Waynesville, MO Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Section 700.130 of the Waynesville Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance 2440 on October 15, 2020, targets what is commonly called crash chasing: a tow truck driver stopping at or driving to an accident scene on their own initiative, hoping to pick up the tow business before the vehicle owner or police can call someone. The ordinance flatly prohibits that unless a party actually involved in the accident asks for the tow, or a public safety agency officer, such as a Waynesville police officer, requests it at the scene.

There is no separate permitting or registration scheme in this section for wreckers operating in the City; the rule is a direct conduct prohibition rather than a licensing requirement, and it sits inside Chapter 700's Article II business regulations alongside the City's roadside-vendor and pawnbroker rules. Because the section is short and stands on its own, enforcement turns on whether the responding officer or the towed party can show the driver showed up uninvited. A driver who legitimately operates a general towing or wrecker business in Waynesville under a City occupation license is not barred from that business; Section 700.130 only reaches the specific act of soliciting or self-dispatching to a wreck without a request from someone with authority to make one.