his designated
agent does not answer a call for service from the Saugerties Police
Department or is not available when called, he shall lose his turn
on the rotational tow list and must wait for the rotational tow list
to be called in its entirety before he is eligible to be called again.
A licensee called to the scene of an accident, if necessary,
must sweep or clean up any debris, but only if he is provided with
police protection against vehicles at the scene.
It shall be unlawful for a licensee to transfer or exchange
his place on the rotational list with any other licensee or other
person on the rotational list.
If more than one tow truck is needed at the scene of an accident,
the Saugerties Police Department, through its authorized agent, shall
call the next licensee on the rotational tow list. The police officer
at the scene shall designate which licensee tows which vehicle. The
first licensee to appear on the scene shall, however, assist the police
officer in clearing the motor vehicles from the public highways onto
the shoulder of the highway.
It shall be unlawful for any person who is not designated from
the rotational tow list, as aforesaid, or who does not have the prior
consent and direction of the police officer at the scene or owner
of the vehicle, to tow away any motor vehicle which has been involved
in an accident. The police officer, if at the scene, will determine
when the aforesaid vehicle shall be removed. No vehicle involved in
an accident will be towed in any event unless the Saugerties Police
Department is notified or has been at the scene.
It shall be unlawful for any licensee on the rotational tow
list to willfully refuse to tow away a motor vehicle after having
appeared upon the scene, or to willfully fail to arrive at the scene
after being duly designated as herein provided, regardless of the
hour of day or distance to the scene of the occurrence. It shall be
unlawful for any licensee or his designated agent to fail to answer
a call for service or refuse to respond to a call for service on three
occasions within the same month. A conviction for violating this section
shall result in an automatic suspension from the rotational tow list
for no more than 90 days.
A licensee and/or tow truck operator shall have his tow truck
respond to any call for service by the Town of Saugerties Police Department
in a safe and lawful manner. It shall also be determined that a tow
truck should be able to arrive at any scene within the Town of Saugerties
within 30 minutes from the time the call was placed to the tow truck
company by the Town of Saugerties Police Department.
A licensee duly qualified shall have but one place on the rotational
tow list, although he maintains several licensed tow trucks and or
businesses/corporations in the Town of Saugerties.
If a tow truck is called from the Town of Saugerties rotational
tow list and is cancelled prior to arrival or upon arrival without
any service being rendered, it shall be the tow truck operator's
responsibility to notify the police officer on scene. The police officer
shall then notify the dispatcher, so that tow truck company can be
returned to its position on the call out list existing immediately
prior to the cancellation of the call out. There will also be no fee
assessed to the operator or owner of said vehicle, as no actual service
was rendered.
It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit towing or bodywork
at the scene of any motor vehicle accident on private property or
on a public highway with the Town of Saugerties.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive along any public
street or highway within the Town of Saugerties for the purpose of
soliciting towing work or repair work, or both.
A.
Whenever it shall be provided herein that a hearing shall be held,
such hearing shall be held on a date and at a place and hour designated
by the Chief of Police or his agent.
B.
The Chief of Police or his agent shall give notice thereof, stating
the name and address of the applicant or license holder concerned,
the subject matter of the hearing and date, place and hour thereof
designated therefor, by mailing a copy thereof to the applicant or
license holder concerned at the address shown upon the most recent
application of such applicant or licensee at least 10 days before
such hearing.
C.
Upon any hearings, the applicant or license holder involved shall
be entitled to be represented by legal counsel and to present such
competent and material testimony or other evidence in his own behalf
that may be relevant to the subject matter at the hearing.
D.
All witnesses shall be sworn and examined under oath.
A.
Any license issued hereunder may be suspended for a period of not
more than three months or revoked by the Chief of Police or his agent
if the holder thereof shall violate any provisions of this chapter
or any ordinance of the Town and Village, or be convicted of the violation
of any traffic law, ordinance or regulation of the State of New York
or any municipality of the State of New York or of any crime, or be
guilty of making a false statement or misrepresentation in his application.
A license hereunder shall not be permanently suspended or revoked
by the Chief of Police or his agent without a hearing having been
held thereupon, which hearing shall be held not less than 10 days
after written notice thereof to the licensee, either in person or
by certified mail.
B.
