vehicle impound question

[the_rickster]

if an officer impounds your vehicle for 7 days, when does the term start and when does it end? say the vehicle is impounded on a sunday afternoon.

[vafanculo]

You can probably pick up your car tomorrow afternoon
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[Vale46Rossi]

Lol pwned.


But it should say on your ticket

[ninjatune]

Usually starts at the time the vehicle stop was conducted

[jeremy888]

it should say on the ticket, but you must pay all fees before getting your vehicle

[Quicksilver]

the impound will start at 12:01 AM Monday. You will be able to pick it up next Sunday.

Bring with you: Order of release (get it at Gov't agent i.e. driver licensing center) driver's license and towing and storage fees.

Towing charges are as follows:

78.89 up to 6KM
storage 19.55/ day inside the GVRD, Squamish, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission and Victoria
16.10/ day outside of those areas.

+ tax

PS I drive a tow truck

[illicitstylz]

what's the towing rate after 6km?

[sho_bc]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

the impound will start at 12:01 AM Monday. You will be able to pick it up next Sunday.

Correct. It is supposed to be 7 clear days.

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by the_rickster

if an officer impounds your vehicle for 7 days, when does the term start and when does it end? say the vehicle is impounded on a sunday afternoon.

I'm assuming you had the car impounded for excessive speed and if so, I would suggest you start the process to contest the ticket as soon as possible. This was brought in primarily to ease the backlog in the courts. You had your car taken without even being convicted for the offense.

[xilley]

if you can give them enough info on what you need the car for, ex: work etc
then you may be able to get it back sooner

if you get impounded on monday, it dont start till tuesday, and then it goes one week till the next tuesday

busters cost 20 a day and they even charge you on the day it gets impounded so its 8 days impound fee, as for towing, mine costed 80 something dollars from hastings playland area to their impound lot

[Quicksilver]

6.1 km - 16 km add per km $2.99
16.1 to 32 $2.47
32.1 and over $2.19

[the_rickster]

thanks for the help guys. yes i was pulled for excessive speed, on the highway at red grave (near golden, bc). i was accused of going 54 over the limit, down a huge hill while the officer was coming up the hill. he immediately told me that he was going to impound the vehicle. it shocked me.

the impound time wasn't 100% clarified by an agent until i phoned the superintendant's office (it doesnt clearly state anything on the impound notice or the ticket), where he confirmed what quicksilver said. starts at 12:01am (the next day, essentially) and ends at 12:00am 7 days later, so it ends up being impounded for 7 complete days. on the back of the impound notice it says "7 full days" but that leaves a lot open to interpretation and i actually had to call to get an official answer.

in this case my car was seized on sunday afternoon and eligible for release at the stroke of midnight on sunday/monday. (if you dont show up right at midnight, which i did, it will be 9 days of impound fees). i am definitely going to contest the ticket.

quicksilver, is there a regulation for what tow companies can charge?

i paid $78.89 for a hook up and tow, $82.56 for km (38), $16.10 per day and two "call out fees" $60 & $90 for a total of $511.11. I can understand that they dont want to have a person manning the yard 24/7, but to have to pay to access your vehicle seems kinda odd to me (the first $60 was to put some work related stuff in my truck so i didnt have to transport it back to golden the night of my release) and the $90 was to get someone to release my truck at midnight as opposed to waiting til they opened at 9am.

the ticket was $483 (which is one of the reasons why im contesting... the website says that 40 km over the limit is excessive but the fine from 40-59km/hr is $438, and 60+ is $483. the officer told me i was going 54 over.

according to the back side of the ticket and the on the icbc website, impounds 7 days or less can't be disputed (i guess the process takes too long), but it still ended up costing me over $1100, not including the aforementioned tow charges.

i was talking to someone in golden while i was waiting for midnight to strike, and he told me the cops there have impounded over 300 cars since the new law came in. so my advice is to watch the fuck out when approaching that city.

[Dragon-88]

Or you could do the limit.. Wost case +10-20km/h

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by Dragon-88

Or you could do the limit..

..which have been proven by government-funded reviews to be too set too low.

[Quicksilver]

yes, there are regulations as to what the tow companies can charge...the rates were what I posted for you. After hours call out fees are at the discretion of the tow company. We charge $40 to release a vehicle outside of business hours (I have to sleep some times). Since our lot is manned 24/7 essentially, you wouldn't have been charged to come in to remove items from your vehicle if it was at a reasonable time i.e. right after the vehicle was impounded, or the next morning/afternoon. I don't want to put down the other company, since I know who it was...let's just say it's typical.

Also, business hours are regulated as well, and they are 8 am to 4 pm monday through friday.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by the_rickster

the ticket was $483 (which is one of the reasons why im contesting... the website says that 40 km over the limit is excessive but the fine from 40-59km/hr is $438, and 60+ is $483. the officer told me i was going 54 over.

