a. 1. The commissioner shall establish and administer a program to be known as the "directed accident response program" for the purpose of removing vehicles that have been involved in a vehicular accident and which cannot be safely driven under their own power. The commissioner may by rule prescribe which vehicles involved in vehicular accidents cannot be safely driven under this own power.
2. The commissioner, after consultation with the police commissioner, shall divide the city into zones and shall create for each zone a list in random order of persons licensed to engage in towing who have been approved by the commissioner for participation in the directed accident response program. At any time subsequent to the initial establishment of zones and lists, the commissioner may, after consultation with the police commissioner, modify the zones and reformulate the lists to ensure sufficient towing services throughout the city. Where more than one towing company has been placed on a list of towing companies authorized to remove vehicles in a particular zone, the police department shall summon towing companies from such list on a rotating basis. Any towing company approved for participation in such program after such lists are initially established shall be placed on any such list at the point immediately preceding the last towing company summoned by the police department pursuant to this section. Such lists shall be available at the department for public inspection.
3. The commissioner shall set forth by rules such criteria for participation in the program as he or she deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. Such criteria shall include but not be limited to, possession of a valid, current license to engage in towing and compliance with this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, ability to respond within a specified period of time to police department calls for towing, ability to make service available on a twenty-four hour basis or on such limited basis as the commissioner shall prescribe, maintenance of specified business hours for redemption of vehicles and maintenance of a specified minimum number of tow trucks and other equipment appropriate for towing, including at least one flat-bed truck suitable for removing accident vehicles. All participants in the program shall maintain a business premises that is under the exclusive control of the participant, is not used by any other towing company and is the premises listed on such participant's license to engage in towing. Such premises shall consist of a location that is open to the public, where towing company personnel are employed, calls requesting towing service are received and towers are dispatched, and where all records required by this subchapter or any rules promulgated thereunder are maintained.
4. All persons approved by the commissioner for participation in the directed accident response program, in addition to meeting the requirements of paragraph three of this subdivision and any rule promulgated pursuant to this section, shall (i) have been licensed pursuant to this subchapter for a period of not less than one year; (ii) have not had such license revoked after due notice and opportunity to be heard at any time during the preceding two year period; and (iii) possess a satisfactory record with regard to the operation of a towing business as determined by the commissioner, provided that a determination that such record with regard to the operation of a towing business is unsatisfactory shall be based upon violations of this subchapter.
5. The commissioner may impose a biennial fee for participation in the program in order to defray expenses incurred in its administration.
b. 1. Any vehicle that has been involved in a vehicular accident and which cannot be safely driven under its own power which has not been removed or caused to be removed from the scene of an accident shall be removed by a tow truck of the towing company participating in the directed accident response program when such company has been directed to do so by the police department. No such vehicle, other than a vehicle that has a maximum gross vehicle weight of at least fifteen thousand pounds, may be removed by a tow operator chosen by the person in charge of such vehicle.
2. No tow truck operator shall travel en route to, or respond to, the scene or the reported scene of a vehicular accident, or remove a vehicle therefrom, unless a specific request for the services of such tow truck operator has been received by such operator or the towing company which employs such operator from a person in charge of a vehicle that has a maximum gross vehicle weight of at least fifteen thousand pounds, or unless such tow truck operator has been directed to do so by the police department.
3. No tow truck of the towing company participating in the directed accident response program shall fail to or refuse to remove a vehicle that has been involved in a vehicular accident and which cannot be safely driven under its own power when such company has been directed to do so by the police department. Such vehicle shall be towed to the storage facility of such responding company which meets such specifications as the commissioner shall establish by rule, or to a location within the city designated by the person in charge of such vehicle, provided, however, that placement of such vehicle in such location is not in violation of any other law. A vehicle towed to a storage facility shall at all times be stored within such storage facility while the vehicle is in the custody of the towing company. Such storage facility shall be the premises listed on the license of the towing company responding to the police department's direction to remove a vehicle or the premises approved by the commissioner for use by such towing company. Such premises shall be owned, operated or controlled by such towing company and shall not be used by any other towing company. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude a person in charge of a vehicle that has a maximum gross vehicle weight of at least fifteen thousand pounds from arranging for the removal of such vehicle by a tow operator of such person's choice.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, a towing company that removes an accident vehicle to its storage facility at the place of business which qualifies such company for participation in the directed accident response program or to its auxiliary storage facilities approved by the commissioner, shall not charge for the towing of a vehicle registered at a weight of ten thousand pounds or less a fee exceeding one hundred and twenty-five dollars or more than twenty-five dollars per day for the first three days of storage and twenty-seven dollars for the fourth day, and each day thereafter, of storage for such vehicle. A towing company participating in the directed accident response program shall not charge for the towing of an accident vehicle registered at a weight of more than ten thousand pounds a fee exceeding one hundred and forty dollars or more than twenty-five dollars per day for the first three days of storage and twenty-seven dollars for the fourth day, and each day thereafter, of storage for such vehicle.
