Towing veteran fined after ‘acting on police request’

OCEAN Grove service station’s Cal Wise has seen a lot of changes to the towing business but the latest have left him shaking his head in disbelief.
The 82-year-old has been in the towing business for more than 50 years but is furious over his treatment at the hands of VicRoads.
Mr Wise said VicRoads fined him $1200 and his driver $200 for towing cars at the direction of police.
“The VicRoads inspector said the cars were out of my area but we checked with the police at the scene and they checked with police command in Melbourne,” he said.
“I was even given a job number. We attended because the police asked us to and leaving cars involved in an accident on the road is unsafe.
“VicRoads accused me of towing without the car owner’s permission but the police and the car owners signed my job sheet agreeing to have their cars towed.”
Mr Wise said his fines followed sweeping changes to tow truck allocation areas, splitting Wallington and Drysdale “in half”.
“It would be much better if they drew a radius out from Geelong Post Office for the Geelong towies and we shared the rest.”
Mr Wise said the new arrangements risked delaying tow trucks as smashed cars blocked roads, compromising safety.
VicRoads’ Dean Zabrieszach said a “self-management area of Geelong” was declared in September.
“The area was established to ensure a fair distribution of accident towing jobs and avoid multiple tow trucks arriving at an accident scene,” he said.
“Tow truck operators who do not hold a licence for this area cannot enter the allocation area for towing, which is stipulated as part of the licence.”