Ottawa police are cracking down on aggressive competition between towing companies at collision sites by staging accidents and ticketing tow truck drivers.
Tow trucks are not legally allowed to show up at an accident without being called, according to a city bylaw.
But both police and tow truck drivers say the situation is getting out of hand.
“We get reports almost on a daily basis that tow trucks are behaving aggressively at the scene. They’re getting into fights with each other, they’re bullying motorists to tow their cars,” says Sgt. John Kiss, who manages the Ottawa Police Impounded
Vehicles Unit.
“What they’re bringing upon themselves is at least increased enforcement,” he says.
“We’ve got to control these collisions, they can’t turn into a circus.”
Police are now resorting to staging crashes to attract tow truck drivers, who can receive a $180 fine for showing up at accidents without being asked.
They have been faking accidents since collision reporting centres opened last fall.
Police now dispatch two officers for collisions – one to handle the accident and the other to hand out fines to unwelcome tow truck drivers.
Kiss says he sees licensing tow trucks in the city as a potential solution, where drivers could have their licence suspended for not following the rules.
Some drivers, such as Gil Beausoleil from GK Towing in Hintonburg, say they think police are justified in tricking tow truck drivers.
He says too many trucks parked around accidents can be dangerous.
“You might only need two trucks, but you’ve got five or more companies trying to get that call,” he said, adding that tow trucks could cause another accident at the scene themselves.
Edwin Weber, a driver with Sharkey’s Towing and Road Service, received a $175 fine on March 10 after arriving at a two-car collision in Nepean.
He says he doesn’t chase collisions, and happened upon the scene on his way to Kanata.
“I just came upon it . . . When I got there the whole intersection was closed down, traffic was all shut down,” he says.
“I couldn’t have driven by if I wanted to, so I just pulled over to the shoulder and waited until it was all over.
And just by being close to the accident, whether I tried to pick it up or not, I got the ticket.”
He says he was one of seven truck drivers on scene.
Two were given towing jobs and the rest drove off with tickets.
Competition of this nature is less of an issue on highways, which are under OPP jurisdiction.
The problem is on city streets, Weber says, where he alleges Ottawa police show favouritism for companies they have contracts with, particularly Ottawa Metro Towing & Recovery.
He said he wants to see an inquiry into the issue.
“I would like to know why one company has been allowed to have a police protected monopoly for years,” Weber says, adding that he wants to see police “open their books.”
“In every accident report it says who did the towing. If the police were to open up their books and show who did what over the past five years, there’s no denying it any more,” he says.
Kiss says officers are under the police chief’s orders to not show any favouritism.
“It’s entirely up to motorists
to make their own decision as to who they’re going to use,” Kiss says.
“If an officer does show favouritism, that’s something that he would have to answer for if someone lodges a complaint against him.”
While Weber has not lodged a complaint, he says he plans to fight his ticket in court.