There are many areas in cities and towns that are covered by the Tow Truck sign. It is installed together with prohibiting road signs and explanatory signs in places where it is forbidden to stop and park a car. Indicates that an evacuation service is operating in this area. If you leave a car on a road where it is prohibited to stop or park, it will be forcibly taken to the traffic police impound lot, and the driver will have to pay a fine and pay for the time the car was stored in the parking area.
What signs indicate “Tow Truck Operating”?
Since the sign provides additional information, it is always posted and works with the corresponding prohibitory signs: “Parking/stopping is prohibited,” as well as similar signs with clarifying information, for example, “Parking on even days is prohibited.” The location is strictly below.
“Parking/stopping is prohibited”
An additional “Tow Truck Operating” sign can be installed with “No Parking” or “No Parking” traffic signs with an up, down, horizontal, up and down arrow indicating the number of meters of area between them. Typically, such signs are installed near historical buildings, on congested sections of roads, and at forks. In case of violations in the area with the arrow, vehicles are towed to the impound lot.
Evacuation procedure
Car evacuation rules:
- Before taking the car to the penalty area, the traffic police officer is required to write a report of detention in two copies. It is signed by the driver of the car, as well as the inspector and two witnesses. If the car owner refuses to sign the protocol, the police officer notes this in the report.
- The protocol contains information: date, time and reason for evacuation. If transportation is carried out in the presence of the owner, he must ensure that the protocol records all valuables that are in the car, as well as describes the malfunctions and defects of the vehicle at the time of detention.
- The doors and hood are sealed.
- After drawing up and signing the act, a road sign is installed and the tow truck is in operation.
- Google+
- LJ
- Blogger
If there are people inside the car, evacuation is strictly prohibited.
Effective area of the vehicle evacuation sign
It is logical that the “Tow truck is working” sign acts in the same way as the identical prohibitory sign. The work of a set of signs can extend from the point of placement to:
• the beginning or end of a settlement; • the first intersection in the direction of travel; • canceling all restrictions with the corresponding “end of all restrictions” sign; • the immediate distance indicated in the additional plate.
New sections of the route are always equipped with new road signs. The coverage area of the “Vehicle Evacuation” sign works only on the side of the road on which it is installed.
When they evacuate without a sign
Drivers need to take into account that sometimes it is possible to evacuate without a sign and a tow truck is working .
According to the law, it is impossible to take a car to an impound lot if there is no appropriate sign. In this case, the shipment of the vehicle is considered to have been carried out with violations.
- Google+
- LJ
- Blogger
If parking rules have been violated, this gives the right to tow a car without a sign.
What does a tow truck sign look like?
In the traffic rules, the designation “A tow truck is working” is the 8th paragraph and the 24th subparagraph, developed earlier and supplemented in 2013.
Image: black stylized design on a white reflective background, with a black, rounded edges frame. The plate is made of galvanized iron, in three standard sizes. The picture shows the back of a tow truck with a low lift on the right side. Symbolizes the car and the forced means of moving it and placing it in the impound lot. A car is loaded onto the front of the winch, located on a horizontal line (road symbol).
If there are deviations from standards
The correct image must comply with GOST 52290-2004. If your car was taken under a tow truck sign that does not comply with GOST, the magistrate’s court will take your side when appealing the actions of the road service. Always take several photos of the sign and the area to leave yourself the opportunity to go to court and invalidate the order to seize the car.
Other cases
From a legal point of view, it is impossible to evacuate a vehicle without visible violations of stopping or parking rules.
However, there are cases of vehicles being evacuated during some cultural events, when traffic is restricted on a certain section of the road or in certain areas. In this case, vehicles that interfere with public events are evacuated.
The basis for carrying out these measures is a resolution of the relevant municipal official, and this resolution provides for the organization of measures to restrict traffic.
In practice, this should be manifested in the organization of temporary road signs, the requirements of which are mandatory for road users. Therefore, if you follow the letter of the law, then in pursuance of local regulations, appropriate road signs must be installed, for failure to comply with which vehicles may be towed.
What principle does car evacuation work on?
Car evacuation actions are carried out according to the established procedure.
1. The tow truck must be accompanied by a traffic police officer. The car seizure report must be drawn up in two copies. 2. Information reflected in the protocol: reason for evacuation, date, time, data of the traffic police officer, information about the car, driver and owner (if the driver is not the owner). Information about the institution and the details of the executor making the decision to detain the car are also indicated. 3. If the car owner is nearby, he can also sign the protocol or refuse to sign and add his objections and explanations to the act. All this is noted in the act. The car owner may require that all valuables in the car and any current problems with the car be indicated in the protocol. A video recording may be attached to the protocol. 4. If the car owner is not present, two witnesses are brought in to sign the act. 5. The doors and hood are sealed. 6. After drawing up and signing the document, evacuation actions begin immediately. The car is transferred to the platform and delivered to the impound lot.
When a car is to be towed without a sign installed
In the absence of a sign, according to Art. 12.19 (parts No. 3-4) and Article 27.13 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Law on the evacuation of vehicles), a car can also be detained and delivered by a tow truck to the impound lot in cases where the driver violated other parking rules and left the car:
- in places intended for disabled people;
- on sidewalks;
- in the area of public transport stops;
- on railway and tram tracks;
- in the middle of the tunnel;
- on a second or more lane of the roadway;
- at public transport stops or taxi stands.
The tow truck will also start working if the driver left the car in an authorized place, but creates a danger or blocks the path for other vehicles and road users.
What does the law say about car evacuation?
