Joined Jul 2005
Scarydevil Monastery
Forum Thread
My friend lives in NJ. His car was stolen, stripped, and abandoned. The city is making him pay for the towing and impound fees.
September 3, 2010 at
06:15 AM
in
Rant
Does that seem right to anyone else? It's basically costing him over $350 to have his car stolen and, since he didn't have theft insurance, it's a total loss. The only possible redemption is going to be today if a mechanic offers him any money for the scrap.
WTF?
I'm not even going into how rude the city employees were to him or how they turned him away yesterday afternoon because they didn't think he could get a tow truck (at his own expense) to the impound lot before they closed at 4:45. OR how they wouldn't help his wife when she was there at noon, because they were all at lunch.
Please reserve any comments about him being dumb for not carrying a theft clause or whatever you call it on his insurance policy. It was an older Honda Civic and he didn't think it was worth insuring for very much. I'm not sure how all of that works but his deductible might even have been more than what he would've gotten for the car, if that applies.
I think it's infuriating that the city is forcing him to pay towing and impound fees when his car was stolen! Does he have any recourse here? Maybe he can deduct the cost of the fees from his taxes or something? Who should he contact?
My friend is a really nice guy--I would've raged out on those impound lot employees for sure. My buddy said he knows when he's defeated and he's licking his wounds and counting his losses, and that his anger is reserved for the car thieves. I understand that, but really, it looks to me like the city's just adding insult to injury here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
WTF?
I'm not even going into how rude the city employees were to him or how they turned him away yesterday afternoon because they didn't think he could get a tow truck (at his own expense) to the impound lot before they closed at 4:45. OR how they wouldn't help his wife when she was there at noon, because they were all at lunch.
Please reserve any comments about him being dumb for not carrying a theft clause or whatever you call it on his insurance policy. It was an older Honda Civic and he didn't think it was worth insuring for very much. I'm not sure how all of that works but his deductible might even have been more than what he would've gotten for the car, if that applies.
I think it's infuriating that the city is forcing him to pay towing and impound fees when his car was stolen! Does he have any recourse here? Maybe he can deduct the cost of the fees from his taxes or something? Who should he contact?
My friend is a really nice guy--I would've raged out on those impound lot employees for sure. My buddy said he knows when he's defeated and he's licking his wounds and counting his losses, and that his anger is reserved for the car thieves. I understand that, but really, it looks to me like the city's just adding insult to injury here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
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Would a prudent person learn self-defense against the day when a lawbreaker shows up and there aren't any police around to help? Yes. Should a person be required to do so, because the society and the government that has pledged to uphold the laws it wrote for itself isn't doing the job it promised to do? Absolutely not. At the end of the day that's what theft insurance really is, isn't it? Paying an extra tax because society's promise to an individual isn't being kept.
Huh. Maybe I'm a bit more liberal than I'd thought.
As far as it being the police's duty to protect you, it is their job, but it is not something they promised you or guaranteed you. They are law enforcement officers, not security guards or personal protection.
You act like it is 100% our government's responsibility to ensure our protection and safeguarding of our property at all times, simply because we pay taxes, a fraction of which goes to law enforcement.
*edit* And I say that completely separate from the topic of this thread
I need to go find the jokes thread or something before bed.
The car battery has a positive side
I need to go find the jokes thread or something before bed.
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As far as it being the police's duty to protect you, it is their job, but it is not something they promised you or guaranteed you. They are law enforcement officers, not security guards or personal protection.
You act like it is 100% our government's responsibility to ensure our protection and safeguarding of our property at all times, simply because we pay taxes, a fraction of which goes to law enforcement.
But when I live in a city and that city has laws, and those laws say that other people aren't allowed to take away things that don't belong to them, then yes, I do expect the police to enforce those laws, and no, I don't accept that "crime is a part of life." I think that's our fundamental disagreement here, too. You choose to believe that it's something we have to accept or take it upon ourselves to defend against, while I refuse to do that and demand a better accounting from the people who promised to enforce the laws as they are written.
I realize the cops can't watch everything all the time. I don't really think it's the cops' fault that my friend's car was stolen--although if laws were enforced and police had the bodies to patrol properly, perhaps it wouldn't have happened. There's no way to know.
I have to sleep soon.
But when I live in a city and that city has laws, and those laws say that other people aren't allowed to take away things that don't belong to them, then yes, I do expect the police to enforce those laws, and no, I don't accept that "crime is a part of life." I think that's our fundamental disagreement here, too. You choose to believe that it's something we have to accept or take it upon ourselves to defend against, while I refuse to do that and demand a better accounting from the people who promised to enforce the laws as they are written.
I realize the cops can't watch everything all the time. I don't really think it's the cops' fault that my friend's car was stolen--although if laws were enforced and police had the bodies to patrol properly, perhaps it wouldn't have happened. There's no way to know.
I have to sleep soon.
They should buy him lunch or something though, seriously, GAWD!
But when I live in a city and that city has laws, and those laws say that other people aren't allowed to take away things that don't belong to them, then yes, I do expect the police to enforce those laws, and no, I don't accept that "crime is a part of life." I think that's our fundamental disagreement here, too. You choose to believe that it's something we have to accept or take it upon ourselves to defend against, while I refuse to do that and demand a better accounting from the people who promised to enforce the laws as they are written.
I realize the cops can't watch everything all the time. I don't really think it's the cops' fault that my friend's car was stolen--although if laws were enforced and police had the bodies to patrol properly, perhaps it wouldn't have happened. There's no way to know.
I have to sleep soon.
I think we should take up a collection...buy a GC to a local restaurant and have it delivered like it's from the local police.
Did you see the link I posted? Apparently they're charging for fire depts. and cops to show up at traffic accidents now too. How long before public schools are "paid admission?"
That's an interesting thought: what if every road had a toll, every public service was pay ala carte, and all public servants were compensated solely by tips? What kind of a world would that be?
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