Chicago DUI Attorney Comments on the High Price of Having a Car Towed

This Chicago DUI attorney has posted here about the cost of towing.  Just last week she found herself in a tow truck.  Thankfully, it wasn’t for any illegal parking just a stubborn vehicle that felt like sleeping on the job.

Still, did you know how many different scenarios there are that involve getting your vehicle towed?

January 24, Elgin, IL:

 

There used to be four offenses in Elgin that would cost you $500 on top of the cost of the actual tow and impounding of your vehicle. The city council will vote Wednesday on adding eight to the list.

A new Illinois law that went into effect Jan. 1 outlines the violations for which municipalities could assign administrative towing fees. Elgin no longer can tow a vehicle for a loud music violation — but it still plans to impose a $500 fine — and it cannot tow when a driver’s license is suspended for unpaid citations or failure to comply with emissions testing.

This is driven more by the state making its change,” Theriault said. “Legal is adapting to it, and we’re next in line to adapt to the new ordinance.”

The noise violation was the first to come with an administrative towing fee in Elgin. It started at $250 but was doubled in October 2009 when three new offenses were added: driving without a license, driving with a suspended or revoked license and driving under the influence.

Theriault said there are still a lot of what-ifs in deciding how to enforce DUI. For example, if a police officer saw someone driving a car and then stopped him after he left the vehicle for something like possession of marijuana, should the car be towed? What if it is a passenger of the vehicle holding drugs during a traffic stop?

Mayor David Kaptain, a supporter of such expansion for years, said the state law will give cities a unified approach in implementing administrative tows and could provide consistency from one place to another — if municipalities expand their own ordinances like Elgin.

Do you think other municipalities will help Elgin’s desired unified approach to towing?