California Tow-Away and EV Charging Signs: What the Vehicle Code Actually Requires

If you own or manage private parking in California and you want the right to tow, the sign is not a formality — it is the thing that makes the tow lawful. Two sections of the Vehicle Code cover it: section 22658 for general private-property parking, and section 22511 for spaces reserved for electric vehicle charging. They set out different wording but, usefully, the same physical specification.

The specification both sections share

Under both CVC 22658 and CVC 22511, the sign must be not less than 17 inches by 22 inches, with lettering not less than one inch in height. That is the floor, not a recommendation. A 12 by 18 sign with three-quarter-inch type is a sign that a court can find non-compliant, and a tow made on the strength of it is a tow the property owner may have to answer for.

Tow-away signs: CVC 22658

The statute requires a sign that prohibits public parking and indicates that vehicles will be removed at the owner's expense. It must also carry the telephone number of the local traffic law enforcement agency, and the name and telephone number of each towing company that is party to a written general towing authorization agreement with the property.

That last requirement is the one people get wrong. It is not enough to say "violators will be towed" — the sign has to name the tow company you actually have an agreement with, and give its number. Change tow companies and the sign is out of date the same day.

Placement: in plain view at all entrances to the property. Every entrance, not the main one.

EV charging spaces: CVC 22511

For a space designated for electric vehicle charging, the statute specifies the statement itself. The sign must state that unauthorized vehicles not connected for electric charging purposes will be towed away at the owner's expense, and that towed vehicles may be reclaimed at a given address or by telephoning a given law enforcement number. You fill in the address and the number; the rest is the required language.

Placement here gives you a choice: immediately adjacent to and visible from the stall itself, or in a conspicuous place at each entrance to the off-street parking facility. Either satisfies the section. Spaces on a public street are a different matter and follow the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices instead.

One more condition worth knowing: the space only becomes enforceable for towing once it is posted as the statute describes, and the owner or operator has to notify the police or sheriff before a vehicle is removed.

What to have them made from

For anything permanent and outdoors, aluminum composite is the sensible substrate — it does not rust, does not dent easily, and survives a decade of sun without the face chalking. For a lot that is being restriped, a temporary event, or a property changing tow vendors soon, corrugated plastic costs a fraction and can be replaced without regret.

Size is where people try to save money and should not. The code sets 17 by 22 as a minimum; going larger is always safe, going smaller is the whole liability.

Before you order

Two things to confirm on your own: that you are looking at the current text of the code, since sections get amended, and whether your city or county has a local ordinance that adds requirements on top of the state minimum. Some do. The state statute is the floor, not the ceiling.

Angels Print prints both sign types on aluminum composite or corrugated plastic at 17 by 22 and larger, and ships anywhere in the U.S. Send the tow company name and number, or the reclaim address and law enforcement number, and we will lay it out at compliant type sizes before anything prints.