(A) It shall be unlawful for the owner or agent of any wrecker or towing service to respond to the place of an accident or mechanical failure unless the owner or agent is a witness and/or in the position to save a life or prevent further bodily injury or called by the vehicle owner or driver or law enforcement officer in charge of the accident or failure.
(B) It shall be unlawful for the owner or agent of any wrecker or towing service to drive along or park on any street, bridge, or highway soliciting wrecker or towing service. In the event of an accident or mechanical breakdown, the operator of the automobile or vehicle shall be allowed to call a wrecker or towing service of his or her choice, provided, the wrecker or towing service meets the requirements of this section. The name, address, and license number of any vehicle owner that requests wrecker or towing service shall be recorded by the investigating officer.
(C) It shall be unlawful for any county employee or law enforcement officer to solicit business for any wrecker or towing service.
(D) All wrecker services under law enforcement requested towing shall be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and be required to keep proper records of vehicles, license numbers, date, time, and location from which the vehicle was towed, with name of person authorizing the towing. Each wrecker service will be required to remove all debris at the location from which the vehicle was towed. All wrecker and storage charges shall be reasonable and proof of any unreasonable charges shall be grounds for termination of law enforcement towing service.
(E) The Sheriff's Department or Highway Patrol shall have prepared an alphabetical list of all firms meeting the requirements of this section for law enforcement requested towing which shall be used by the dispatcher for rotation of calls in order. Additions to the list shall be inserted alphabetically. Calls for heavy duty wreckers shall be rotated among those firms having heavy duty equipment without regard to the normal rotation for regular calls. Copies of the dispatcher's list for the previous month will, for a nominal cost, be made available to the public upon written request within 10 days.
(F) This section regulating wrecker and towing services shall become effective 30 days after adoption.
(Ord. passed 7-11-1975) Penalty, see § 95.99