Grandma's House

This is absolutely outrageous! If you're going to be in Houston, or live there now, for pity's sake don't get on the freeway if there's the slightest chance you could have a flat tire or run out of gas. It will cost you a fortune. The city's new towing ordinance forbids changing your own tire on the side of the road, or walking down the road to get some gas. You can't even call your own tow truck. The city has signed contracts with towing companies who will be patrolling the freeways.

The 11 companies that have the new city towing contracts are required to respond to all disabled vehicles within six minutes and promptly get them off the highway once authorized by a police officer at Houston TranStar, the region's traffic-control center.

Now this is where it bites you in the butt.

Drivers will be able to say where their cars should be taken, within 30 miles. They'll be charged $75 for the first five miles and $1.50 per mile thereafter.

So even if they just push you down the off ramp, it's gonna cost you $75. That's pathetic! But don't worry, the tow truck driver will show some compassion.

"We are going to attempt to move those vehicles immediately, even if it's just off the freeway to a safe location," said Ken Ulmer, president of A-1 Towing, which holds the towing contracts for parts of the Katy Freeway. "For that towing fee of $75, we would change the tire for the consumer."

Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever heard? What's that you say? What if you don't have that kind of cash on you?

Tow trucks participating in the freeway towing program, dubbed "Safe Clear," will be required to accept credit cards and checks. Typically wreckers only accept cash and impound vehicles if motorists don't have it.

Motorists still face temporary seizure of their vehicle if they lack any form of payment. They will have to pick up their cars from storage lots, paying a storage fee in addition to the standard towing rate. Or a car can be sent to a mechanic, who will add the towing charge to the invoice for repairs needed.

So, to recap, if you have a flat, rather than take five minutes to change the tire yourself, you have to let someone not of your choosing tow your car off the freeway at a cost of $75 (or more if it's over five miles to the exit), and if you don't have the money, you'll have to watch them impound your car, which will cost you even more money. But what if you belong to AAA? It doesn't matter. You won't be allowed to wait for them. You'll just have to hope they will reimburse you for the tow. But the city doesn't want you to think they're completely heartless.

The $75 base tow fee is a reduction from the Houston Police Department's current $115 authorized charge.