After they are left so many days, they are towed away. That's why the stickers, which have a date on them.

We just drove from Arizona to Southern Florida and back. I commented to my DH that there were a lot of abandoned cars on the side of the road. Most of them had red stickers just waiting to be towed. We didn't see any with a cloth hanging out the window though.

I once had to abandon my car, during ice on the road, on the way to school. When I went back to my car, it was gone. Towed. Had to pay bucks to get it back!

In Ontario, I think that the first patrolling police car stops and the patrol person hangs a little orange ticket on the door handle by a string. After a given length of time, if it hasn't been moved by the owner, it's towed to official storage: can you say, "expensive"?

And, in and around Toronto, with its labyrinth of limited access roads, the tow trucks won't put tire to road for under $100.00, I've heard. The tow bill goes up quickly if there's more than a short tow ... and storage, unless you have an agreed place to drop it.

What's CAA's number?

ole joyful

A piece of fabric (usually white) is used as a signal that the car's had problems. Often the driver attaches something like that, and then walks off to find help. So a car like that wouldn't be truly abandoned just disabled. The orange stickers are a warning that the car will be towed if left a certain amount of time.

It's always recommended that we keep something like that--a piece of white fabric, or a 'help' sign that can be displayed in the window--in our emergency kits in our cars.

From your post, it can be assumed that that isn't the case in Canada? What do you do to summon help, or alert the police that your car isn't abandoned, you just had to leave it to find help?

Around here a vehicle on a street is considered being stored after 72 hours without being driven. Even in front of your own house. So if it is reported it will be chalked and red (orange)tagged and may be towed 72 hours after being tagged.

On a highway or freeway it will be towed after 4 hours unless it is obstructing traffic. In that case it will be towed immediately.

On private property such as apartments an unauthorized vehicle or one that is parked in a no parking zone will be gone as soon as "Mikey" hooks it up. Then you better bring lots of cash with you and a polite respectful attitude if you want your car back from the nice man at the storage facility.

My SS's truck broke down about an hour from home. We called Highway Patrol to let them know the car was disabled and that nobody was stranded out there. IIRC, we had 24 hours to move it before it would be towed. I think it had been stickered by the time we got back to pick it up.

I just noticed so many cars abandoned on our trip beween Ontario and Florida, just where do people go when their car breaks down on these long stretches of road, you would have to walk for miles. It scares me to think about it happening to me. If you are from out of town and your car breaks down you are in real trouble.

I drove from Georgia to Ontario last may all by myself for the first time ever, I was scared but wanted to prove to myself I could do it. I figured if my truck broke down, I would call 911 and get a ride to a hotel and call towing and go from there, but I made it with no problems, Took me 18 hrs non stop, not sure I want to travel that far alone again, I was soo tired