Tow Your Car – Beyond every sorta of doubt, a police can tow your car since he/she is a law enforcement officer and perhaps you have just committed an offense that warrants it. But here comes the big question; is not having a license an offense that warrants a police towing your car?
I remember some years back in California; a group of undocumented immigrants were stopped for not having a license. I began to wonder, how on earth would you expect these guys to have a license? Of course, some of us know how tough it is to legally obtain one as an immigrant. So should they not drive any longer?
However, let us quickly take a look at the type of offenses that can make a police officer tow your car.
Crime: When a crime such as when you are caught driving under the influence (DUI) and you were caught driving while your license was suspended or revoked, the police have the justification to tow your car.
Crime Evidence: You will agree with me that if your car gets involved in a crime scene such as an accident etc., it is reasonable for you to allow the law enforcement agencies to tow your car for investigation purposes.
Community Safety: I don’t need to start explaining in details to you that you stand a chance to get your car towed the moment you trespass on someone else’s property or by parking your car in an unsafe area. When you commit any offense that stands against the safety of the community within, you ultimately give the law enforcement agencies the right to tow your car.
In California, Nevertheless, the truth is a police officer cannot tow your car on the offense of not having a license. This is based on the new law that took effect January 1, 2012 in California after series of investigations revealed that many car impound victims were unlicensed drivers.
Undoubtedly, many of these drivers are undocumented immigrants which logically could be explained that the idea of towing cars based on the fact the drivers have no license is just an act of exploiting the vulnerable ones in the society.
But we live in a world where for every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction, says Newton’s third law of motion. There have been reactions from the law enforcement agencies that this action could lead to more wrecks on the roads thereby standing against the safety of Americans. But here is what I say, in all things that you do which includes driving on the American road, make sure you are doing the right thing.