Virginia Code 46.2-118: Prohibited acts by tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators
A. No tow truck driver shall:
Attorney's Note
Under the Virginia Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 misdemeanor | up to 6 months | up to $1,000 |
| Class 3 misdemeanor | up to $500 |
Terms Used In Virginia Code 46.2-118
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Tow truck: means a motor vehicle for hire (i) designed to lift, pull, or carry another vehicle by means of a hoist or other mechanical apparatus and (ii) having a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of at least 10,000 pounds. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- Towing and recovery operator: means a person engaged in the business of (i) removing disabled vehicles, parts of vehicles, their cargoes, and other objects to facilities for repair or safekeeping and (ii) restoring to the highway or other location where they either can be operated or removed to other locations for repair or safekeeping vehicles that have come to rest in places where they cannot be operated. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- Truck: means every motor vehicle designed to transport property on its own structure independent of any other vehicle and having a registered gross weight in excess of 7,500 pounds. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- Vehicle: means every device in, on or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except personal delivery devices and devices moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
1. Use fraud or deceit in the offering or delivering of towing and recovery services;
2. Conduct his business or offer services in such a manner as to endanger the health and welfare of the public;
3. Use alcohol or drugs to the extent such use renders him unsafe to provide towing and recovery services;
4. Obtain any fee by fraud or misrepresentation;
5. Remove or tow a trespassing vehicle, as provided in § 46.2-1231, or a vehicle towed or removed at the request of a law-enforcement officer to any location outside the Commonwealth;
6. Violate, or assist, induce, or cooperate with others to violate, any provision of law related to the offering or delivery of towing and recovery services; or
7. Drive by the scene of a wrecked or disabled vehicle for which a law-enforcement tow has been initiated by a law-enforcement agency, initiate contact with the owner or operator of such vehicle by soliciting or offering towing services, and tow such vehicle.
B. No towing and recovery operator shall:
1. Use fraud or deceit in the offering or delivering of towing and recovery services;
2. Conduct his business or offer services in such a manner as to endanger the health and welfare of the public;
3. Use alcohol or drugs to the extent such use renders him unsafe to provide towing and recovery services;
4. Neglect to maintain on record at the towing and recovery operator’s principal office a list of all drivers employed by the towing and recovery operator;
5. Obtain any fee by fraud or misrepresentation;
6. Advertise services in any manner that deceives, misleads, or defrauds the public;
7. Advertise or offer services under a name other than one’s own name;
8. Fail to accept for payment cash, insurance company check, certified check, money order, or at least one of two commonly used, nationally recognized credit cards, except those towing and recovery operators who have an annual gross income of less than $10,000 derived from the performance of towing and recovery services shall not be required to accept credit cards, other than when providing police-requested towing as defined in § 46.2-1217, but shall be required to accept personal checks;
9. Fail to display at the towing and recovery operator’s principal office in a conspicuous place a listing of all towing, recovery, and processing fees for vehicles;
10. Fail to have readily available at the towing and recovery operator’s principal office, at the customer’s request, the maximum fees normally charged by the towing and recovery operator for basic services for towing and initial hookup of vehicles;
11. Knowingly charge excessive fees for towing, storage, or administrative services or charge fees for services not rendered;
12. Fail to maintain all towing records, which shall include itemized fees, for a period of one year from the date of service;
13. Willfully invoice payment for any services not stipulated or otherwise incorporated in a contract for services rendered between the towing and recovery operator and any locality or political subdivision of the Commonwealth;
14. Employ a driver required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry pursuant to Chapter 9 of Title 9.1;
15. Remove or tow a trespassing vehicle, as provided in § 46.2-1231, or a vehicle towed or removed at the request of a law-enforcement officer to any location outside the Commonwealth;
16. Refuse, at the towing and recovery operator’s place of business, to make change, up to $100, for the owner of the vehicle towed without the owner’s consent if the owner pays in cash for charges for towing and storage of the vehicle;
17. Violate, or assist, induce, or cooperate with others to violate, any provision of law related to the offering or delivery of towing and recovery services;
18. Fail to provide the owner of a stolen vehicle written notice of his right under law to be reimbursed for towing and storage of his vehicle out of the state treasury from the appropriation for criminal charges as required in § 46.2-1209;
19. Refuse to allow, consistent with the protections detailed in the provisions of subsection E of § 46.2-644.01, the owner of the vehicle towed, upon proof of ownership of the vehicle, to access and recover any personal items without retrieving the vehicle and without paying any fee; or
20. Require an individual who appears to retrieve a vehicle towed to provide to the towing and recovery operator, in addition to payment of fees, any document not otherwise required by law before releasing the vehicle to the individual.
C. No tow truck driver as defined in § 46.2-116 or towing and recovery operator as defined in § 46.2-100 shall knowingly permit another person to occupy a motor vehicle as defined in § 46.2-100 while such motor vehicle is being towed.
D. No tow truck driver or towing and recovery operator as defined in § 46.2-116 shall cause any other person to solicit or offer towing services in any manner, directly or indirectly, at the scene of any wrecked or disabled motor vehicle upon a highway, as defined in § 46.2-100, when such wrecked or disabled motor vehicle reasonably necessitates removal by a tow truck. In addition to any penalty authorized pursuant to this title, any tow truck driver or towing and recovery operator violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor for the first offense and of a Class 2 misdemeanor for any subsequent offense.
2012, cc. 803, 835; 2015, c. 217; 2020, c. 829; 2023, c. 600; 2024, cc. 337, 409, 574.