5. If a person in charge of the vehicle, other than a police officer, requests that an accident vehicle be towed to any location other than the storage facilities at the place of business which qualified the towing company removing the vehicle for participation in the directed accident response program or to its auxiliary storage facilities approved by the commissioner, the towing company may also, in addition to the charges authorized under paragraph four of this subdivision, charge the mileage fee for additional mileage that is authorized under section 20-509 of this subchapter, for the distance traveled from the accident scene to the location where the vehicle is towed; provided, however, that such distance shall be measured on a route available for commercial vehicles from the accident scene to the location to which such vehicle is towed.
c. The police department shall maintain a record of the number of times each towing company participating in the directed accident response program is summoned to remove vehicles and the number of times each such company responds thereto and such other information as the commissioner may prescribe.
c-1. Every towing company approved to participate in the directed accident response program shall:
(1) have on its premises, and accessible to the public, a telephone and bathroom facilities;
(2) provide reasonable access to an accident vehicle during the hours the towing company is required to be open for the redemption of vehicles, at no charge, to the owner or other person in charge of such vehicle, to any insurance agent or insurance adjuster representing the owner of such vehicle, or to any insurance agent or insurance adjuster who furnishes sufficient written proof confirming that he or she is in fact representing any other person having a claim or defense arising from an accident involving such vehicle;
(3) (a) impose no storage charge exceeding the amount permitted pursuant to section 20-509 of this subchapter during any period before the owner or other person in charge of an accident vehicle has signed an authorization for the repair of such accident vehicle with the repair shop that the towing company has registered pursuant to article twelve-A of the vehicle and traffic law, and (b) where such towing company is registered as a repair shop pursuant to article twelve-A of the vehicle and traffic law, impose no storage charge during the period from which the owner or other person in charge of the accident vehicle has authorized repairs by such registered repair shop to one business day after such registered repair shop has notified such owner or other such person in charge of such vehicle to pick up the repaired vehicle. For purposes of determining whether a towing company has violated subparagraphs (a) or (b) of this paragraph, such towing company shall be deemed to have committed the violation of another entity if such towing company and such other entity share a common officer, director, partner, member, manager, principal or shareholder owning five or more percent of the outstanding stock, such towing company has any direct or indirect interest in such other entity, or such towing company and such other entity share any facilities, equipment, or employees.
(4) provide to each owner or other person in charge of the accident vehicle an informational flyer entitled the "consumer bill of rights regarding towing of accident vehicles and repair shops" setting forth the information that the commissioner deems appropriate about the laws relating to the consumer's rights with respect to the towing and repairing of vehicles. Such bill of rights shall be provided to the owner or other person in charge of the accident vehicle before such vehicle is towed from the accident scene; provided, however, that if the owner or other person in charge of such vehicle is injured and is to be removed to a hospital, such bill of rights shall be furnished by the towing company at the time such owner or such other person in charge of such vehicle first appears at the premises of such towing company.
d. In addition to the obligation to make records available for inspection by the commissioner pursuant to section 20-516 of this subchapter, every towing company participating in the directed accident response program shall, at the request of the police department and for the purpose of the enforcement of any regulations promulgated pursuant to this section, make available for inspection by the police department, during reasonable business hours, any records required to be maintained under this subchapter.
e. After due notice and opportunity to be heard, the commissioner may disqualify any towing company participating in the directed accident response program from continued participation in such program for violation of any of the provisions of this section or any rule promulgated hereunder or upon the occurrence of any one or more of the conditions set forth in this subchapter which constitute grounds for suspension or revocation of any license issued under this subchapter; provided, however, that the commissioner, for good cause, may, prior to giving notice and an opportunity to be heard, temporarily suspend a towing company from participation in the directed accident response program for up to ten days. Notice of such suspension shall be served on the towing company. The commissioner shall provide the towing company with the opportunity for a hearing within ten days after the notification of suspension, after which the commissioner shall forthwith make a determination as to whether such suspension should continue and the length of such suspension and in addition may impose any penalty or sanction authorized by this subchapter.
f. Any person participating in the directed accident response program who violates the provisions of section 20-496 of this subchapter regarding engaging in towing without having first obtained a license for such towing business and a license plate for each tow truck, driving or otherwise operating a tow truck or assisting in any activity for which a license is required under this subchapter without having first obtained a tow truck operator's license, or permitting or authorizing the driving or other operation of a tow truck by a person who does not possess a current, valid tow truck operator's license in violation of subdivision c of section 20-496 of this subchapter shall be removed from the list of approved towing companies and shall be ineligible for participation in the directed accident response program for a period of six months. Any such person who has been found guilty of two such violations within the preceding twenty-four month period shall be removed from the list of approved towing companies and shall be ineligible for participation in the directed accident response program for a period of one year.
g. The commissioner may promulgate such additional rules and regulations as he or she deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.
g-1. 1. After due notice and opportunity to be heard, the commissioner may remove or suspend, for a period not to exceed one year, from continued participation in the directed accident response program any towing company participating in such program which:
(a) was unavailable to respond to a police dispatch or has failed to respond to a police dispatch for removing a vehicle from the scene of an accident on at least three occasions within any six month period;
(b) failed to provide to any person the informational flyer entitled "consumer bill of rights regarding towing of accident vehicles and repair shops" as required pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision c-1 of this section; or
(c) failed to or refused to release any accident vehicle after presentation of sufficient proof of ownership or owner's written authorization, and upon tender of payment of authorized charges in cash or by major credit card as such credit card payment is provided for in section 20-520.1 of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder.
2. The grounds for suspension or removal of a towing company from continued participation in the directed accident response program specified in paragraph one of this subdivision shall be in addition to, and shall not in any way limit, the commissioner's authority to revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a license issued pursuant to this subchapter or to suspend or remove from participation any towing company from the directed accident response program pursuant to any other provisions of this subchapter and any rules promulgated thereunder.
h. Expired.
i. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the removal of a vehicle at any location for which the authorization of the commissioner of transportation or the police commissioner is required to remove a disabled vehicle therefrom.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1987/028, L.L. 1993/115, L.L. 1996/058 and L.L. 1997/094.