Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields and a pair of state lawmakers agreed Friday on the need for tighter regulation of towing companies to make sure they don't overcharge or otherwise exploit motorists.

Mr. Shields has introduced a bill to license towing companies and tow-truck drivers who work in the city. At a meeting he convened Friday on towing regulations, he said he'd like to ban companies and drivers who don't toe the line.

"You're not going to tow anymore, and if you do, maybe we write you up for grand theft auto," he said.

Mr. Shields said some tow companies are "pirates" because they charge predatory rates and bully reluctant customers.

State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, has introduced a bill that would require towing companies statewide to disclose fees for towing, storage and other services prior to the tow. The operator would have to tell the owner where the vehicle is being taken, and the bill would prohibit companies from refusing a tow just because a driver declined to authorize repair work on the spot.

The last provision is designed to protect motorists from spur-of-the-moment decisions they might later regret.

In addition, the bill would prohibit towing companies from poaching at an accident scene. A tow truck would have to be summoned by the driver, vehicle owner, police officer or other official.

"There's a great need for this," state Rep. Dom Costa, D-Stanton Heights, a former Pittsburgh police chief, said. He and Mr. DeLuca attended Mr. Shields' meeting.

Also present was current city police Chief Nate Harper, who called tighter restrictions "long overdue."

Some of Mr. Shields' complaints center on rates companies charge for "non-consensual tows"-- tows from private parking lots where a driver parked illegally. He said some drivers' bills total hundreds of dollars.

Cathy Tennis, president of the Pennsylvania Towing Association, said she could not comment on Mr. Shields' proposal because she did not know enough about it.

She said the association supports higher standards for towing companies but does not support Mr. DeLuca's bill, in part because it does not address equipment standards, company registration and other matters it considers important. She said the association also is concerned that the bill would result in tow trucks being summoned to accident scenes, only to be turned away because drivers objected to the fee.

Ms. Tennis said Mr. DeLuca's bill was partly motivated by complaints about con artists who rush to accident scenes with shoddy equipment and submit bloated bills to insurance companies. She said she, too, is interested in getting such operators off the road.

Council heard a presentation from Don McAfoose, implementation services director for Compiled Logic Corp., a Texas company that operates a Web-based database of towed cars.

Mr. McAfoose said council could require towing companies to input information on all non-consensual tows so that police and the public could go to the Web site to locate cars and determine fees. There would be no cost to city or towing companies; the service would be funded with a surcharge on towing bills.

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