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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, December 19, 2004

Derelict cars do get towed away

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

Six cars are parked on Waipahu Street near a gated parking lot for the Oasis at Waipahu housing complex.

This car and the two behind it are among about 15 marked as abandoned along the last few 'ewa blocks of Waipahu Street. Even more cars in the area appear to be abandoned but are not marked. Residents say that as soon as cars are removed, more are abandoned — making street parking a frustrating experience. Police say the problem is typical for high-density apartment areas.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

One of the cars has flat tires, a shattered window, serious damage to its right front side and a citation on its windshield faded by wet weather. It appears to be a derelict vehicle.

There are two other cars targeted for towing, one of them with yellow markings on the tire dated Nov. 14 and a citation on the windshield to indicate it's an abandoned vehicle that will be towed.

A city ordinance defines the difference between "derelict" and "abandoned" vehicles, but definitions mean nothing to area residents who just want the eyesores removed in a timely fashion.

"Nobody does anything about it," Oasis resident Monique Palencia said. "They come and mark it but I never seen them tow one away. I worry about it because it's dangerous to have the cars there.

"You can't get out of the parking lot and see cars coming unless you slowly creep out," she said. "And it's dangerous for the children because people walk by and break the windows. There's always glass on the sidewalk."

Dorothy Pelefoti, an Oasis resident, added: "They sit there forever. Nobody knows whose cars they are.

"That one over there," Pelefoti said, pointing to a van with no license plates parked on the street, "I think somebody is living in there. I don't know why they mark them and just let them sit there."

For the record, the city's Motor Vehicle Control Section received 33,424 complaints about abandoned and derelict vehicles during the 2003-04 fiscal year, resulting in 7,930 vehicles being towed off public and private property on O'ahu.

Of the vehicles that were towed, 1,805 were classified abandoned and 6,125 derelict.

It may not be a well-known fact that abandoned and derelict vehicles are not the same thing and are investigated differently.

A city ordinance defines an abandoned vehicle as one that is left unattended for a continuous period of more than 24 hours and is unlawfully parked on any public highway or public property. A derelict vehicle is one that is inoperable and has no vehicle identification number or license plate and/or identifiable ownership.

The Motor Vehicle Control Section, working with 15 inspectors and three positions to be filled, investigates all complaints. Most of the complaints stem from areas with limited on-road parking, said Dennis Kamimura, the city's motor-vehicle and permits licensing administrator.

"If it has a license number and VIN (vehicle identification number) and it's not reported stolen, the inspector will contact the registered owner if he lives near the parked vehicle to tell him to move it," Kamimura said. "Otherwise, he'll put a notice on the windshield and mark the tire. He'll come back 24 hours later to check (the tire marking) to see if the vehicle has been moved.

"If it moved, even a couple of feet, it's not an abandoned vehicle."

In the 2003-04 fiscal year, inspectors returned to find that 23,447 of the vehicles marked were moved within the 24-hour period.

If there's no movement, Kamimura said, inspectors will issue a $150 citation, leave it on the windshield and call the city's contractor, Abe's Auto Recyclers Inc., to have the car towed. The tow charge for vehicles picked up between Makapu'u and Kahuku is $172; for everywhere else on the island, it's $156.

Leeward O'ahu — which covers the Wai'anae Coast to Waipahu to Pearl City to Red Hill — had the highest number of derelict vehicles towed in the 2003-04 fiscal year, with a total of 2,297. There were 532 abandoned vehicles towed from the area during the same period.

The "city" area from Red Hill to Makapu'u Point had 1,837 derelict and 986 abandoned vehicles towed last fiscal year. Central O'ahu — which covers Mokule'ia to the North Shore and Mililani to, but not including, Waipahu — is the area with the least problem, with 642 derelict tows and 132 abandoned tows.

Derelict-vehicle tows have been traditionally higher in industrial areas, officials said.

If a vehicle is towed, the registered owner will be notified by certified mail and given 20 days to respond. Unclaimed vehicles are sold at public auction after three months.

"Most of the cars towed are junks," Kamimura said. "But there are a few good deals. They sold one car for $5,000 that was worth more. The majority of them go for $50."

For the 2003-04 fiscal year, the city received $205,841 from auctioned vehicles. The previous fiscal year, the amount was $116,190.

That's not much, considering it's costing the city more than $1 million annually to investigate and remove abandoned and derelict vehicles, said Kamimura.

The city tries to remove derelict vehicles within five days after they are marked by an inspector.

"We could save a lot of time spent on investigations if the public donates cars they don't want to charity," Kamimura said.

However, donating an unwanted vehicle for a tax deduction may become less appealing after Jan. 1 because of a change in federal law under which a deduction claim can be only for the amount that the charitable organization got from its sale of the vehicle, Kamimura noted.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.