Safe Clear by the numbers

We now have more statistics on the city's Safe Clear mandatory towing program: Most of the cases in which people were towed under Safe Clear last year — two-thirds, in fact — were the result of vehicles with mechanical problems or flat tires on Houston freeways. And though about 56,000 tows were done under Safe Clear in 2005, that's only 5 percent of all tows in Houston during the year.

The numbers came from a report compiled by researchers familiar with Safe Clear at the request of U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, who is hearing a lawsuit from towing companies who claim the city is trying to regulate wreckers in a way that's inconsistent with federal law. Some local towing companies are frustrated about being left out of the program, which assigns companies to certain segments of freeway and requires that disabled, unattended and wrecked cars be removed from the roadway within a certain period of time. But that's the problem, towing companies say:

"The average person who drives on your freeways is getting cheated from having the opportunity of a quicker and safer tow," said James Mosser, a Dallas-based attorney who represents the [Houston Professional Towing Association]. "What Safe Clear does is defeat safety by eliminating a large number of tow-truck operators from being able to provide services to people that need them on the freeways."

We're no experts, but having been caught up in the middle of a "large number of tow-truck operators" rushing to the scene of an accident, we're kinda relieved they're not able to anymore — not only did the scramble to be first on the scene make for some reckless driving, but a huddle of a dozen tow trucks on the side of the freeway often caused traffic nightmares.

According to the Safe Clear report, only about 15 percent of Safe Clear tows in 2005 involved wrecked cars; the rest of the tows were done for a variety of reasons, including engine problems, flat tires, flooded or burned cars or arrested drivers.

The lawsuit case is still in the early stages of being tried in federal court; it was transferred from state court in June. The city has hired Baker Botts to represent it in court and maintains Safe Clear is safe, fair and legal.