What do Americans do with abandoned cars on the road

If you ever drove along the highway and paid attention to an abandoned car on the side of the road, you probably wondered: what will happen to it? It all depends on where the car is located, writes Reader's Digest.

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There are many reasons why a driver can leave his car on the side of the road, for example, due to the lack of gasoline and the need to go to the nearest gas station. After a car accident, as a rule, cars are moved to the side of the road before towing. Who is involved in the evacuation of such machines and how do they do it?

Abandoned or Unclaimed Cars: What is the Difference

First, it's helpful to figure out what kind of vehicle you're dealing with. According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, an abandoned vehicle is a vehicle that is left unattended at another property without the permission of that property's owner for more than 96 hours. An unclaimed vehicle is a vehicle that is legally held by a business until the customer pays to have it picked up.

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Each state has its own rules and regulations in this regard. For example, unlike New York, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles considers a vehicle abandoned if it remained in private property for more than 48 hours.

Who evacuates cars and how

There are no federal regulations regarding the evacuation of unattended vehicles. It all depends on the states and municipalities. In the general process, a citizen notifies the police department of an abandoned car. After notification, the car is identified and marked.

If the vehicle has not been moved by the owner for a certain period of time, then the vehicle will be towed and held until the owner picks it up. If the car is not claimed within a reasonable period of time, it will either be put up for auction at affordable prices for interested buyers, or destroyed.

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Highways aren't the only places where unattended cars are picked up. Many citizens are taking action and reporting abandoned vehicles in their neighborhoods. Sometimes the parking tickets on the windshield show when the owner left his car, in some cases there are no identifiers. For example, in Vermont and many other states, private property owners can call towing companies to remove a vehicle left on their property.

Abandoned cars have long been a huge problem in urban areas. In the late 1980s, the New York City Department of Sanitation removed 148 abandoned vehicles from city streets. There was even a time when New York tried to create car-free streets in Manhattan. Owning a car is a serious responsibility, even if your car isn't exactly in working order.

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