The workers of the municipal tow truck of Mataró (Maresme), assigned to the company Promocions Urbanístiques de Mataró (Pumsa), report that as a result of the collapse of the warehouses for retired cars, they are forced to leave the vehicles they hook parked on the streets . The City Council, as admitted by the councilor of Mataró Segura, Núria Moreno, articulates solutions such as streamlining the procedures for scrapping, but also announces zero tolerance for those vehicles that violate traffic regulations.
Until now, the Mataró City Council had two warehouses to park the vehicles removed by the crane. One located on the second floor of the Palau parking lot and another on Ronda Rafael Estrany. The first, according to the crane operators, is now used as a parking lot for rotating vehicles, which has led to the collapse of the second tank. “They tell us to leave the cars that we have hitched on any street,” the workers denounce. An order that they judge “illegal and dangerous”, since if a car, while in municipal custody, is vandalized or stolen “the City Council is responsible.” The operators report that currently “two out of every three cars removed by the tow truck are left outside the warehouse” which they also understand as a violation of regulations: “cars are private property that must be preserved” they assert.
Currently, the conflict with the workers confronts the unions and the municipal company, a fight that causes tensions that in many cases lead to sick leave. In another situation, they detail that in the workforce “there have been six workers on sick leave and the tow truck service has not been able to be covered by in-house personnel” so Pumsa has been forced to carry out the removal of vehicles with rental tow trucks.
For its part, the municipal government admits "the need to free up parking spaces" and attributes the collapse to the large number of abandoned vehicles that remain in judicial custody, a situation that can keep the vehicle immobilized between five and 15 years, which aggravates the problem in the municipal parking lot. Currently, vehicles removed for a traffic violation are deposited in the Ronda Estrany and abandoned vehicles that are in judicial proceedings are left in the Palau. Those that were to be scrapped are left in the temporary parking lot in front of the Hospital, pending the expansion of the health center.
“There have always been problems with collapsed tanks” acknowledge official sources from the Public Roads service of the Mataró City Council. Hence, the criteria for police operations are currently being reviewed and the mobility ordinance is being updated. Along the same lines, they review the procedure to shorten the deadlines for guarding the vehicle affected by a court order. Furthermore, the new contract with the scrapyard supplier obliges the successful bidder to have a space of at least 100 spaces to deposit this type of vehicles. In parallel, the municipal government is working to strengthen the administrative team to streamline withdrawal files and documentation related to vehicle deposits. Likewise, they will affect the lack of rotation of vehicles that exceed the maximum allowed to park in the same space.
In another order, the municipal government has promoted a new rate for cars that are removed as a result of "force majeure" or due to the celebration of public events, such as sedentary markets, "for which specific notice is given with 48 hours of notice." advance.” Cars that must be removed, despite being parked correctly, will also have to pay a new fee.
Likewise, if a vehicle is hooked by the tow truck and cannot be removed because the driver appears, which until now only meant a fine for bad parking, from now on "it will also mean paying 90 euros for the hitch." of the crane.” If, however, the vehicle is moved to the warehouse or to the place where the municipal operator has parked it, “the penalty will be 130 euros” plus the corresponding fine.
The Mataró City Council has acquired two new crane vehicles that will relegate the current ones as replacement trucks in case of breakdowns. The current ones have the latest quick hitch devices and the latest technologies.
