A road show to have local councils reconsider endorsing a county-wide bylaw regarding tow truck operators is getting little traction here.
Fergus area resident Roy Loveless has had his own road show of presentations to various municipalities, asking councils to reject the bylaw, or to reconsider the matter if they had already approved it.
Puslinch Township
In Puslinch, there was not only a delegation by Loveless, the primary opponent of the bylaw, but delegations from former tow truck operator Scott Mooney and Wellington County OPP Detachment Commander Inspector Scott Smith.
The presentation by Loveless to council on April 6, was his second in Puslinch on the issue. He contended there have been a lot of new developments since he last met with councillors.
“The bylaw you are about to put in place limits tow truck operators and certain businesses and how they operate,” he said.
He added that will affect shops that have their own tow trucks and the first responder tow operator “who spends his life in his truck going up and down the highway to be in the right place at the right time to help others in need.”
Loveless said he is in the midst of lodging a complaint about how independent towing operators are being treated in Wellington County “and the hoops they are having to go through to be on the scenes of accidents.”
As Loveless started to cite individuals involved in the issue, Mayor Dennis Lever cut him off with a reminder the issue was about the bylaw, not individuals.
Loveless argued the whole issue of the bylaw stems from where it originated, and whose idea it was, and the repercussions if the bylaw passes. Independent tow operators such as myself cannot conduct our type of business, the way we want to operate here in Wellington County,” he said. “It’s telling me that if you’re in trouble, I can’t park on the side of the highway within 200 metres of the accident to help you.”
Loveless said, “The bylaw would act as something for the Wellington County Towing Association to hide behind. In the fact that they will be able to monopolize the towing industry.”
He said, “It will put guys like myself and other independent operators on the back burner, and we will not be successful in our business.”
Even if similar bylaws are successful elsewhere, the conditions here are not the same, he said.
Councillor Ken Roth asked why Loveless did not just join the Wellington towing association to get onto the call list.
Loveless said there are costs and duties “over and above what any towing company should have to do – such as pound inspections and criminal record checks. It’s a real breach of privacy, when you get involved in a group like that.”
Roth asked if Loveless could charge any amount he wants once the vehicle is hooked up.
“It’s called self-regulation,” Loveless maintained, although he agreed there are pirates who operate that way.
Councillor Wayne Stokley asked him what the difference is between himself and a pirate.
Loveless said that would be determined by police officers on the scene. “That is your due diligence to determine whether I am a pirate, or whether I am a first responder.”
Stokley replied it was a lot to expect of accident victims under stress to be able to make a determination if someone was a first responder or a pirate.
Most telling were comments by councillor Susan Fielding who said, “I’ve had a really bad experience with what you are trying to keep in place.”
Fielding said, “I have been one of the accident victims. I was there, injured, when all kinds of tow trucks showed up. It was like a bunch of leaches. My recollection is that no one tried to help me as a person. Everybody wanted to tow my car away.
“I would have loved something like this bylaw being in place, because I went off in an ambulance, giving directions for my car to go off to one place, and somebody, somehow got my car. You can’t believe how hard it was to find out where my car was.”
She added that while the accident happened near Puslinch, the car ended up somewhere north of Toronto.
“I’m sorry, but to me, it makes more sense that the police have a cap on it and they know specifically who was called to get your car.”
Lever added, “You may have the best of intentions, but as a group, you haven’t got the best reputation.”
He cited an article on Ontario Federation of Independent Towers, Once Bitten, Twice Shy, which states “all one needs to be a tower is a set of keys for something that tows and the brass to go out and do it – that’s it – which makes for a fairly unruly society to govern.”
Lever said “Right now, I think what’s before us in the bylaw is the best option that we have at this time – until a better option is presented to us.”
Not willing to give up, Loveless asked that “other than your own experiences and thoughts, have you received any other background on this?”
“You don’t actually get to ask us questions,” Lever responded. “It’s a delegation; you present you case, and we ask you questions.”
Wellington OPP Inspector Scott Smith said the intent of the bylaw is not to restrict people from offering assistance.
“It is public safety issue,” Smith explained. “It is exactly for the situation experienced by councillor Fielding.”
He said there is a significant potential for similar situations. Smith cited county tow trucks being lined up along the Hanlon Expressway in Guelph and the south end of the county.
“We don’t need this additional frustration. And this is here to protect the public.”
He added the bylaw is also there to protect volunteer firefighters who are at the scene, and having to deal with the added congestion.
Smith said to some extent the previous delegations had attempted to obscure the bylaw itself behind the manner in which tow trucks are dispatched.
He said if there is a desire to review how services are dispatched in Wellington County, a delegation can appear at the Wellington County Police Services Board and have it develop policies to address that issue.
“But this is about the right to protect the scene and to protect the people who are involved in a collision.”
Smith said what seems to be overlooked is the section of the bylaw that states anyone operating a tow truck or any other motor vehicle parked within 200 metres of the accident … shall immediately move their vehicle.”
Smith said if a tow truck operator is the first on the scene and rendering assistance to the people, the police are not going to say that person is within 200 metres and order them away.
“That’s not what this is about.”
He said it is about general, run-of-the-mill collisions, where fire and ambulance crews are already on the scene.
He added that even the police, on seeing an accident may not always stop right where it has happened.
“We will park our cruisers in the vicinity where we can be seen to cause motorists to slow down before reaching the scene.”
He said in an area like Wellington County where there are so many rolling hills, it would be far better to have people parked farther back, with lights on, to let people know something is happening on the road ahead.
Smith said when the bylaw is in place, people know, and they respect the bylaw.
He noted, “The tow industry in the province of Ontario is unregulated.”
Fielding maintained she did not want to question the integrity of all tow truck operators, “but to my mind, this is the bet protection of the victim.”
Lever said while he agreed there are many tow operators out there who have excellent reputations, “There are some that don’t. This bylaw is the best solution at this particular time.
Council subsequently voted in favour of endorsing the bylaw.
Town of Minto
Efforts to get Minto councillors proved equally unsuccessful stated town CAO/Clerk Bill White following an April 5.
Council politely listened to Loveless, but did not alter its decision.
