[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Lower Makefield 5-22-1978 as Ord. No. 121.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Lower Makefield
On-Call Wrecker Ordinance."
A.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in
the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the
singular number and words in the singular number include the plural number.
The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
B.
ON-CALL
PERSON
TOWNSHIP
WRECKER
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms,
phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
Those wreckers licensed under this chapter who alone will be called
to accidents occurring in the township by the Township Police Department and
shall be available for any towing required by the township itself.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company
or organization of any kind.
The Township of Lower Makefield, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
A person engaged in the business or offering the services of a vehicle
wrecker or towing service, whereby disabled motor vehicles are towed or otherwise
removed from the place where they are disabled by use of a wrecker so designed
for that purpose or by a truck, automobile or other vehicle so adapted to
that purpose.
No wrecker shall be available on a rotating schedule to be called by
the township or offer such service to the township without first obtaining
an annual license as hereinafter provided from the Township Manager upon approval
by the Township Chief of Police.
Applications for licenses issued hereunder shall be made upon blank
forms prepared and made available by the township and shall state:
A.
The name, home address and proposed business address
of the applicant.
B.
The location description and hourly availability of the
tow trucks owned or operated by the applicant and the rates for services thereof.
C.
That the applicant has available space for properly accommodating
and protecting all disabled motor vehicles to be towed or otherwise removed
from the place where they are disabled.
D.
A schedule of reasonably competitive rates shall be submitted
showing the charges to be made for all aspects of on-call towing.
E.
Such other information as the Township Supervisors shall
find reasonably necessary to effectuate the purpose of this chapter and to
arrive at a fair determination of whether the terms of this chapter have been
complied with.
A.
No license shall be issued to an applicant hereunder
until he shall have deposited with the township, copies of the following insurance
policies:
(1)
Garage keeper's policy. A garage keeper's legal
liability policy covering fire, theft and explosion in the minimum amount
of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.) and collision coverage with each accident
deemed a separate claim.
(2)
Garage liability policy. A garage liability policy, covering
the operation of the applicant's business, equipment or vehicles or any
bodily injury or property damage. This policy will be in the amount of one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.) for any one (1) person killed or injured
and three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.) for more than one (1) person
injured or killed any one (1) accident. This policy shall also provide one
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.) coverage for all damage arising out of
injury to or destruction of property.
B.
Notice of change or cancellation. Each policy required
herein must contain an endorsement providing for ten (10) days notice to the
township in the event of any material change or cancellation.
Within five (5) days after receipt of an application as provided for
herein the Chief of Police shall cause an investigation to be made of the
applicant and of his proposed operation.
The township shall issue a license hereunder when it finds that:
A.
The public convenience and necessity will be assisted
by the applicant being licensed to be placed on an on-call status.
B.
Insurance policies as required in this chapter have been
procured.
C.
The applicant and all employees are fit and proper persons
to conduct or work in the proposed business.
D.
The requirements of this chapter and all other governing
laws and ordinances have been met.
E.
The applicant has submitted the required schedule of
fees and costs for services which are reasonably competitive for the market
in the area of the township.
A license shall be issued to a successful applicant hereunder after payment to the township of a license fee as set forth in Chapter A205, Fees.
The Chief of Police shall adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations
for wreckers. A copy of this chapter and the rules and regulations shall be
posted and available to the Duty Shift Commander at all times in order to
resolve conflicts as they arise.
A.
Maintenance of equipment. Wreckers shall keep and maintain
towing equipment which is adequate to perform such towing service in a reasonably
workmanlike manner.
B.
Compliance with rate schedule. Wreckers shall charge
for their services such rates as have been indicated in the schedule filed
with the township in application for a license.
C.
Rotation of township towing. Wreckers shall perform towing
service for the township on a rotation basis to be established by the Chief
of Police and shall be available on a twenty-four-hour, seven-day a week basis
and shall maintain a two-way radio in all vehicles.
D.
Interception of police calls. No wrecker shall intercept
police calls by short wave radio.
E.
No wrecker called for service to the scene of an accident
shall tow or move any vehicle without first obtaining either the consent of
the owner or authorization of the Police Department. If a vehicle is towed
or moved with the owner's consent, the wrecker shall provide to the investigating
police all necessary information including a description of the vehicle, its
body style, its serial number and its state license number.
F.
All vehicles towed or moved by a wrecker to a destination
other than one specifically designated by the owner of the vehicle shall be
stored at the wrecker's place of business and shall be at all times kept
inside a building or within a fenced yard which provides adequate security
for such stored vehicles.
The township shall revoke a license issued hereunder when it finds any
of the following grounds:
A.
The license was procured by fraudulent conduct or false
statement of a material fact or that a fact concerning the applicant was not
disclosed at the time of his making application and such fact would have constituted
just cause for refusal to issue said license.
B.
The licensee illegally employed a shortwave radio to
obtain information as to the location of the scene of an accident or disabled
vehicle.
C.
The licensee paid in the form of a gratuity any third
person not involved in the accident for information as to the location of
the accident.
D.
The licensee has violated the fee schedule by overcharging,
which allegations may be confirmed by written complaints from the public.
E.
The licensee has violated any of the requirements of
this chapter or any of the rules and regulations as established by the Chief
of Police or the Township Supervisors.
The owner of any vehicle whose vehicle becomes disabled on the roads,
streets or highways of the township shall have the right to select a tower
of their own choosing to remove the disabled vehicle providing that the tower
chosen by the owner shall be reasonably available to remove the vehicle in
order to ensure safe passage in and upon the streets, roads and highways of
the township.
A.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall
be fined not more than six hundred dollars ($600.), plus costs of prosecution,
including reasonable attorney's fees. If the defendant neither pays nor
timely appeals the judgment, the township may enforce the judgment pursuant
to the applicable rules of civil procedure.[1]
B.
As a further penalty for any violation of any section
of this chapter, the licensee shall have his license revoked and shall be
forbidden to perform any on-call service for the township and shall be removed
from the rotation schedule.
