Yesterday there was a snow emergency in the City of Evanston ,IL (which means you have to park on a certain side of the street from 9am-9pm depending on the even/odd system). I went out to dinner and got back somewhere between 6-7 and parked on the incorrect side of the street for several reasons, one of which was that side of the street had already been plowed and people were parking in it again. This lead me to believe they had already been through and moved people if necessary to get at the snow. I also didn't want to come back out a couple hours later and move my car to the other side of the street. So I parked there on the wrong side (I admit it).

This morning I had a $100 ticket on my car claiming it was "Towed and Returned." There are several things not adding up here. When they move cars to plow, they run a siren to let people know to come move their car and I would have heard it. Also, why would they tow my car to plow an area that had already been plowed?

My main concern and my question to all of you is, how did they tow my car when it was in 1st gear and the parking break was on? I have a call into the police dept to find out how they towed it. I have heard you can damage an AWD car by towing it incorrectly. Is it even possible? Would they have to just slide it on the cold/snowy pavement (there was still some ice even though it had already been plowed).

I have a date to contest this ticket next month as the ticket was also filled out incorrectly in several spots, but was wondering if anyone could chime in and let me know if this towing was even possible. If they did tow it, what are some things I should be watching out for to see if it was towed incorrectly.

Thanks in advance!

 

yes it can be damaged

the tow guys if they are pros pop the lock and release the hand brake and take it out of gear

if they used a flat bed you are fine

if they used the claw that locks two wheels in, you may get to join my club of broken center diff. i got towed and they used the claws and broke my tranny 5k later the city paid.

call and ask how they towed it

they told me it was not a flat bed aka claw s

 

Nice of them to return it

Good luck with the outcome. Some drivers can be stupid, but I had a driver consult his book prior to towing my Stealth to make sure it wasn't the AWD version. I imagine if it was freezing out the driver wouldn't have taken the time to check the book