Cars now safer in parking lots.

Tucked into the new highway bill passed by Congress in late July is a provision that authorizes states and localities to enact laws that would protect citizens from unscrupulous towing companies. This national solution is based on a similar law passed in California in 2003.

The California law, sponsored by Speaker Pro Tern Leland Yee, was in response to a ruling by a federal appeals court that said tow trucks are interstate carriers under the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 and therefore only subject to federal regulation, except for matters pertaining to public safety.

Yee's bill made technical changes to state law, tying the towing of vehicles to the safety and welfare of the public. As a result, the federal appeals court reversed itself in May. The provision in the federal highway bill specifically allows states to pass laws requiring property owners to authorize and be present at each tow.

Yee says he is happy to see Congress follow California's lead. "This severely limits predatory towing by the few towing companies who lurk around parking lots snatching up cars for minor violations, or in some cases no violation at all," he says.

"There have been far too many cases in California and throughout the country in which towers have been overly aggressive, and in one case even running over and killing a vehicle owner as he pleaded to get his car back," Yee says. "Fortunately, instances of predatory towing will now be much more difficult."

The Los Angeles police are conducting sting operations to catch illegal towers. In four months, the city attorney's office has filed misdemeanor charges against three towing companies. One such owner was sentenced to 240 days in jail or 120 days picking up trash on the highway, as well as $15,000 in restitution to 35 victims.