So after $1100+ in fines and fees, you're disputing a difference of a whole $45???

i was talking to someone in golden while i was waiting for midnight to strike, and he told me the cops there have impounded over 300 cars since the new law came in. so my advice is to watch the fuck out when approaching that city.

I'd believe it. There are some nice long, wide, fairly straight stretches of highway around there, especially between Golden and Rogers Pass... it can sure be tempting to wind it out. My buddy and I drove a 280ZX to Winterpeg once, we left Burnaby at 6pm, stopped for gas at Rogers Pass at midnight...

[the_rickster]

Originally Posted by Soundy

So after $1100+ in fines and fees, you're disputing a difference of a whole $45???

no, the $1100 is not counting the fines or the fees. that number comes from renting a uhaul to get myself and my four garment bags full of samples to calgary to meet my sales manager who was flying in that evening, and then renting a minivan to complete my planned business trip. and yes, if i get overcharged on a violation, i am going to dispute it. paying a $483 fine means I am admitting to driving 60+km/hr over the limit, which i certainly was not. who the hell wouldn't???

the entire expense of this unfortunate mistake was over $2100. trust me, i'm not sitting here thinking i've done nothing wrong... i dont think i went past 110km/hr on the entire rest of the trip, and I have a hard time believing that I was actually going 155km/hr, that seems incredibly fast considering the vehicle and the conditions... but i think that the circumstances where a little questionable and the total punishment was way too harsh. according to the superintendant of motor vehicles office, accused offenders are entitled to dispute fines in court citing financial hardship, and I believe i qualify for that argument.

quicksilver, thanks for your expertise. its actually interesting, because the rcmp employs two tow companies in that area, and they alternate week to week as to who gets the "business" and apparently it wasn't this company's week to accept calls from the rcmp dispatch. i wonder if the other company found out?? the driver said they could be suspended for taking the call. the tow yard in golden is open 9am-5pm monday to friday... i dropped off my bags early saturday evening and got charged $60 (even though when i got there, a guy was already there for another call), then another $90 for picking up my truck at midnight on sunday/monday. this lot was not patrolled at all.

[Quicksilver]

we share the rotation here as well. If the other company is not available on their week when the RCMP calls (which happens from time to time), then RCMP phones me. The only way to get suspended is if you "magically" show up at an RCMP call by listening to the scanner. If dispatch calls you, then you show up. No questions asked. It's the RCMP that would suspend them, and if the RCMP called them, then how could they get suspended? The driver you got sounds like a noob.

As far as patrols go, they aren't necessary usually. There are also guidelines set out as to how the impound yard has to be set up. ICBC regulates this for their tows. Generally the yard is secure enough to warrant leaving it unattended. However, if things start to go missing from vehicles that are impounded, then the tow company risks losing the ICBC contract as well as the RCMP rotation. I've caught people breaking into the other tow company's yard here in town. They leave theirs unattended for days at a time, whereas, unless I'm on a call, or my boss is on a call, there is someone here pretty much all the time.

Also, contrary to popular belief, MOST tow truck driver's don't get their jollies from impounding vehicles. I know I don't. I don't like doing illegal parking tows, I don't enjoy doing impounds, I would much rather be towing a broken down vehicle, or getting someone's keys out, changing their tire, or doing a jump start or something. I much prefer to help people out than to ruin their day. That being said, I would MUCH rather impound a drunk driver's vehicle, or an excessive speeder than scrape up the peices off the highway. (even though I get paid a lot more money to respond to and clean up at an accident). It's not about the money, I've seen enough carnage to last a thousand lifetimes.

Remember, slow down and move over.
It's the law.

[Quicksilver]

oh, I forgot to mention.

Were the after hours call out fees posted anywhere at the tow yard?

If not, then the extra charges were illegal.

[Nicotine]

Monday
sorry to hear about your car bro.

[sho_bc]

Originally Posted by the_rickster

according to the superintendant of motor vehicles office, accused offenders are entitled to dispute fines in court citing financial hardship, and I believe i qualify for that argument.

With charges such as speeding/excessive speed, there is a minimum fine amount that the JJP can not go lower than. For speeding tickets between 1-40km/hr over the limit, the lowest fine amount is $138. For excessive speeding tickets, the lowest fine amount is $368, which is the amount that should have been written on the ticket for 54km/hr over the limit.

[the_rickster]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

oh, I forgot to mention.

Were the after hours call out fees posted anywhere at the tow yard?

If not, then the extra charges were illegal.

i didnt see them posted anywhere, but i wasnt exactly looking.

[skidmark]

Originally Posted by sebberry

..which have been proven by government-funded reviews to be too set too low.

Post links to verify please...

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by skidmark

Post links to verify please...

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications...iew_Report.pdf

[Soundy]

From a quick skim, that document addresses specific sections of highway... nothing in there is an all-encompassing statement that ALL speed limits in BC are too low. Nothing is "proven".