Growing up in the North East if you left a disabled car on the side of the road you better remove the plates and all the VIN #s or the popo Would be at your door with a multitude of tickets. It was your responsibility to have the car towed to a safe place. Apparently in NC if you just hang your shirt out of a closed window it's totally cool. I see this all the time. Today I was getting off of 77 (interstate) and at the very end of the very narrow exit ramp a Ford Fusion was disabled basically in the middle of the road with a jacket hanging out the window. This car is at the end of a blind curve. No hazard lights, no flares, no warning triangle thingy. A couple of hours later I drove by again and it was still there. Once night fall comes someone is going to seriously get hurt. What about your states? Can your just leave your car wherever with a shirt for an "IOU" or a "My bad." I have seen cars lay out on the side of the road for days ( never in that dangerous of a location though.)

All the time in central Florida.

quote:

Apparently in NC if you just hang your shirt out of a closed window it's totally cool.

Plastic grocery bags are the device of choice here.

I'm waiting to see a car with a pair of skid marked tighty whiteys hanging out the window.

I understand that sometimes shit happens and you don't get to choose where your car breaks down, but with cheap cell phones to call for help and the relatively low cost of road service (I add a basic one to my insurance policy for $9.50), there really is - or should be - little excuse for leaving a disabled car for any length of time.

I have never understood the white towel/shirt thing out the window. What does it mean? This car is not abandoned, I'll be back at some undetermined time in the future? It must be some kind of universal sign because I see it everywhere. Maybe I missed something in drivers ED?

Lastly where the heck do all these people get the white articles of clothing or towels? Is it something one keeps in their trunk for this type of thing, or do you grab one and toss it in your car when you know your car is a POS?

In NC the law allows removal at the 24 hour mark.

Most agencies extend that. In Charlotte it is 96 hours, I believe. Blocking a roadway is immediate tow, however. It's really a PITA to tow a vehicle unless it's unquestionably a hazard.

I'll keep my opinion to myself on that one.

Here in Henrico County we would, upon seeing an authentic traffic hazard caused by an abandoned vehicle, immediately initiate a tow by the wrecker on the top of our wrecker company list. They would be there within 30 minutes or less, per agreement.

For abandoned vehicles, a bit more communication and paperwork is required and info goes to the call center in case the owner calls us to wonder about their car.

The owner pays for the tow and storage.

If the vehicle is not a hazard and is not on the interstate, it is marked on the radio as being checked, so that other units will not stop and waste time rechecking it. If on the interstate, the state police will mark the vehicle with an orange decal and initiate proceedings.

I see the cloth out the window all the time.

In NC, after 24 hours you've automatically appointed an LEO to remove the vehicle for you.

NC GS 20-161: Stopping on highway prohibited; warning signals; removal of vehicles from public highway.

"When any vehicle is parked or left standing upon the right-of-way of a public highway, including rest areas, for a period of 24 hours or more, the owner shall be deemed to have appointed any investigating law-enforcement officer his agent for the purpose of arranging for the transportation and safe storage of such vehicle and such investigating law-enforcement officer shall be deemed a legal possessor of the motor vehicle within the meaning of that term as it appears in G.S. 44A-2(d)."

Edit: I see Chongo posted while I was putting my response together.

Chongo is right

from an officer's perspective-it's a huge PITA..

and the staff wants to hold everyone's hand and sing kum-by-ya and feel good about not adding to someone's bad day by towing their POS...

in my city it's 7 days..unless the car is in the roadway (inside the fog line)

if it's in the road (on the pavement) the sgts want you to turn on your lights, have 911 try and see if the owner has a phone number and can they call him to come get the pos... or send an officer across town to find said owner's pos...and come get it out of the road

They will wait 30 minutes snarfling up traffic for the rest of the working stiffs to get detoured or delayed to make someone feel good about the city helping them out-INSTEAD of towing the pos off to the wrecker yard and let that tow truck guy charge they owner $200....

I don't know about you, but when I'm out and about-I've got shit to do and places to go, get the F out of the left lane and if your shit breaks down call a tow truck you insufferable ass...but that's just me

This is one of my pet peeves. I saw too many accidents from idiots "leaving" their car on the shoulder of the HWY when I was a paramedic.

The Maryland State Police (and other LEAs with primary jurisdiction on the highways) are actually quite vigilant here about stopping to tag abandoned vehicles. Once that flourescent card is hanging from whatever they can find to attach it to, it will be gone in a day or two. I believe they're fair game for any wrecker that happens to be driving by at some point.

But yes, you see the t-shirt (or whatever) around here all the time and I have no idea what it's supposed to indicate.

-Rob

Common practice in the Seattle area when it snows. Stunning really. All those high dollar SUVs abandoned at the first dusting of snow.

We also have the "Can you take me to a gas station? My car ran out of gas and I called 911 and they said you would help me get gas."

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
In NC the law allows removal at the 24 hour mark.

Most agencies extend that. In Charlotte it is 96 hours, I believe. Blocking a roadway is immediate tow, however. It's really a PITA to tow a vehicle unless it's unquestionably a hazard.

I'll keep my opinion to myself on that one.

The exact spot

That's SHP territory in charlotte. City has jurisdiction, but isn't doing anything there unless requested by the troopers.

Usually the troopers are on top of that. They have an ENTIRELY different playbook.

Here Park it where ever you want.
If in a spot that is not a hazard it will be marked and towed in 24 hours and given a $15 parking ticket and you pay the tow and storage.
If you don't come and get it in a certain amount of time a letter is sent to the registered address if it is not picked up after a certain time period from the letter being sent the tow company can take possession of it and do as they please as compensation for the tow and storage.

We waste no time towing around here rarely will a car sit some place out of the ordinary for much longer than a day or so.
If left on private property the tow company will come and tow it away free of charge to the property owner as long as they sign an affidavit it is not theirs.

The last disabling (unable to drive it away) breakdown I had was circa 1992.

Arizona will tag the owner $500-$600 depending on where the vehicle is abandoned.

Towing and impound fees has it get expensive relatively quickly.

Growing up in a large metropolitan area before cell phones, I recall vehicles being completely stripped of all usable parts within the hour. A news crew with night vision equipment filmed crews on the Dan Ryan dismantling vehicles faster than you would believe.

Where I now live on I-10 vehicles often sit for days and no one seems to move them. They are usually in the Emergency lane, but still pose a hazard for those who use that lane as an additional passing lane. I am guessing this is a regional issue.