Police redirected traffic causes tow fees

[Alex02]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA



I was in the mountains coming back from a snow trip and the highway was closed down due to unknown reason and I was re-directed to a a very small 1 lane backroad. I ended up almost falling off a cliff and had to be towed along with several other people.

-Towing fees $400
- California Highway Patrol officers blew me off when I stopped to ask if a car without AWD/4wd would be able to make it to the end of the road
-There was a good 5" of snow that was not cleared out
- We weren't given directions so 20 vehicles may have been going the wrong way


The road was just in horrible conditions (very steep with lots of snow) and I couldn't turn back or wasn't aware of the conditions. If i had known about the above I would have just stayed on the side of the road on the highway until I could continue.



Is there anything in the law that says they should reimburse me?

[ecmst12]

I don't see why. You had alternatives. You could have gone back the way you came, or waited for the main road to reopen. You can't ever blame someone else for your own failure to control your vehicle.

[efflandt]

If you travel the mountains of California in winter, in snowy areas you are required to have tire chains on the vehicle if 2WD or tire chains in the vehicle if 4WD. In fact they often have roadblocks to prevent you from going to higher elevations without. And you are heavily fined if you block a snowplow. If you were unprepaired, your loss.

I was always amused seeing people putting tire chains on their vehicles in near 70°F weather before heading up into the mountains. I grew up in WI and often went to upper Michigan on business, where 5" of snow is nothing. But then you get much better traction on cold snow (in teens or lower) than when near freezing.