Police officer authorized to remove certain vehicles; protocol for selection and use of towing services; duties and liability of tow car operator.
1. Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle standing upon a highway in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, the officer may move the vehicle, or require the driver or person in charge of the vehicle to move it, to a position off the paved, improved or main-traveled part of the highway.
2. Whenever any police officer finds a vehicle unattended or disabled upon any highway, bridge or causeway, or in any tunnel, where the vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic or interferes with the normal flow of traffic, the officer may provide for the immediate removal of the vehicle.
3. Any police officer may, subject to the requirements of subsection 4, remove any vehicle or part of a vehicle found on the highway, or cause it to be removed, to a garage or other place of safekeeping if:
(a) The vehicle has been involved in an accident and is so disabled that its normal operation is impossible or impractical and the person or persons in charge of the vehicle are incapacitated by reason of physical injury or other reason to such an extent as to be unable to provide for its removal or custody, or are not in the immediate vicinity of the disabled vehicle;
(b) The person driving or in actual physical control of the vehicle is arrested for any alleged offense for which the officer is required by law to take the person arrested before a proper magistrate without unnecessary delay; or
(c) The person in charge of the vehicle is unable to provide for its custody or removal within:
(1) Twenty-four hours after abandoning the vehicle on any freeway, United States highway or other primary arterial highway.
(2) Seventy-two hours after abandoning the vehicle on any other highway.
4. Unless a different course of action is necessary to preserve evidence of a criminal offense, a police officer who wishes to have a vehicle or part of a vehicle removed from a highway pursuant to subsection 3 shall, in accordance with any applicable protocol such as a rotational schedule regarding the selection and use of towing services, cause the vehicle or part of a vehicle to be removed by a tow car operator. The tow car operator shall, to the extent practicable and using the shortest and most direct route, remove the vehicle or part of a vehicle to his garage unless directed otherwise by the police officer. The tow car operator is liable for any loss of or damage to the vehicle or its contents that occurs while the vehicle is in his possession or control.
Last modified: February 25, 2006