Towing Laws in Alabama: Your Rights, Costs & Impound Rules

If your car was just towed in Alabama - from a private lot, a highway shoulder, or a crash scene - this page walks through what state law and regulator guidance say about the fees you can be charged, how to get your vehicle back, and where to complain if something feels wrong. Every fact below is drawn from Alabama statutes and agency pages, each cited so you can check it yourself.

Who regulates towing in Alabama

Towing complaints in Alabama generally go to the Attorney General's Consumer Interest Division, which takes complaints through an online form or its Consumer Hotline at 1-800-392-5658; you can also email supporting documents to ConsumerInterest@AlabamaAG.gov. Separately, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) runs its own service-charge dispute process for the nonconsensual tows it directs off state highways.

What a tow can cost

Alabama doesn't publish a single statewide rate card for private-property tows. What does exist is a rule for ALEA-directed nonconsensual tows: under ALEA rule 760-X-1-.25, the agency approves rates for these tows as "reasonable" based on what's customary in the towing industry, and those approved rates are updated by April 1 each year. If you were towed at ALEA's direction and want to dispute the fee, you have to file your dispute in writing with both the towing service and the trooper commander within three business days of getting your invoice - so don't sit on it.

For tows outside ALEA's direction, rates aren't capped statewide, so it's worth asking for an itemized invoice and checking whether your city or county has its own local towing ordinance. Our towing cost calculator can help you sanity-check whatever you were billed.

Getting your car back from impound

Alabama's unclaimed-vehicle process kicks in fast. A vehicle left unattended on a public road for more than 48 hours, or on private property without consent for more than 48 hours, can be declared unclaimed. Whoever is holding the vehicle then has to report it within five calendar days and send a Notice of Possession to the owner and any lienholder by certified mail. If that notice and reporting don't happen, the holder forfeits all claims and liens against the vehicle. Once the process is properly followed, a public auction can happen no earlier than 35 days after the first publication of the sale notice - so you generally have over a month from that first publication to reclaim your car before it can be sold.

If you're towed from private property

Alabama treats a vehicle left on private property without the owner's or lessee's consent for more than 48 hours as unclaimed, triggering the same reporting rules described above: the person in possession of the vehicle must report it through the state's portal within 5 calendar days. If you find your car has been towed from a lot or driveway, that reporting requirement is the mechanism that's supposed to get a notice sent to you as the owner.

After an accident

Alabama requires you to report a crash immediately - to local police, the county sheriff, or the state Highway Patrol - any time the crash involves an injury or death, or apparent total property damage of $500 or more. That threshold is low enough that most tow-worthy collisions will need to be reported right away rather than handled quietly between drivers.

The Move Over law

On multilane highways, Alabama drivers approaching a stopped law enforcement vehicle, emergency vehicle, or wrecker or utility service vehicle must vacate the closest lane if they can do so safely, or reduce speed to at least 15 mph below the posted limit if they can't move over. The penalties escalate with repeat violations: $200 for a first offense, $250 for a second, and $300 plus a license suspension of at least 90 days for a third or subsequent violation.

FAQ

Who do I call if an Alabama tow company overcharges me? File a complaint with the Attorney General's Consumer Interest Division online or by calling the Consumer Hotline at 1-800-392-5658. If the tow was directed by ALEA, there's also a separate service-charge dispute process through that agency.

How long before my towed car in Alabama can be sold? If your vehicle is declared unclaimed, a public auction can't happen until at least 35 days after the first publication of the sale notice - as long as the holder properly reported the vehicle and sent you notice.

What's the fine for not moving over for a wrecker in Alabama? A first violation carries a $200 fine, a second carries $250, and a third or subsequent violation carries $300 plus a license suspension of at least 90 days.

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