Hawaii Law On Towing Abandoned VehiclesThat old decomposing RV or truck has been in parked across the street from your property for more than a month, and you notice there’s no one tending to it. What should you do? If you can’t talk with the owner, get it towed.
Abandoned vehicles in public and private places do not just destroy the famed natural beauty of Hawaii, but also pose health and environmental risks to the local community. When the Hawaii law on towing abandoned vehicles was enacted a decade ago, the state saw its positive impact in the first year of its implementation. The streets were cleared of junk cars, and the complaints regarding this street eyesore lessened. The Hawaii Tow Law Under Chapter 290 of the Revised Hawaii Code, a vehicle is deemed abandoned if it is unlawfully parked on a public highway or if it is left unattended on the public and private property, for more than a day or 24 hours. The police or the property owner will place an abandoned car notice on the vehicle, and if it remains unmoved for one day, it can be up for towing. So if you see an abandoned car on your private property or in a public property for more than a day, you may do the following steps to get rid of it for good. |
If you need an illegally parked car towed, the best thing to do is call the Honolulu Police Department at 911.
If you need a tow service, emergency or not, call us at (808) 435-9250.
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How to Get an Abandoned Car Towed
- Look for the owner. Determine whether your neighbor owns it or a local business owner parked it temporarily. Either way, if it takes a valuable parking spot directly in front of your home, you can ask the vehicle owner to move provided that it still runs.
- Report it to the local police. If you fail to determine who the owner of the vehicle, report it to the County Abandoned Vehicle Coordinator under the local police. The police cannot make arrangement to remove the car without a police report from a concerned citizen. Exact location of the vehicle and possible landmarks. Along with:
- Type, color, and brand of vehicle
- License plate number
- Describe whether the vehicle is still complete or already junked. (no wheels and other parts)
- The number of days, weeks or months it has been in the vicinity. - Submit complete details for the report. You can go straight to the police, or you can email them the specifics of your report. You need to complete the following details for your report:
- The police will investigate the report. The police will go to the place of the abandoned vehicle and will put a notice to the owner to move the vehicle within a day. If the owner removes it, there will be no charges, and there will be no report. However if within 24 hours, the vehicle remains unmoved, it will be considered abandoned, and the Abandoned Vehicle Coordinator can contact the towing companies to remove the car within 72 hours.
- The towing service will remove it. Provided that it still runs, they will bring it to an impounding area where the officers in charge of the Abandoned Vehicle Program will try to send a written notice to the owner stating the description of the vehicle, the cost of towing and where they can claim the car back. But if it is a junk vehicle, meaning, no wheels, not working and the parts are removed, the towing service will automatically bring it to the site for waste metal recovery.
Hope this information on Hawaii law on towing abandoned vehicles helped you remove the eyesore in your neighborhood. We’d greatly appreciate it if you share this information with your friends.