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Tow truck driver explains how to avoid city towing

Posted at 7:19 PM, Nov 14, 2012
and last updated 2012-11-14 19:22:40-05

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)--James Fogg knows he’s not too popular with most drivers.

He says his job makes it a little tough. Fogg works as a driver for Peaco Towing and says every day drivers who take chances and park illegally in private lots, and that keeps them in business.

Wednesday CBS 6 watched him as he watched drivers in a Richmond shopping center.

It’s a job his company is hired to do. He says he’s on the lookout for drivers who park illegally in the lot.

It doesn’t take long .

To protect himself, Fogg first videotapes a man parking outside of a coffee shop who then walked down the street to another store.

It only takes seconds for Fogg to hook up the car and tow it away. “People park here all day long and use the lot not for the stores here or what it’s supposed to be used for,” he said.

While he often gets negative comments from drivers who have had their cars towed, Fogg said he’s got a job to do and rules to follow. He says in Richmond tow companies must post signs on private lots or they can’t legally tow a vehicle.

There are similar rules in Henrico but Fogg explains that Richmond has specific sign requirements that tow companies must abide. He says the signs must be a certain size and that the lettering on the signs must also meet certain criteria.

He explained that when they put signs up in private lots, the signs must be visible from every spot in the lot so that no driver can say they didn’t know it was illegal to park there.

Fogg said it’s frustrating when tow companies don’t follow the city ordinance to the tee.

He’s hoping the city will crack down on tow companies that may not be following the rules, that he says are giving companies like his a bad name.