The Chief of Police, upon receiving information giving him reasonable
cause to believe that the holder of any licensee has violated any
provisions of this chapter, or has been convicted of any violation
referred to herein, or has been indicted or charged with or for any
crime or offense, or is guilty of having made false statements or
misrepresentations in his application, may temporarily suspend such
licensee from the rotational tow list until such time as a hearing
is held by said Chief of Police or his agent, as provided herein,
and the Chief of Police or his agent shall have rendered its determination
thereon.
C.
Towing authorization. No vehicle shall be moved without authorization
of a police officer, if present, or if a police officer is not present
and the vehicle may be lawfully removed, then by the owner of the
vehicle or other person in charge thereof. Such authorization shall
be for the towing and storage of the vehicle only.
The Chief of Police or his agent shall have the power to prescribe
reasonable rules and regulations for the proper and efficient administration
and enforcement of this chapter.
A.
A licensed tow truck driver:
(1)
Shall have an identification card, approved by the Chief of Police,
signed by the licensee, attesting to the employment and qualifications
of such driver as required herein in his possession at all times while
engaged in his occupation as a tow truck driver, and, while so engaged,
shall also be in possession of his valid New York State driver's
license with at least a CDL, A, B, C, or non-CDL C class license with
a tow truck endorsement.
(2)
Must possess the appropriate driver's license and endorsement
for the class/weight tow truck he/she is operating.
(3)
Shall not permit any other person to use his identification card.
(4)
Shall not be engaged on an unlicensed tow truck or on a tow truck
that the license for which has been suspended or revoked.
(5)
Shall promptly report the loss of his identification card to the
Chief of Police or his agent.
(6)
Shall report a change of address to the Chief of Police or his agent
within 48 hours.
(7)
Shall have with him at all times properly authorized forms for towing
and repair, such forms to be printed and maintained by the tow truck
owners.
(8)
Shall refrain from use of addictive drugs, except those medically
prescribed, or intoxicating liquors while on duty either at the garaging
facility, office or place of accident.
B.
Each driver at the scene of an accident:
(1)
Shall exhibit his identification card, upon request, to the owner
of the vehicle being towed or persons in charge thereof or to any
member of the Saugerties Police Department.
(2)
Shall not remove any vehicle involved in an accident in which a person
has been injured until released by a duly authorized member of the
Saugerties Police Department.
(3)
Shall notify the Saugerties Police Department of personal or property
damage at an accident scene unless a police officer is or has been
present.
(4)
Shall notify Ulster County communications (911) if any evidence of
fire or a liquid leak is apparent or if the vehicle to be towed may
contain hazardous or contaminated substances.
(5)
The arrival and departure times from the scene of the call shall
be noted on the bill for services as well as be made available to
the Saugerties Police Department upon request.
C.
Every tow truck driver shall obey all traffic laws, ordinances, local
laws, rules and regulations while operating a tow truck and, upon
receipt of a summons or his arrest for any alleged violation of any
such law, ordinance, local law, rule or regulation, shall report the
same within three days to the Chief of Police or his agent, advising
him of the nature of the offense charged and the name and the location
of the court and the date upon which said summons is returnable or
the date upon which the hearing or such trial is be held.
A.
The owner or driver of any disabled vehicle shall have the right
to require the services of any available licensed tow truck, and it
shall be unlawful for any owner or driver of any licensed tow truck
to refuse to render such services if such owner or driver of such
disabled motor vehicle is able and willing to pay the fee prescribed
in the schedule of prices filed by the owner of such licensed tow
truck with the Chief of Police or his agent, unless such tow service
is physically unable, for good cause shown, to tow such motor vehicle
in that all of its available equipment is already engaged in other
towing operations.
B.
Licensed tow truck owners and drivers, when required, will answer
all communications received from the Chief of Police or his agent.
A.
The Saugerties Police Department and its members have the right to
utilize the nearest tow truck and not call for service off the rotational
tow list in the event of an emergency or a threat to safety requiring
the immediate assistance of the nearest tow truck.
B.
Upon arrival to the scene of any disabled vehicle or motor vehicle
accident, it is the responsibility of any member of the Saugerties
Police Department to first inquire with the operator of the vehicle
requiring a tow if he or she has their own preference for a tow truck
service. The member can only refuse the request if the response time
of the tow truck service would cause undue inconvenience in time or
safety/hazard at the scene.
