A towed car is rarely lost. It is sitting in a yard that knows exactly where it is. What is missing is the name of whoever ordered it towed. That is the real problem behind how to find my towed car after a collision.
Start with the City of Long Beach lookup at findmytowedcar.org, which searches vehicles held at the City’s Towing Operations and Vehicle Storage Facility. If the search comes back empty, two calls cover most of what is left.
Towing Operations keeps a 24-hour recorded line at (562) 570-2828, and the Long Beach Police Department maintains Auto Records at (562) 570-7475 for the status of towed and impounded vehicles.
If the crash happened on the 405, the 710, the 605, or the 91, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) probably ordered the tow, and the CHP office covering that stretch of freeway is where to ask.
If you were hurt in a Long Beach car accident and are left to track down the car, The Beliz Law Firm can help. Locating the car, identifying which agency ordered the tow, obtaining the traffic collision report that names it, and finding out whether a hold has been placed are all things that can be handled for you.
Contact The Beliz Law Firm for a free consultation.
How Does a Car Leave a Crash Scene?
After a collision, there are three scenarios for where your car can be towed:
- Order by law enforcement—sent to the agency’s storage facility on Willow Street;
- Request by private property owner—handled by a private operator under a separate set of rules; or
- Contact by you or by your motor club—location of that company’s yard.
The Paper Trail Somebody Is Required to Keep
The system generates more records than most people realize. A tow operator summoned to a collision scene by a law enforcement officer or public agency must have written information in hand before leaving, including the name of that agency and either the log, call, incident, or dispatch number, or the officer’s surname and badge number. That written record is the thread connecting the car to whoever ordered it moved.
When a public agency directs the storage of a vehicle, notice must be mailed or delivered to the registered and legal owners’ address on the vehicle registration within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, stating the storage location, describing the vehicle, and explaining the authority for the removal.
When a vehicle is removed from private property, the towing company must notify local law enforcement within roughly half an hour once the vehicle is in transit.
A police record of the tow should therefore exist well before you start looking for it, which means calling the police is worth doing even when a private yard has the car.
Where Does Long Beach Keep Vehicles?
The City’s Towing Operations and Vehicle Storage Facility sits at 3111 E. Willow Street. Vehicles and property are released Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with releases outside those hours available for an added fee.
Expect to be asked for identification and proof that you are the registered or legal owner. Someone else can go in your place with written authorization if you are unable to travel.
What Happens When the Notice Never Comes?
The 48-hour notice requirement does not apply to a vehicle removed from private property or taken in for inspection after a hit-and-run. In those two situations, no notice is owed, and the first call must come from you.
The hit-and-run exception carries its own limit, which is worth knowing. A vehicle removed for inspection must be released within 48 hours of the removal on the owner’s demand, and weekends and holidays are not counted toward that period.
Getting Back What the Crash Took
The answer to how to find my towed car is less about searching than about identifying who ordered the tow. Start with the City’s online lookup and the Willow Street facility, call Auto Records if the agency is unclear, and remember that a freeway crash was probably a CHP tow.
A written record of the tow must exist, and the 48-hour notice does not cover private property removals or hit-and-run inspections, which is why the first call usually has to come from the owner.
At The Beliz Law Firm, we believe a person recovering from a collision should not have to become their own investigator. Michael A. Beliz has represented people hurt in Southern California collisions since 2006 and has practiced in Long Beach since the firm opened in 2011.
Clients are kept informed at every stage, and the work of tracking down a vehicle and an agency is handled by the firm rather than by the person recovering.
If your vehicle was towed after a collision and you do not know where it is, contact The Beliz Law Firm for a free consultation with a car accident lawyer in Long Beach.
Michael A. Beliz, Esq., established The Beliz Law Firm in the spring of 2011. Michael has been a practicing attorney since 2006 and worked for two of the most prominent plaintiff’s personal injury law firms in Southern California. He has worked on and handled hundreds of cases as an attorney in all types of personal injury cases, including vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents and dog bites, and successfully recovered millions of dollars for his clients.
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