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The IBX Tow and Recovery truck sits outside of their headquarters on East Park Drive. (Katie Klann | Photo Editor)

Towing a 'rite of passage' for Athenians

Allie Vent was frustrated last summer when she parked in a 24-hour parking spot on Mill Street for 32 hours.

Vent, an Ohio University graduate student studying reading education, knew she had parked there for too long, but the process of getting her car back was, she says, incredibly tedious.

“It was really stressful,” she said. “I didn’t know how to handle the situation because it never happened to me before, nor do I want it to happen again.”

A House Bill that passed last month aims to make that experience a little easier in Athens and around the state.

H.B. 382 includes a provision that would create an “on call” period for truck drivers, meaning that they will have to be available to release a vehicle within three hours of receiving a call from a towed motorist. Additional provisions would extend consumer protections to motorists whose cars are towed under the command of law enforcement officers.

Earlier versions of the bill were too ambitious, said Rep. Heather Bishoff, D-Blacklick, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, so legislators only brought back provisions that made “real-life sense.”

Some of those regulations for police-enforced tows, which can take place on public property, include requiring tow truck operators to accept credit cards and instituting fees established by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio — which can’t exceed maximum rates currently in place — over the next five years.

New maximum fees can kick in for five-year periods after that. Current law caps towing fees at $90 and storage fees at $12 per day.

H.B. 382 also includes those standards for towing in private tow-away zones.

Also under the bill, warning signs in private tow-away zones must include a description of motorists authorized to park, the phone number and address of storage locations where towed cars can be picked up, among other standards.

Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, said those regulations offer “vastly greater consumer protection” than current law, which has given tow truck drivers “awesome power” over motorists.

The bill has seen a few makeovers since it was introduced late last year, and Bishoff said those changes reflect the interests of tow truck operators, the utilities commission and motorists.

Eric Gryszka of IBX Towing and Recovery, 26 E. Park Dr., said he realizes that people can be unnerved when they come to retrieve their towed vehicle.

“Initially people are upset,” Gryszka said. “Once they realize they did something wrong, they are generally all right. I pride myself on being personable and understanding.”

He said, on average, the company tows three cars a week.

Gryszka said most cars he tows are from Mill and North Lancaster streets. Occasionally, cars are abandoned, but most cars are retrieved by their owners.

Bill Weaver of Auto Tech Service Center, 2079 E State St., said the average amount of cars he tows per week depends on what events are happening in town.

“Other than that, people park where they are supposed to,” Weaver said.

If your car is towed by either company, you could pay $90 for the towing and $12 for storage.

Both Weaver and Gryszka said that the bill didn’t seem to impact them because their rates wouldn’t have to change.

But Gryszka said he understands that towing in Athens is understanding attitude may come from the fact he has also been in the same situation.

“When I first moved to Athens, I got towed,” he said. “It’s like a rite of passage.”

sh335311@ohiou.edu

@SamuelHHoward

 

hh337106@ohiou.edu

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