JaRistotle’s Jottings | Toe the line or get the tow line

I have a problem with the manner in which wrecking services operate under the umbrella of enforcing parking regulations throughout the Corporate Area.

On any given day, wreckers actively patrol areas such as New Kingston on the lookout for illegally parked vehicles, which they then merrily hook up and tow away for attractive commissions. Many of you have perhaps fallen victim to these wreckers: you take the risk, you get caught, you pay the penalty. All well and good when you are nowhere around when your vehicle is being towed away. But when you arrive on the scene and indicate that you are the owner or operator of the vehicle and that you will immediately remove it and accept a ticket, your request is ignored and your vehicle nevertheless towed away.

Haphazard standards

In an article addressing the issue, Jediael Carter (Jamaica Observer, December 19, 2015) posited that "in cases where a vehicle owner arrives before the vehicle is placed on to the wrecker, the law permits that the driver can be issued a ticket by the police or traffic warden as opposed to being towed. But this isn't always practised".

However, there appears to be uncertainty regarding whether the cut-off point for ticketing is after the offending vehicle is merely hooked up or after the vehicle is placed on the wrecker. Invariably, the first scenario applies: these wrecker crews are like vultures, readily bypassing appealing owners and speedily hooking up vehicles, giving them little chance to plead their case.

It is ironic that hardly any discretion is exercised by these wrecking services operating as 'traffic-enforcement agents' in relation to parked vehicles that pose no danger to people or property, whereas road hogs and other boorish drivers who recklessly endanger everyone are not subject to the same draconian measures.

I am in no way ignorant to the 'runnings'. Wrecker services don't get a commission when parking tickets are issued, and the traffic wardens who accompany the wreckers only get their cut when vehicles are towed, while those who dole out the operating permits to the wrecker services expect handsome returns for their beneficence.

Similarly, police officers don't get lunch money when they seize vehicles which are operated in a reckless manner or which are not fit for road use. Taxis and minibuses predominantly feature in such cases: guess who are the beneficial owners of a significant percentage of these offending vehicles?

Corruption and criminality

Where loopholes in laws and open-ended policies and procedures apportion too much discretion to underpaid and hungry-belly people, corruption will not only thrive, but also give rise to opportunities for novel forms of pervasive criminality.

As far as I have noted, there are no official distinguishing features on these wreckers that undertake enforcement functions. What is there to distinguish those that are operating legitimately as against rogue opportunists whose sole objective is to steal your vehicle? And what will be the fate of a vehicle owner who attempts to use reasonable means to protect his property because of an absence of official distinction or documentation?

Please don't tell me that the presence of a Traffic Authority representative/warden will suffice: any criminal worth his salt would consider having a properly dressed impersonator on site. At any rate, genuine traffic wardens are invariably reluctant to properly identify themselves, so you still end up short-handed on material information.

These clearly are issues that need to be addressed if we are to rid ourselves of subjectivity to corruption and theft of our vehicles. I would welcome informed legal feedback and guidance from learned counsels on this matter.