California Vehicle Code 22651 lets peace officers and authorized parking enforcement employees remove a vehicle in more than a dozen defined situations, including blocking traffic, sitting on a public street for 72 straight hours, displaying registration that expired more than six months ago, accumulating five or more unpaid parking citations, or being left behind when the driver is arrested. If your car was towed under this section, you have the right to a post-storage hearing, and you must request it within 10 days of the notice.
When Section 22651 Allows a Tow
The statute groups into three practical categories: immediate hazards, parking and registration violations, and situations tied to the driver or the vehicle itself.
Traffic Hazards and Obstruction
An officer can order a tow when a vehicle is left unattended on a bridge, viaduct, causeway, or in a tunnel and obstructs traffic, or when it is parked on a highway in a way that blocks normal traffic movement or creates a hazard.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22651 – Authority to Remove Vehicles
A vehicle blocking a private driveway can be towed when moving it to a nearby lawful spot is impractical. A vehicle blocking a fire hydrant so that firefighting equipment cannot reach it can be removed. A vehicle abandoned on a fully access-controlled freeway for more than four hours qualifies as well, provided the driver, if present, cannot move it under its own power. And if a driver is incapacitated by injury or illness and cannot arrange for someone else to take the vehicle, an officer may have it towed for safekeeping.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22651 – Authority to Remove Vehicles
Parking and Registration Violations
- Parked on a public street for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance that authorizes removal.
- Illegally parked in a stretch of road posted for cleaning, repair, construction, or utility work, when signs went up at least 24 hours in advance.
- Found on a highway or public land with five or more outstanding parking citations, where the owner has not responded within 21 days of issuance or within 14 days of a delinquency notice.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22651 – Authority to Remove Vehicles
- Illegally parked with no license plates or other visible evidence of registration. The lot can hold it until the owner produces identification and a California address.
- Displaying registration that expired more than six months ago. Before towing on this ground, the officer must check DMV records; if the DMV shows current registration, the vehicle cannot be removed for this reason even when the sticker on the plate is out of date.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22651 – Authority to Remove Vehicles
- Displaying a forged, altered, or counterfeit registration card, license plate, registration sticker, or temporary permit.
Arrest of the Driver, Stolen Vehicles, and Suspended Licenses
When a driver is arrested for any offense and taken into custody, the officer can tow the vehicle. This provision covers a wide range of stops, from DUI arrests to outstanding warrants. An officer who serves a notice of license suspension or revocation during a traffic stop can also have the vehicle removed on the same authority.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22651 – Authority to Remove Vehicles
Recovered stolen vehicles and vehicles subject to an embezzlement warrant can be towed to a secure location. In those cases the tow preserves the vehicle for the rightful owner or as evidence.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22651 – Authority to Remove Vehicles
Notice You Should Receive After the Tow
When a public agency directs a tow under Section 22651, it must mail or personally deliver a written notice to the registered and legal owners within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22852 The notice has to include:
- The name, address, and phone number of the agency that ordered the tow.
- The storage location and a description of the vehicle, including make, license plate, and mileage if available.
- The legal authority and purpose for the removal.
- A statement explaining how to request a post-storage hearing within 10 days.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22852
If the agency cannot identify or locate the owner, it must report the removal to the Department of Justice’s Stolen Vehicle System immediately. For vehicles not registered in California, a written report must go to the Department of Justice if the vehicle is not returned within 120 hours.3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22853
How to Contest the Tow
If you think your vehicle was towed without proper grounds, you can request a post-storage hearing. The request can be made in person, in writing, or by phone, and it must be made within 10 days of the date on your notice. Once you request a hearing, the agency has to hold it within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22852
The hearing officer cannot be the same person who ordered the tow. You can present evidence and arguments explaining why the tow was unjustified. If the hearing officer determines there were no reasonable grounds for the storage, the agency that ordered the tow becomes responsible for all towing and storage costs.2California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22852
One detail worth knowing: failing to request the hearing within 10 days, or failing to show up for a scheduled hearing, satisfies the hearing requirement. At that point the agency is considered to have met its due process obligation and you lose the chance to challenge the tow. Do not sit on the notice.
