By
now many citizens in the greater Houston area
are aware the City of Houston's new Safe Clear
Traffic Incident Response Program, approved by
Houston City Council in May of 2004, went into
effect on Saturday, January 1, 2005.
Requiring all disabled or abandoned vehicles
to be towed off of the freeway system at the
owner's expense, the new Safe Clear Traffic
Incident Response Program no longer allows
motorists to change flat tires on the freeway,
leave their vehicles for fuel or call for help
from a location away from the scene.
With that in mind, the members of the Houston
TranStar partnership would like to publicly
clarify several inaccurate points about the
program widely reported by many of the news
outlets in the greater Houston area. In one
particular report by Mark Garay, a reporter
with KTRK TV 13, it was stated that Houston
TranStar, the Transportation and Emergency
Management Center for the Greater Houston
Region, has to approve all Safe Clear tows.
That statement is indeed inaccurate. It would
have been more accurate if the reporter
stated, "Houston Police Department
officials housed at Houston TranStar have to
approve all Safe Clear tows".
The following process clearly defines how the
Safe Clear Traffic Incident Response Program
towing policy works:
When a City of Houston contracted tow company
driver pulls up to or is dispatched to the
scene of a disabled or abandoned vehicle on a
freeway in the Houston area, they then contact
Houston Police Department officers housed at
Houston TranStar and provide them with
information such as the location of vehicle,
make and model, license plate number and other
relevant information.
From there a Houston Police Department officer
records the information into a database and
then submits to the drive an authorization
number for permission to conduct a police
authorized non-consent tow.
It is important to note these Safe Clear
Traffic Incident Response Program tows can
only be authorized by a Houston Police
Department law enforcement official working
with the eleven (11) tow truck companies
contracted with the City of Houston and not
other Houston TranStar member agency
personnel.
The fee for a police authorized non-consent
tow on an area freeway is $75.00 plus $1.50
per mile after five (5) miles not to exceed
the maximum fee established by the City of
Houston Ordinance 8-123. The maximum fee
beginning January 1, 2005 is $124.00.
All tows conducted under the auspices of the
Safe Clear Traffic Incident Response Program
are non-consent and must be authorized by
officers with the Houston Police Department
either on site at the scene or from the
Houston TranStar state-of-the-art
transportation control room floor.
Consistent with the need to be open and honest
with citizens about the new program, a
"Motorists Bill of Rights" is
presented to each motorists involved in a Safe
Clear Traffic Incident Response Program towing
situation outlining the program and their
rights as motorists.
It is the sincere hope of the members of the
Houston TranStar partnership that as the
public education components continue, citizens
will have a better more clearer understanding
of how the Safe Clear Traffic Incident
Response program works and the benefits
associated with it existence.
Some of those benefits include, but is not
limited to, improved response times to
disabled or abandoned vehicles, less
congestion on Houston area freeways,
coordinated and controlled towing responses,
reduction in towing fees, increased public
safety, the promotion of a cleaner environment
by removing vehicles that cause congestion and
savings in time and money for many citizens in
the greater Houston region.
For any questions about the new Safe Clear
Traffic Incident Response Program, please feel
free to contact the Mayor's Office of Mobility
at 713-613-5300, Houston TranStar at
713-881-3244 or the Houston Police
Department's Auto Dealer's Detail at
713-308-1440. You can also visit the
website located at www.houstontranstar.org/safeclear.
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