Why Do Cars Get Impounded?
5 min read
Impounding of your car could be a real nightmare! By the time you look around for your vehicle, chances are you have been booked for illegal parking and your vehicle towed away. It is important to understand that an impounding always takes place in the most unfavorable conditions like an accident, illegal parking, over speeding, expired registration, or any other such situations.
One needs to go through a great deal of ordeal to recover the vehicle. When your vehicle is impounded, the first thing that one needs to do is to check online for an impound company near me to help locate your vehicle. The rest of the process boils down to establishing your identity across several grounds for faster release of the car. Here’s a look at some of the common reasons for cars getting impounded and what all you can do about it.
Understanding why Vehicles are Impounded
Every single vehicle, when towed, is placed in impound yards safely to be either returned to the rightful owner, for auction, for recycling or complete demolition. Both the police and privately operating agencies can impound a vehicle if they find it violating the law. Subsequently, they impound or seize the vehicle and transfer the same safely to their holding yard. It is being kept in the same place until the rightful owner pays the applicable charges and takes it back.
It’s not unnatural for someone to come back to the parking place and find their car missing. The first thought that runs through one’s mind is that of the vehicle being stolen. While one can’t rule out the possibility, always choose to check with the local parking authority. Many times, DMV offices also carry a copy of impound records. Alternately, one can also check online for an “impound company near me.” Find the number for the place and make a call citing the license plate number and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). These are a couple of immediate information that the impounding agency will need to help trace your vehicle fast. If you are nearby to the impound yard, it might be a good idea to pay a visit and talk to the authorities.
Before one attempts to recover the vehicle, it is necessary to understand why it got impounded by the authorities. The most common reasons are listed below:
Obstructing entrances or walkways– Your vehicle, if parked in a manner that obstructs a driveway or business place entrance, it is sure to be impounded. In such cases, one will need to pay a fine up front to recover the vehicle from the holding yard.
Illegal parking – Vehicles, when parked in tight places blocking fire hydrants or in handicapped parking zones or spots reserved for ambulances without a legal permit, can be impounded at once without any notice or authorization.
Expired registration–If the DMV or the police find you driving a vehicle with an expired registration, they will have it towed right away without informing you. Unless you can provide the proof of registration renewal, your car will stay impounded.
Among other significant reasons for impounding, include the following:
- Over speeding
- Violation of major traffic laws
- Driving with a suspended license
- Drunken driving
- Accidents and collisions
- Uninsured Cars
- Vehicle exposing potential hazard for public health
- Driving without a license
- Driving a stolen vehicle
How a Private Property Impound Towing Company Can Help Recover Your Vehicle?
An impound towing company singularly doesn’t have any authority to bring your car to the holding yard. Usually, impound towing companies act upon the request of the authorities to impound a specific vehicle instead of violating vehicle code sections.
In essence, when your vehicle gets impounded, you are rest assured that it has been towed away for good, and safely locked away in the holding yard. In other words, it facilitates a car owner to locate and recover their vehicle quickly, compared to when it’s being stolen or abandoned for no good. All approved impound towing companies are generally open through convenient hours of day and night for the owner to recover his vehicle.
If your car was towed away without your consent, chances are you will be able to locate it by running an online search for an “impound company near me.” Upon confirming your vehicle being impounded by the towing company, you will need to act fast. The longer your car stays in the impound lot, the higher will be the release charges levied. Hence, always go to the impound lot prepared. The following checklist should help you settle the affair with as little frustration as possible:
- Ask for the opening and closing time of the impound lot.
- Find out the exact amount you owe to the towing company.
- Find out the form of payments they accept (cash, credit or check)
- Ask upfront for all the paperwork required to redeem your vehicle, like driver’s license, proof of insurance, VIN, etc.
- Get the fax number for the impound lot, just in case you need to fax over any document like your proof of insurance, direct from your Insurance Provider.
Checking for Illegal Impounding
In case you feel you have been a victim of unlawful impounding with your vehicle, hire a lawyer to help you out. A majority of car owners running an online search for an “impound company near me” end up receiving collection letters when claiming ownership of a particular vehicle. When at the right location, he will need to establish his identity on several grounds before the vehicle can be released. If you are not in a position to recover the car on your own, you might have to draft a letter of authorization mandatorily to have it collected on your behalf.
Wrap Up
When looking to recover an impounded vehicle, patience is the keyword. Beginning with an online search for “impound company near me,” the process involves long queues, high charges and the need to establish one’s identity on several grounds, which can be a tad frustrating. However, with a reliable impound towing company in the picture, one doesn’t have to panic or lose their peace of mind.
