Parking in the wrong place
Unpaid tickets or debt
What happens after my car gets towed in Hawaii?
Conclusion
Parking in the wrong place
Paying attention when you park somewhere can be the difference between parking without issue or having your car towed. A simple look around for signs, street markings and things like driveways and fire hydrants can save you the huge inconvenience and costly headache of having your vehicle towed.
There are several different situations in which you can have your vehicle towed away for parking in the wrong place in Hawaii. Parking in the following areas can result in the towing of your car:
- Blocking a driveway or a fire hydrant – If someone cannot access their private driveway because your car is parked in a way that is completely or even partially blocking it, you can easily be towed. You can also be towed if you are parked in a way that restricts access of a fire department to a fire hydrant.
- No parking zones – No parking zones will include bus stops, handicapped spots and fire lanes.
- Private lots – If you park in a private parking lot, the owner has the right to call the police to have your car towed.
- Illegally parked – This includes situations such as if you park on the street during street cleaning or if you double park.
Unpaid tickets or debt
Your vehicle can also be towed if you have several unpaid parking tickets. Parking enforcement often drives around scanning license plates of parked cars in busy city areas. If your license plate alerts parking enforcement that you have enough unpaid tickets, your car could be towed and will not be released until you go and pay those tickets off and then you will need to go to the tow yard and pay their fees.
If you financed your car and you fell behind on your car payments your car can be repossessed. This will happen by your car being towed. Without any warning a tow truck driver will arrive when you least expect it and will quickly hook-up your car and then tow it away. They can tow it from any public place and they can also tow it from your own driveway if it is not behind a gate and is easily accessible.
What happens after my car gets towed in Hawaii?
If your car has been towed, what will come next will depend entirely on the specific circumstance of your vehicle’s towing. If your car was towed because you were parked somewhere such as blocking a driveway or in a private parking lot, you will likely just need to figure out where your car has been towed to, then go there and pay the fees for the hook-up and storage of your car.
In order to figure out where your car has been towed to in Hawaii you should:
- Check the area that your car was towed from for signs. Often a private lot will have at least one sign posted with a phone number and address for the towing company.
- If there are no signs, you should call the Hawaii Police Department. They will be able to confirm that your car was towed as well as where you can go to retrieve it.
- Alternatively, you can check online to see if your car was towed on a site like findmytow.com, however, it usually takes several hours or even days for your towed vehicle’s information to populate on one of these sites, so we do not recommend using this method.
If your car was towed due to unpaid parking tickets, you will need to pay the tickets before you can visit the tow yard, and then you will need to go to the tow yard, pay their fees and then get your car back. To pay parking tickets in Hawaii you can:
- Pay at any Hawaiian district court – You can go to any Hawaiian district court and pay the applicable fines with a check, money order or credit/debit card.
- Pay by mail – Your fine should include an address which is where you will need to mail your payment. You can pay by check or money order if you are paying your Hawaiian traffic fines by mail.
- Pay over the phone – You can also pay over the phone by calling (800) 679-5949. Paying the fines via this method will require you have your license plate number, citation number and a Mastercard or Visa credit card only.
- Pay online – The easiest option will be to pay online which you can do within 21 days of getting the ticket. You can pay a parking ticket in Hawaii by visitinghttps://etraffic.ehawaii.gov/etraffic/home. You must have the citation number and a Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit card only in order to use this method.
Finally, if your car was towed because of a repossession, you will only be able to get your car back if you pay the entire loan that you took out in order to finance the car, not just the missed payments. You will likely only have about ten days to do this as well.
Conclusion
If you do not want to have your vehicle towed in Hawaii there are a few simple things that you must avoid doing. This includes parking somewhere illegally, parking in a private lot or driveway, failing to pay parking tickets, and not paying your car payments. If your car does get towed, it will likely cost you a few hundred dollars but thankfully it will not be too complicated tracking your car down and getting it back. You should avoid doing anything that could get your car towed in Hawaii because of both the cost and inconvenience.
