22651.

 A peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, or a regularly employed and salaried employee, who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations, of a city, county, or jurisdiction of a state agency in which a vehicle is located, may remove a vehicle located within the territorial limits in which the officer or employee may act, under any of the following circumstances:

(a) When a vehicle is left unattended upon any bridge, viaduct, or causeway or in any tube or tunnel where the vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic.

(b) When a vehicle is parked or left standing upon a highway in a position so as to obstruct the normal movement of traffic or in a condition so as to create a hazard to other traffic upon the highway.

(c) When a vehicle is found upon a highway or any public lands and a report has previously been made that the vehicle has been stolen or a complaint has been filed and a warrant thereon issued charging that the vehicle has been embezzled.

(d) When a vehicle is illegally parked so as to block the entrance to a private driveway and it is impractical to move the vehicle from in front of the driveway to another point on the highway.

(e) When a vehicle is illegally parked so as to prevent access by firefighting equipment to a fire hydrant and it is impracticable to move the vehicle from in front of the fire hydrant to another point on the highway.

(f) When a vehicle, except any highway maintenance or construction equipment, is stopped, parked, or left standing for more than four hours upon the right-of-way of any freeway which has full control of access and no crossings at grade and the driver, if present, cannot move the vehicle under its own power.

(g) When the person or persons in charge of a vehicle upon a highway or any public lands are, by reason of physical injuries or illness, incapacitated to an extent so as to be unable to provide for its custody or removal.

(h) (1) When an officer arrests any person driving or in control of a vehicle for an alleged offense and the officer is, by this code or other law, required or permitted to take, and does take, the person into custody.

(2) When an officer serves a notice of an order of suspension or revocation pursuant to Section 13388.

(i) (1) When a vehicle, other than a rented vehicle, is found upon a highway or any public lands, or is removed pursuant to this code, and it is known that the vehicle has been issued five or more notices of parking violations to which the owner or person in control of the vehicle has not responded within 21 calendar days of notice of citation issuance or citation issuance or 14 calendar days of the mailing of a notice of delinquent parking violation to the agency responsible for processing notices of parking violation or the registered owner of the vehicle is known to have been issued five or more notices for failure to pay or failure to appear in court for traffic violations for which no certificate has been issued by the magistrate or clerk of the court hearing the case showing that the case has been adjudicated or concerning which the registered owner’s record has not been cleared pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 41500) of Division 17, the vehicle may be impounded until that person furnishes to the impounding law enforcement agency all of the following:

(A) Evidence of his or her identity.

(B) An address within this state at which he or she can be located.

(C) Satisfactory evidence that all parking penalties due for the vehicle and any other vehicle registered to the registered owner of the impounded vehicle, and all traffic violations of the registered owner, have been cleared.

(2) The requirements in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) shall be fully enforced by the impounding law enforcement agency on and after the time that the Department of Motor Vehicles is able to provide access to the necessary records.

(3) A notice of parking violation issued for an unlawfully parked vehicle shall be accompanied by a warning that repeated violations may result in the impounding of the vehicle. In lieu of furnishing satisfactory evidence that the full amount of parking penalties or bail has been deposited, that person may demand to be taken without unnecessary delay before a magistrate, for traffic offenses, or a hearing examiner, for parking offenses, within the county in which the offenses charged are alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offenses and is nearest or most accessible with reference to the place where the vehicle is impounded. Evidence of current registration shall be produced after a vehicle has been impounded, or, at the discretion of the impounding law enforcement agency, a notice to appear for violation of subdivision (a) of Section 4000 shall be issued to that person.

(4) A vehicle shall be released to the legal owner, as defined in Section 370, if the legal owner does all of the following:

(A) Pays the cost of towing and storing the vehicle.

(B) Submits evidence of payment of fees as provided in Section 9561.

(C) Completes an affidavit in a form acceptable to the impounding law enforcement agency stating that the vehicle was not in possession of the legal owner at the time of occurrence of the offenses relating to standing or parking. A vehicle released to a legal owner under this subdivision is a repossessed vehicle for purposes of disposition or sale. The impounding agency shall have a lien on any surplus that remains upon sale of the vehicle to which the registered owner is or may be entitled, as security for the full amount of the parking penalties for all notices of parking violations issued for the vehicle and for any local administrative charges imposed pursuant to Section 22850.5. The legal owner shall promptly remit to, and deposit with, the agency responsible for processing notices of parking violations from that surplus, on receipt thereof, full amount of the parking penalties for all notices of parking violations issued for the vehicle and for any local administrative charges imposed pursuant to Section 22850.5.

(5) The impounding agency that has a lien on the surplus that remains upon the sale of a vehicle to which a registered owner is entitled pursuant to paragraph (4) has a deficiency claim against the registered owner for the full amount of the parking penalties for all notices of parking violations issued for the vehicle and for any local administrative charges imposed pursuant to Section 22850.5, less the amount received from the sale of the vehicle.

(j) When a vehicle is found illegally parked and there are no license plates or other evidence of registration displayed, the vehicle may be impounded until the owner or person in control of the vehicle furnishes the impounding law enforcement agency evidence of his or her identity and an address within this state at which he or she can be located.

(k) When a vehicle is parked or left standing upon a highway for 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance authorizing removal.

