This sounds like a very American thing to do.
There are so many aspects of this country that are trash, but this is just one more example.
The PPA says tows from temporary no-parking zones are primarily a police function. Police say tow companies could be to blame for missing vehicles. The tow companies say police sometimes lose the information they provide.
Drivers who get sucked into the bureaucratic vortex describe it as city-sanctioned auto theft, often followed by punishing fines from the PPA if the car was moved to an illegal parking space, then ticketed, towed, or booted. The resulting fees can be difficult or impossible to fight.
In some cases, when vehicles cannot be located, owners have no choice but to report them stolen, which can bring its own set of problems.
Last year, The Inquirer reported, a West Philadelphia attorney whose car had been courtesy-towed due to tree trimming was pulled over in New Jersey months later and placed in handcuffs for driving her own Nissan. Philadelphia police had failed to take the car out of stolen status after it was located.
U.S.A.
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