Nevada tow truck rules to change

Monday, April 17, 2000 | 11:19 a.m.

State regulators who oversee limousines, buses, moving vans and some taxicabs in Nevada turned their attention to tow truck rules Friday.

The Transportation Services Authority completed a line-by-line review of towing regulations with industry professionals and unveiled a proposed new subsection of the statute the agency hopes will protect businesspeople as well as consumers on the issue of "cruising."

Regulations prohibit tow truck operators from driving streets or highways or through parking lots searching for the opportunity to tow a vehicle. The state statute says service must be specifically requested and a tow truck dispatched on each occasion.

That means a tow-truck operator can't assist broken-down motorists unless they specifically called the towing company.

TSA Chairman Paul Christensen said the statute seems to conflict with "good Samaritan" clauses in motor vehicle operation statutes.

Cruising rules were established to prevent tow company competitors from stealing business away from companies that had already dispatched vehicles to assist stranded motorists.

Commissioner Bruce Breslow, who is leading the effort to update tow truck rules for the TSA, hopes to provide help for stranded motorists while preventing thefts of customers.

Under the regulation prohibiting acts of solicitation of business, a proposed subsection reads, "An operator of a tow car may stop to provide towing services to a motorist in distress if the driver is physically hailed by the motorist. The motorist must sign a waiver acknowledging that he/she has not already arranged for or called for tow service."

The proposed distressed motorist clause is likely to be the most controversial addition to the regulations because some operators believe it may open the door to regulators having to determine what constitutes a motorist hail.

Breslow said he thinks a motorist must physically motion to a driver. But Daryl Boring of South Pointe Towing questioned whether some drivers would consider windshield signs asking for emergency assistance to be a plea for help.

Other changes in the rules are minor. The modifications are being made because the state needs to clarify the scope of the TSA's authority in the wake of federal deregulation of the tow-truck industry.

Under that deregulation, the TSA only has jurisdiction on safety and welfare issues, insurance of tow vehicles and pricing of tows requested by law-enforcement agencies, usually involving impounds, or tows without the prior consent of the vehicle operator.

In the deregulated market, companies can set their own rates on tows that have been consented to by the vehicle owner.

Some of the proposed rules define new categories of towing vehicles and clarify when impound and storage fees can be assessed.

Breslow said regulations drawn and reviewed at Friday's session and at a similar meeting in Reno earlier in the week will be sent to the Legislative Counsel Bureau for review. He said he hopes the TSA will be able to consider final action on them by June.