Statewide study commission considers proposing new regulations for towing operators.

Date published: 9/6/2005

By GEORGE WHITEHURST

Tow-truck drivers in Virginia may soon have to be approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles and accept credit-card payments.

Those are two recommendations being considered by a study commission looking at revamping the state laws that govern towing operations.

State Sen. Jay O'Brien, R-Fairfax, who introduced legislation this year to set up the study commission, said recently he hopes the panel will vote on a slate of recommendations by mid-November.

The Virginia General Assembly would then have to decide whether to turn those recommendations into law.

O'Brien especially is keen for the DMV to require those obtaining towing licenses to meet higher standards.

"My position, which I hope is shared by most of the members, is that DMV will be the organization that will endorse all drivers and carriers on their licenses," he said. "Right now, tow operators are not registered with the state in any way."

O'Brien notes, for example, that limousine drivers must have their licenses endorsed by the DMV. He'd like a similar arrangement for towing operators.

Jim Dowell, president of the Virginia Association of Towing the Recovery Operators, said he supports the idea of licensing for tow companies.

"I feel our association is all for that--for the towing companies to be licensed," he said. "We also feel like each towing driver should have a picture ID identifying himself and the company he's employed with. That way, we feel, if a customer has a complaint, they can complain more on a driver than on a company. We're all for patrolling our own and trying to reduce problems."

O'Brien also wants Virginia to mandate that tow operators accept credit card payments. He and other lawmakers says constituents have complained to them that when they lack the cash to retrieve a car after a towing, it forces them to pay costly vehicle storage fees.

"It's very easy for the tow operator to attach the swipe machine to their phones," O'Brien said.

Dowell suggested that most towing operators are willing to accept credit cards for calls from stranded motorists. He worries, however, that a credit card isn't a sure thing when offered by someone charged with drunken driving or other criminal activity.

"We need guaranteed payments," he said.

Under O'Brien's proposal, operators who balk at accepting credit cards would have to maintain an automatic teller machine on their premises.

Date published: 9/6/2005