Outagamie County suspends towing on I-41 and State 441 when conditions imperil safety
Reader question: When the Outagamie County sheriff orders a tow ban, what exactly does that mean?
Answer: A tow ban means that all tow services are suspended unless requested by emergency personnel. In other words, if your car slides into a ditch and isn't an immediate hazard to other motorists, it will have to remain in the ditch until conditions improve and the tow ban is lifted.
Tow bans are declared when conditions deteriorate to the point that any effort to recover vehicles becomes too dangerous for emergency responders, tow services and other motorists on the road.
"We understand the likely inconvenience in not having a car removed promptly," Outagamie County Lt. Nathan Borman said. "However, far too many times we have experienced crashes which have ended in injury and death due to not waiting for safer conditions."
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A tow ban typically applies to specific highways. When Outagamie County issued a tow ban Wednesday due to a two-punch snowstorm, it pertained to Interstate 41 and State 441.
That was also the case for the tow ban ordered during the Feb. 16 snowstorm. At the time, the sheriff's office had responded to nearly 100 crashes and had at least 25 additional crashes pending.
Most tow bans stem from adverse winter weather, but they also can be issued due to high traffic volumes.
"This could include rush-hour traffic in the morning or afternoon or heavy event traffic such as a Packer game day," Borman said. "In those cases, if vehicles were to have a crash or otherwise go into the ditch, we may not allow them to be removed until after the traffic flow has reduced substantially."
The length of any ban depends on the conditions. The Feb. 16 tow ban was lifted after 7½ hours, allowing normal operations to resume.
Outagamie County also implemented tow bans for I-41 and State 441 on Dec. 22, Jan. 19 and Jan. 27.
The Dec. 22 ban lasted three days, the Jan. 19 ban lasted eight hours, and the Jan. 27 ban lasted 23 hours.
Post-Crescent reporter Duke Behnke answers your questions about local government. Send questions to dbehnke@gannett.com or call him at 920-993-7176.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Outagamie County tow bans occur when conditions imperil safety
