traffic safety my ass!!! its all about raising $REVENUE$. and of course letting the police state seize peoples property Original Article More vehicles are impounded under new law The rules governing vehicle impoundment Visit the Tucson Police Department Web site at www.ci.tucson.az.us/police and click on the impounded vehicle information under "hot topics." New rules in effect The law says a vehicle will be impounded for 30 days if: The person's driving privilege is canceled, suspended or revoked, or the person has never had a license from Arizona or any state. The vehicle is not insured as required by law. The person is driving a vehicle that is involved in an accident that results in either property damage or injury or death of another person, regardless of who is at fault. Starting Nov. 1, more rules will take effect. Vehicles will be impounded if: A person's driving privilege is revoked for any reason. The driver's license is suspended because of a DUI conviction. The license is suspended because the driver previously has been arrested for driving on a suspended license. The license is suspended for having too many violation points. The driver is arrested for extreme or aggravated DUI or being a minor under the influence of alcohol. The price for getting your vehicle back is high. Drivers now have to shell out at least $450 to have their impounded vehicles returned, including a mandatory $150 payment to the city's general fund and fees for towing and storage. That doesn't include the price of reinstating a driver's license, which costs about $35, and the cost of buying auto insurance. By Becky Pallack ARIZONA DAILY STAR Tucson police have impounded around 30 vehicles in the past 20 days under a strict new state law that requires police to seize crashed vehicles if the driver isn't insured. Police also have received a lot of phone calls from people wanting to know how to get their cars back, said Capt. George Stoner of the Tucson Police Department. The explanation is long, and online instructions cover five pages. Based on violation numbers from past years, TPD expects to impound up to 2,500 vehicles in the law's first year, Stoner said. In past years, officers impounded vehicles only for evidence purposes and probably seized fewer than 100 a year. The law is causing some pain for police, too. TPD has developed a six-page release policy, a new hearing process and four forms to accommodate the new law, Stoner said. Agency officials also have added a new sergeant position to oversee the processes. Sgt. Mary Kay Slyter will move from the South Side substation to fill that role. Officers who respond to crashes have to spend an average of 45 minutes longer at the scenes waiting for tow trucks and have to fill out the extra paperwork and help drivers understand what's happening to their vehicles, Stoner said. Parts of triplicate forms go to the driver, the tow-truck driver and the police. "It will tie up officers longer in the field," Stoner said, and that could mean less time for other investigations, especially for officers in the DUI squad. Contact reporter Becky Pallack at 629-9412 or bpallack@azstarnet.com.