LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas’ highways have become more and more crowded with broken down and abandoned cars, and highway police are taking action.
State Trooper Gabriel Monroe said if you don’t take care of it, they will.
“The state law requires us to give the owner a 24 hour time window to get their car off the shoulder. We’ll mark it with a green sticker, put our badge number, troop number, date and time so that the next trooper that comes along knows it’s been a 24 hour time period,” he said.
The green sticker is a warning ticket to give you the chance to move the car.
“It’s kind of like a free pass to let you come check on your vehicle and tells you to not leave your equipment on the side of the road. We don’t want your vehicle to get stolen or vandalized,” he said.
Monroe said it is illegal to leave your car on the white fog line, or three feet within the line, because it poses a danger for other drivers.
Now, instead of having a 24-hour window, the car will be immediately towed.
“We have a list of wrecker services within that area that can arrive on scene within thirty-minute windows and we will call the next available wrecker to remove that vehicle,” he said.
If your car gets towed and you need to find it, visit the Arkansas State Police website and click on Highway Patrol. Depending on which county your car was left in, depends on which troop you need to contact. The only fine you have to pay is whatever the tow company charges.
Owner of JHook Towing, Tim Moody, said a typical towing cost can range from $90 to $150 dollars.
“We work really close with the state police and the highway police,” he said.
He said his company tows two to three cars a day.
“They will call us and tell us about the abandoned car on the side of the road that’s been stickered and we go out and get them and bring them to the impound lot and start a certified procedure,” he said.
The command authority of the Department’s Highway Patrol Division is divided into two regions and there are 12 different troops under the two regions.
