QUESTION: How long can a vehicle be legally parked on a public street on Oahu without being moved, and does the law in Hawaii vary by county?
ANSWER: Since Honolulu has an ordinance defining an abandoned vehicle, unless otherwise parking is prohibited, a vehicle may be legally parked on a public street on Oahu for no more than 24 hours. If a county does not have an ordinance defining an abandoned vehicle, the statutory definition will be used: "A vehicle is "abandoned" if it is left unattended for a continuous period of more than 24 hours and it is unlawfully parked on any public highway or other public property or private lands defined as a setback, shoulder, easement, or right of way that is adjacent to or part of a public highway."
Q: How much can it cost to recover a vehicle that has been towed?
A: Towing companies … shall charge not more than $65 for a tow, plus a mileage charge of $7.50 per mile towed and $25 per day or fraction thereof for storage for the first seven days and $20 per day thereafter. When the tow occurs between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., Monday through Thursday and from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday, the towing company shall be entitled to an overtime charge of $15. The current fine for an abandoned vehicle citation by the Traffic Violations Bureau is $160.
Q: Does the tow truck driver have to release the car if the owner shows up?
A: If the vehicle is in the process of being hooked up or is hooked up to the tow truck and the owner appears on the scene, the towing company shall unhook the vehicle and shall not charge any fee to the owner of the vehicle.
Q: How is a vehicle deemed abandoned?
A: A complaint of a suspected abandoned vehicle is received from the public by the Motor Vehicle Control Section. The Motor Vehicle Control inspector is then assigned to investigate the complaint. The inspector locates the vehicle, places a sign on the vehicle’s windshield and marks the vehicle’s tire or tires. The inspector returns to the location after 24 hours has elapsed and checks the tire markings to see if the vehicle has moved. If the vehicle has not moved, the inspector issues an abandoned vehicle citation. The inspector coordinates the towing of the abandoned vehicle with the city’s contractor, who is required to remove the vehicle within 72 hours.
Q: If you find your vehicle missing, how can you find out whether it’s been stolen or towed? How can you locate where it’s being stored?
A: If a vehicle is missing, the public will call HPD and report the vehicle missing. At that time, HPD will notify the vehicle owner that the vehicle was towed as an abandoned vehicle and the location of the contractor’s storage lot.
Q: When a vehicle gets towed to a tow yard, is the owner notified? How long does it stay in the yard before it is auctioned?
A: The contractor is required to notify the Motor Vehicle Control Section if a towed abandoned vehicle is not claimed within 24 hours. Within a week of this notification, the Motor Vehicle Control Section will determine the names and address of the vehicle’s registered and legal owners, prepare a letter and mail the letter to the last known registered and legal owners by certified mail, assuming that the vehicle exists in our motor vehicle registration database. The letter will inform the vehicle’s registered and legal owners that if the vehicle is not repossessed within 10 days after the mailing of the notice, the vehicle will be placed on public auction. … Auctions are held once a month at the contractor’s storage yard so the length of time between the towing of the vehicle and the date of the auction will vary between a minimum of 15 days to possibly 30 or more days.
Q: Who gets the money from a vehicle that has been auctioned? What is a typical price range for an auctioned vehicle? Are these auctions a good place for people to buy vehicles?
A: The minimum bid for an abandoned vehicle is $50. If a vehicle is purchased by a successful bidder, the successful bidder must pay the contractor all towing and storage charges in addition to paying the city the bid amount. All funds paid to the city by the successful bidder are deposited into the general fund.
Q: What can a person do to make sure a vehicle doesn’t get towed if he or she is going on a trip of several days or more and routinely parks on a public street in front of, say, a house or a condo?
A: If the vehicle is parked on a public roadway and a complaint is made, we are required by law to conduct an investigation. The only solution would be to move the vehicle onto private property.
Interviewed by Dave Segal. "Akamai Money" seeks out local experts to answer questions about business in Hawaii. If you have an issue you would like us to tackle, please email it to business@staradvertiser.com and put "Akamai Money" in the subject line.
