Once a car is abandoned in San Benito County, it begins a long
and sometimes costly journey that can take it from the roadside to
the impound lot, and eventually to a scrap metal dealer.
Once a car is abandoned in San Benito County, it begins a long and sometimes costly journey that can take it from the roadside to the impound lot, and eventually to a scrap metal dealer.
Abandoned vehicles are not left on the side of local roadways to collect rust and decay. They are usually carted off by an tow-truck company and either sold, scrapped or destroyed. While the process sounds simple enough, it is actually complex, said Hollister-Gilroy California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Armstrong.
After a motorist leaves a vehicle on the side of a freeway or highway it becomes the responsibility of the CHP. Upon spotting an unoccupied vehicle that is suspected to be abandoned, an officer will check to see if the car or truck is stolen.
If the title comes up clean, the officer will fill out a warning ticket and attach it to the car. If the car is abandoned on a major thoroughfare, such as a freeway, the car can be removed and towed within four hours, Armstrong said. Then the CHP contacts a local tow company to remove the car. An abandoned vehicle can sit on a minor thoroughfare, such as a highway, for up to 72 hours before being towed, Armstrong said.
“After that someone will break into it or run into it,” he said.
And leaving a car or truck on the side of road can be expensive, Armstrong said. Most cars left on the roadside for more than a few hours are burglarized.
“We’ve had reports of vehicles being stripped after less than an hour, especially if it’s a nice car,” Armstrong said. “We have even caught people red-handed stripping cars left on the side of the road.”
The first things to go are usually hubcaps or car stereos, said San Benito County Sheriff’s Lt. Roy Iler. The sheriff’s office also has to deal with abandoned vehicles, but CHP officers get the majority of such calls, Iler said.
Vandalism is also the fate of abandoned vehicles.
“The most common targets for vandals are windows,” Armstrong said. “And once a vehicle has been vandalized … it’s bound to happen again and again until the car is moved.”
If the car has to be towed, it is done at the owner’s expense, Armstrong said. Armstrong didn’t have statistics on how many abandoned vehicles are ticketed each year in this area.
City officials also have to deal with abandoned vehicles, said Hollister Code Enforcement Officer Mike Chambless. Vehicles left raised on cinder blocks in owners’ front yards may also be towed.
“Front yard, backyard, private parking lot, it doesn’t matter,” Chambless said. “An inoperable car must be stored in an enclosed space, like a garage, but even a living room will do; we don’t care.”
Chambless deals with abandoned vehicles in much the same manner as the CHP. If a city resident complains about an unsightly abandoned vehicle, Chambless will post a ticket on the car and send a 30-day warning notice to the property owner. After the 30-day period expires, the car is tagged with a 10-day tow notice. After that expires, the car will be towed, Chambless said. In the last six months, Chambless has had to send out 90 warning notices. Towing fees, which average around $500, are billed to the property owner, Chambless said.
Once a vehicle is finally towed, it’s life as a car is nearly over, said Jeff Hunter, president of the California Tow Truck Association.
Towed vehicles are stored in an impound lot. From there, the tow company can either sell the car to recoup towing fees or wait for the owner to collect the car and pay the storage fees. Such fees can range from $22 to $60 a day, Hunter said.
If the car is worth less than $4,000 the tow company can sell it after 45 days. Most cars worth more than that are picked up by their owners, Hunter said. Broken-down cars are often sold to dismantlers, who strip the valuable parts to resell. After everything of value is taken from the car, it is crushed and usually sold as scrap metal.
“A good deal of the scrap metal is sold by the ton to Japan,” Hunter said. “It’s then reworked, cleaned and shipped back here as some type of steel.”
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