In the Russian Federation, the validity of the “Tow Truck” sign number 8.24 is legally regulated by Art. 12.16 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (part No. 4). Clarifying amendments were made to the Code of Administrative Offenses in 2015, and since then corresponding fines for violations have appeared. From that moment on, many undisciplined drivers became convinced that it was better not to ignore the sign’s instructions, otherwise they would have to answer for the offense not only financially, but also by losing time when towing the car. Only fines for parking where there is a ban amount to 1000-5000 rubles, plus payment for car parking and the work of the towing service. In large cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg), the amount of fines is even higher.
Where to look for a car if it was taken by a tow truck
- If the vehicle is not found on site, the first action will be to contact the traffic police, where you will be informed where the impound lot and the duty station are located, issuing permission to pick up the car.
- You can also use telephone numbers 112 and 02 and contact the operational duty officer of the emergency services. You will be transferred to the district duty station.
- In the capital and St. Petersburg there is a unified reference system for car evacuation, where you can get information: - Moscow; - Saint Petersburg.
Don't take it away
So, what must a driver violate in order for his car to be sent to the impound lot? Who has the right to carry out this procedure? How to return a car from imprisonment and where to file a claim if the car was taken away illegally?
Unfortunately, there are too many documents on this topic. But the driver needs to focus on one thing - the main one. These are traffic rules that have acquired government status over the last 20 years and are approved by government decree.
But security measures for an administrative offense are established by another document: the Code of Administrative Offences.
The driver always has the danger of finding himself in an unpleasant situation, not even because he ignores the rules, but because he is not warned in advance about a possible change in traffic organization. And if we consider that in some cities the assessment of the commission of offenses is left to the local authorities, and not even to the authorities, but to commercial firms, then the outcome is not difficult to predict.
But let's start with who and for what can impose such a measure as detaining a vehicle.
1.
Parking under a “No Stopping” sign is a serious violation of the rules. A vehicle may be towed from under this sign. But only if under this sign there is a sign warning that violating the rules may result in evacuation.
In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the evacuation of cars parked on the road under “No Stopping” signs can sometimes be arranged by specially authorized people not related to the traffic police. But their area of activity is the road, with signs prohibiting parking and parking. Cars parked on the sidewalks can only be removed if a traffic police officer has issued a report. Everyone else doesn't have the right to do this.
2.
Not so long ago, the Code of Administrative Offenses introduced a formulation that the person who arranges the evacuation must be present until the moment the tow truck moves off and heads to the place where the car is stored.
Unfortunately, in practice, these officials quickly run from one car to another, leaving the driver without a car. While he was running and looking for the person responsible, the car had already been taken away. This may become a claim for litigation: the driver was on site, but there was no one on site who made a decision on the car. Hence the next rule:
3.
If the one who arranges the evacuation disappears from the scene of the incident, the car owner can immediately contact the police. They are going to illegally take his car away from the parking lot in an unknown direction.
4.
Knowledge of traffic rules will not always help. The fact is that local authorities change signs as God pleases. As a result, when you park your car where it was allowed in the morning, you may see an empty space in the evening. After all, it was at this place that the “No Stopping” sign was installed. The cement had not yet dried, but the car had already been towed away.
5.
According to the Road Safety Law, local authorities are required to warn drivers about changes in traffic management 20 days in advance. However, they are given some freedom in the implementation of this law. For example, information that traffic will change on this section of the road can be published on the municipality's website or in the local press as an announcement. But often no one bothers to inform drivers who drive along their usual route about this.
Meanwhile, the road safety law stipulates that in such cases local authorities must set up stands. Where are they? Even in Moscow they are not visible, but the possibility of driving along a one-way street or just under a brick sign is very high. And then you will have to prove that you did not see the sign that suddenly appeared. The RG correspondent is ready to provide specific addresses.
6.
The Road Safety Act also requires local authorities to provide notice of changes in traffic arrangements 20 days before signs or markings are installed. But signs and markings often appear on the roads like mushrooms after rain.
To prove your innocence, you will need to request a traffic plan for that particular day. But this will not save you from a fine. Since you didn’t notice the sign, that’s your problem. You broke the rules. But if you can defend that these signs were installed illegally or in violation of the requirements, then perhaps the court will find that you did not commit a violation.
7.
In accordance with the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, tow trucks have the right to pick up cars from places intended for parking for disabled people. True, only traffic police officers can register arrests at these places.
To park in these spaces, the vehicle must have a “Disabled Driver” sign. Plus the car must be registered with the Department of Transport. Thus, out-of-town disabled cars parked in the capital's parking lots for disabled people may end up in impound lots. Why don't the federal authorities create a unified database of disabled people? This would solve issues not only with parking, but also with tickets for electric trains, trains and other transport.
Regarding disabled people, there are a few more subtleties: for example, the permit is valid for exactly as long as the disability is established. As for large families, their drivers will have to renew their free parking permit every year.
8.
The traffic rules have new information signs that indicate how to park the car in the parking lot: with the front bumper to the sidewalk, along the curb or in a herringbone pattern. So, if your car is not parked as indicated on the sign, no one has the right to tow it. Violation of the requirements of these signs does not apply to the point that provides for the detention of vehicles.
By the way
If you don't find your car where you left it, then you'll have to call and find out where it might have gone.
Employees of evacuation services do not always inform on time about the evacuation of a car, as well as where they are taking it. If this service does not have information about your car, you must urgently call “02” and report it stolen.
Your car may be found in an impound lot, but that's not your problem.
If your car was taken away illegally (there was no sign “No Stopping”, or the sign contradicted the markings, or you parked the car when there was no sign, but took it away from under an unexpectedly placed sign, or the combination of signs on the pole is so contradictory that you do not were able to understand what was meant) it is worth recording all the necessary information in a photo or video, and then appealing the decision.