(l) When a vehicle is illegally parked on a highway in violation of a local ordinance forbidding standing or parking and the use of a highway, or a portion thereof, is necessary for the cleaning, repair, or construction of the highway, or for the installation of underground utilities, and signs giving notice that the vehicle may be removed are erected or placed at least 24 hours prior to the removal by local authorities pursuant to the ordinance.

(m) Wherever the use of the highway, or a portion thereof, is authorized by local authorities for a purpose other than the normal flow of traffic or for the movement of equipment, articles, or structures of unusual size, and the parking of a vehicle would prohibit or interfere with that use or movement, and signs giving notice that the vehicle may be removed are erected or placed at least 24 hours prior to the removal by local authorities pursuant to the ordinance.

(n) Whenever a vehicle is parked or left standing where local authorities, by resolution or ordinance, have prohibited parking and have authorized the removal of vehicles. No vehicle may be removed unless signs are posted giving notice of the removal.

(o) (1) When a vehicle is found or operated upon a highway, any public lands, or an offstreet parking facility with a registration expiration date in excess of six months before the date it is found or operated on the highway, public lands, or the offstreet parking facility. However, whenever the vehicle is occupied, only a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, may remove the vehicle. For the purposes of this subdivision, the vehicle shall be released to the owner or person in control of the vehicle only after the owner or person furnishes the storing law enforcement agency with proof of current registration and a currently valid driver’s license to operate the vehicle.

(2) As used in this subdivision, “offstreet parking facility” means any offstreet facility held open for use by the public for parking vehicles and includes publicly owned facilities for offstreet parking, and privately owned facilities for offstreet parking where no fee is charged for the privilege to park and which are held open for the common public use of retail customers.

(p) When the peace officer issues the driver of a vehicle a notice to appear for a violation of Section 12500, 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 14601.3, 14601.4, 14601.5, or 14604 and the vehicle has not been impounded pursuant to Section 22655.5. A vehicle so removed from the highway or any public lands, or from private property after having been on a highway or public lands, shall not be released to the registered owner or his or her agent, except upon presentation of the registered owner’s or his or her agent’s currently valid driver’s license to operate the vehicle and proof of current vehicle registration, or upon order of a court.

(q) Whenever a vehicle is parked for more than 24 hours on a portion of highway which is located within the boundaries of a common interest development, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code, and signs, as required by Section 22658.2, have been posted on that portion of highway providing notice to drivers that vehicles parked thereon for more than 24 hours will be removed at the owner’s expense, pursuant to a resolution or ordinance adopted by the local authority.

(r) When a vehicle is illegally parked and blocks the movement of a legally parked vehicle.

(s) (1) When a vehicle, except highway maintenance or construction equipment, an authorized emergency vehicle, or a vehicle which is properly permitted or otherwise authorized by the Department of Transportation, is stopped, parked, or left standing for more than eight hours within a roadside rest area or viewpoint.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, a roadside rest area or viewpoint is a publicly maintained vehicle parking area, adjacent to a highway, utilized for the convenient, safe stopping of a vehicle to enable motorists to rest or to view the scenery. If two or more roadside rest areas are located on opposite sides of the highway, or upon the center divider, within seven miles of each other, then that combination of rest areas is considered to be the same rest area.

(t) When a peace officer issues a notice to appear for a violation of Section 25279.

(u) (1) (A) When a peace officer issues a notice of reexamination to a driver under Section 21061 and there is no other person readily available who has a valid driver’s license and authorization to operate the vehicle.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), “authorization” means permission from the driver, registered or legal owner of the vehicle, or an agent of the driver or owner, and the peace officer issuing the notice of reexamination has determined that the authorized person is able to safely and lawfully operate the vehicle.

(2) A vehicle removed from a highway or public lands under this subdivision shall be released to any of the following:

(A) The registered owner or his or her agent, if he or she is the person named on the notice of reexamination upon written confirmation from the Department of Motor Vehicles that a reexamination of that person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle has been conducted under Section 12818, and that person has successfully demonstrated his or her ability to operate a motor vehicle safely as required under Section 12804.9.

(B) The registered owner or his or her agent, if other than the person named on the notice of reexamination.

(C) The legal owner or his or her agent, if other than the person named on the notice of reexamination.

(3) A registered or legal owner, or his or her agent, that obtains release of the vehicle under subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (2) may relinquish the vehicle to the person named on the notice of reexamination when that person presents to the person releasing the vehicle a written confirmation from the Department of Motor Vehicles that a reexamination of the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle has been conducted under Section 12818, and the person has successfully demonstrated his or her ability to safely operate a motor vehicle as required under Section 12804.9.

(4) An administrative fee shall not be charged under Section 22850.5 for the release of a vehicle in accordance with this subdivision. A registered owner or his or her agent shall be reimbursed by the agency for which the peace officer who removed the vehicle is employed for any additional reasonable expenses incurred by the registered owner or his or her agent related to the towing and storage of the vehicle, for up to five days, if the conditions of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2), or paragraph (3), are met.

(5) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall, as appropriate, issue a written confirmation as described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(6) The legislative intent of this subdivision is to ensure public safety and not to unnecessarily deprive a person of his or her motor vehicle or cause financial hardship.