Accident towing and storage economic regulation review 2015

This review considered three key regulation matters related to regular and heavy vehicle accident towing: 

• Should fees be regulated? 
• Are the existing boundaries of the Melbourne controlled and Geelong self-management areas appropriate?
• Should accident towing jobs should be allocated, or should operators should be free to compete for towing jobs?

We made a number of final recommendations to the Minister for Finance on accident towing regulation, including:

• that fees should continue to be regulated in the Melbourne controlled area and that we should conduct a comprehensive study on revenues and costs in the Geelong self management area
• VicRoads should analyse allocations every three years and measure the performance of the allocation zone boundaries against a proximity-based benchmark (that is, where accident tows are allocated to the nearest depot with a licenced tow truck available)
• the accident allocation scheme should continue in the Melbourne controlled area and the self-managed allocation scheme should continue in Geelong.