Getting Your Vehicle Back
To pick up a towed vehicle you will generally need proof of ownership through current vehicle registration, a valid driver’s license or a licensed driver who can take the wheel, and personal identification. Documentation requirements can vary slightly by impound facility, but registration and ID are the baseline.
If your registration lapsed, you may need to renew with the DMV before the lot will release the vehicle. Speed matters. Every extra day in storage adds to the bill, and once the storage lien period expires the lot can begin lien sale proceedings.
Costs vary across California because cities and counties set their own rate schedules. You will need to pay all outstanding towing and storage fees before the vehicle is released, and payment methods differ by facility. Some require cash or certified funds; others accept credit or debit cards, and facilities that accept cards sometimes charge a slightly higher rate to cover processing under California Civil Code 1748.1.4Official Police Garages Association of Los Angeles, Inc. Costs and Fees for Official Police Garages
You are entitled to retrieve your personal belongings from the vehicle without paying towing or storage fees, during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding state holidays). The impound lot cannot hold your personal property hostage. After hours, the lot can charge a gate fee capped at half the hourly tow rate.5California Legislative Information. California Code Vehicle Code 22851
What Section 22651 Does Not Cover
Several other Vehicle Code sections authorize tows in situations people often assume fall under 22651. If your tow involves any of these, the rules and remedies are different.
Driving on a suspended license. Vehicle Code 14602.6, not 22651, authorizes a 30-day impound when an officer determines you were driving on a suspended or revoked license, driving without ever having been issued a license, or driving with an ignition interlock restriction in a vehicle that lacks a functioning device. Thirty days of storage at typical California rates can easily exceed $2,000. Early release is possible if the vehicle is stolen, if it was driven by an unlicensed employee of a business, if the driver reinstates the license and obtains insurance, or if a lienholder pays the fees and presents proof of the lien.6California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 14602.6
Tows from private property. Vehicle Code 22658 governs tows from apartment complex lots, shopping centers, office buildings, and similar places. For the tow to be lawful, the property must display signs at every entrance measuring at least 17 by 22 inches with lettering at least one inch tall, stating that unauthorized vehicles will be towed and listing the phone numbers of the local traffic enforcement agency and the towing company. The towing company also needs written authorization from the property owner or their agent, who generally must be present to verify the violation. That authorization must include the vehicle’s make, model, VIN, license plate, the name and signature of the person authorizing the tow, the grounds, and the time the vehicle was first observed.7California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22658 Missing any of these gives you strong grounds to contest.
Abandoned vehicles. Vehicle Code 22669 lets a peace officer or designated city or county employee order the removal of a vehicle reasonably believed to be abandoned from any highway, public property, or private property.8California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22669 Most of the time, authorities must attach a notice to the vehicle giving the owner at least 72 hours to move it.9California Department of Motor Vehicles. Disposition of Abandoned Low Value Vehicles (VC 22851.3) The exception: a vehicle missing an engine, transmission, wheels, tires, doors, windshield, or other equipment needed to operate safely counts as an immediate hazard and can be towed on the spot with no notice.
Extra Protection for Active-Duty Service Members
If you or the vehicle’s owner is on active military duty, federal law adds protection on top of state-law timelines. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, no one holding a lien on a service member’s property, including a storage lien from a tow, can foreclose on or enforce that lien during the member’s period of military service and for 90 days afterward without first obtaining a court order.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3958 – Enforcement of Storage Liens The definition of “lien” explicitly includes liens for storage, repair, or cleaning.
A towing company cannot auction an active-duty member’s vehicle through a lien sale without going to court first, even if state-law timelines have run and proper notices were sent. Knowingly violating this protection is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3958 – Enforcement of Storage Liens If you are deployed and learn your vehicle has been impounded, notifying the towing company and the agency of your active-duty status in writing is the first step to prevent disposal.